# Historical myths that reallly get on your tits **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744 "2014-11-16T02:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/281 "2014-11-26T08:00:22Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I am of the opinion that if the earth were really 6000 years old, then the Bible would mention dinosaurs because dinosaurs are freaking sweet. And no oblique “behemoth” references. We’re talking rich men passing a velociraptor through a needle’s eye. Or a velociraptor through anything without being eaten. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/282 "2014-11-26T11:11:13Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I am of the opinion that if the earth were really 6000 years old, then the Bible would mention dinosaurs because dinosaurs are freaking sweet. And no oblique “behemoth” references. We’re talking rich men passing a velociraptor through a needle’s eye. "And as Jesus walked along the road to Galilee, his way was blocked by the biggest-ass lizard you \*ever \*saw. "_'Jesus_, that’s a big lizard’, said Luke. “‘I’m sure gonna write about it in \*my \*gospel’, said Mark.” - Bill Hicks ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/283 "2014-11-26T19:03:36Z")
Myth: Hitler was a vegetarian. No he wasn’t. He enjoyed eating sausages. Myth: Attributed to John Lennon: My teacher asked me what I wanted in life. I said to be happy. He said you don’t understand the question. I said you don’t understand life. (or various versions) also “Is Ringo the best drummer in the world. (Answer) Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles”. There is no evidence that he said either- apart from attributed quotes on the Internet. Myth. The Titanic was said to be unsinkable. That is pure rubbish. The owners never stated that at all. Myth. Charles Lindbergh was the first to fly across the Atlantic. Reality: Many people (around 80) had flown across the Atlantic before Lindbergh. Phew. That is enough for now. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/284 "2014-11-26T19:10:50Z")
I don’t know about the Flintstones, but back in 2004CE here on our very own SDMB we proved that the comic B.C. [takes place in a dystopian future](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264519). Also, we do get a glimpse of [the ground in a Jetson’s episode](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/recapping-the-jetsons-episode-07-the-flying-suit-109680696/?no-ist) (that’s where the birds live) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/285 "2014-11-26T20:07:51Z")
Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize ($25,000, or about $350,000 in today’s money), which was offered for a New York/Paris non-stop flight (it could be in either direction). Previous transatlantic flights had been from Newfoundland to the Azores, South America to North Africa, or other distances that had origins and destinations that were impractical for things like establishing air mail points, and were chosen mainly to keep the route as short as possible. As it happened, Lindbergh also made the first solo flight, but that was simply how he chose to make the flight; it wasn’t a requirement of the prize. He brought a lot of attention to American aviation, which had been a European thing up until that point, because of the WWI pilots, and the fact the he made the flight solo was seen as a very American way of approaching the problem of planes being overweight, which had plagued earlier attempts to win the prize. That’s how he became such an American hero. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/286 "2014-11-26T20:14:30Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Myth: Hitler was a vegetarian. > > No he wasn’t. He enjoyed eating sausages. And contrary to his teetotaler reputation he drank an occasional beer. He did seem to legitimately loathe tobacco, but had been a smoker in his youth. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/287 "2014-11-26T20:31:44Z")
I have a couple of friends who are on Paleo diets and I’m convinced that the primary criteria for paleo food is to tack the word Paleo in front of it. The crux of the diet is lots of natural foods with a low carb spin, which is a do-able diet that has some documented effectiveness, but the “science” and “history” behind it is nonsense. I tried to read one of the books but thought it was ridiculous when the writer said we should eat any kind of legume because paleo ancestors wouldn’t have, and that evidence of this is that they’re hard to digest unless cooked. It made me wonder what the doctor thinks of eating meat since few nutritionists recommend raw pork. Another paleo diet recommends macadamia nuts and chicken breasts and spinach, never mind that there probably wasn’t a soul in the paleo world who would have had access to all three of those things. And of course the entire diet is based on what man evolved to eat, which implies everybody had the same diet, which was no more true in paleo times than now. It also implies that agriculture decreased health, which has some truth but is a bit more complex than “grains are bad” (spread of disease, less active lifestyle, etc.). Again, it’s not the “cut out processed food and cut down on carbs” that I object to, but the pseudobiohistory. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/288 "2014-11-26T20:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=Cicero] Myth. Charles Lindbergh was the first to fly across the Atlantic. Reality: Many people (around 80) had flown across the Atlantic before Lindbergh. [/QUOTE] The Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, which I heartily recommend to anybody with an interest in 20th century history even if they’re not an aeronautic enthusiast, has the beautifully restored [Curtiss NC-4](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_NC-4), which is believed to be the first plane to cross the Atlantic. It’s _huge_- [this picture](http://steeljawscribe.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_0853.jpg) gives some idea. The crossing took 19 days and had several “layovers”. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/289 "2014-11-26T20:55:27Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > The Flintstones is clearly set after some sort of [nuclear armageddon!](http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-reasons-flintstones-set-distant-future.php) How do they know what [Christmas](http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/graphics/news3/Flintstones_ChristmasCollection.jpg) is before the birth of the Nazarene? Or how they all speak English (in the World’s Fair episode, they travel in time, and everybody throughout history can understand them), or they know what “BC” is (in the flashback to when Fred and Barney met Wilma and Betty, they go watch the movie “1,000,000 BC” - “it’s all about life in the future”)? Now there’s a historical myth, sort of - “Wilma’s maiden name is Slaghoople.” In at least three episodes (Bony Hurdle (the rodeo cowboy), one where Fred has to wine and dine a client for Mr. Slate who turns out to have gone to college with Wilma, and one about an insurance policy and Fred trying to get a job with a hotel chain), her maiden name is Pebble. No, they never do explain why her mother’s name is Slaghoople. As for an actual historical myth, I have some: “The Germans and Soviets were allies throughout World War II” “The South could have won the Civil War had they managed to occupy Washington” (which they came close to doing - in how many other wars was one country’s capital literally on the border with an enemy?) - if that was the case, then why didn’t the USA surrender to the British in 1812? “The real reason marijuana was made illegal in the USA was because William Randolph Hearst wanted to protect his lumber stock holdings from collapse if hemp was available as a cheap source of paper pulp” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/290 "2014-11-26T21:03:47Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > “The Germans and Soviets were allies throughout World War II” Huh? 😕 Never heard of anyone believing this. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/291 "2014-11-26T21:06:43Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Huh? 😕 Never heard of anyone believing this. Me neither. If anything people believe… ok not exactly the opposite but they don’t know that the USSR was crossing the Polish border on the east while the blitzkrieg was hitting the west. Many people assume the Soviets were against the Germans from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/292 "2014-11-26T22:17:33Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > “The South could have won the Civil War had they managed to occupy Washington” (which they came close to doing - in how many other wars was one country’s capital literally on the border with an enemy?) - if that was the case, then why didn’t the USA surrender to the British in 1812? The South’s plan, at least in the invasion of Pennsylvania, was to threaten DC, not capture it - to besiege the capital and force the North to accept a deal. Actually _occupying_ the city was the last thing the South wanted to do, for the reasons you pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/293 "2014-11-26T22:34:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize ($25,000, or about $350,000 in today’s money), which was offered for a New York/Paris non-stop flight (it could be in either direction). Previous transatlantic flights had been from Newfoundland to the Azores, South America to North Africa, or other distances that had origins and destinations that were impractical for things like establishing air mail points, and were chosen mainly to keep the route as short as possible. The first non-stop transatlantic flight was in 1919, from Newfoundland to Ireland, by [Alcock and Brown](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flight_of_Alcock_and_Brown), and there was a £10,000 prize, which they won. (A flight to the Azores, scarcely counts as crossing the Atlantic. They are only about two thirds of the way. So that flight did not win any prizes.) Lindberg is famous in America principally because he was the first American to do it, and because he was media friendly. In fact, he freely admitted that “Alcock and Brown showed me the way,” (see link). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/294 "2014-11-26T22:40:49Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > He brought a lot of attention to American aviation, which had been a European thing up until that point, because of the WWI pilots,… World War I was part of it, but there were also some intellectual property disputes that slowed down aircraft development in the U.S. and let the Europeans take the lead. In a nutshell, the Wright brothers invented a control mechanism they called “wing warping”, and sued anybody who built similar controls into their airplanes. [Wright brothers patent war](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers_patent_war) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/295 "2014-11-26T22:48:50Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The first non-stop transatlantic flight was in 1919, from Newfoundland to Ireland, by [Alcock and Brown](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_flight_of_Alcock_and_Brown), and there was a £10,000 prize, which they won. (A flight to the Azores, scarcely counts as crossing the Atlantic. They are only about two thirds of the way. So that flight did not win any prizes.) > > Lindberg is famous in America principally because he was the first American to do it, and because he was media friendly. In fact, he freely admitted that “Alcock and Brown showed me the way,” (see link). I didn’t say Lindbergh made the first non-stop flight-- I said he made the first non-stop NY/Paris flight, which was something that had been specially sought, and there was a prize offered. He was also the first person to do it solo, although that wasn’t one of the requirements of the prize. Many people who tried for the prize before Lindbergh tried to carry food storage and prep equipment (one tried to carry a refrigerator, and couldn’t get his plane off the ground), and wanted to arrive in a sort of luxury, unruffled, as it were. Lindbergh flew a plane with no toilet, and had pretty much a salami and a loaf of bread. He looked pretty rough, and I imagine didn’t smell so good when he arrived, but he arrived, which was the point. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/296 "2014-11-27T01:19:05Z")
Napoleon wasn’t actually short - he was of average stature for a man of his era. Mama Cass didn’t choke on a ham sandwich. It was tuna. No, just kidding, it was “natural causes”, not choking. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/297 "2014-11-27T01:48:30Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Myth: Attributed to John Lennon: > My teacher asked me what I wanted in life. I said to be happy. He said you don’t understand the question. I said you don’t understand life. (or various versions) > also > “Is Ringo the best drummer in the world. (Answer) Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles”. > There is no evidence that he said either- apart from attributed quotes on the Internet. I also tire of people attributing “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans” to Lennon. It appeared in print (Reader’s Digest, IIRC) at least 15-20 years before JL used it. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/298 "2014-11-27T02:08:03Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I didn’t say Lindbergh made the first non-stop flight-- I said he made the first non-stop NY/Paris flight, which was something that had been specially sought, and there was a prize offered. He was also the first person to do it solo, although that wasn’t one of the requirements of the prize. > > Many people who tried for the prize before Lindbergh tried to carry food storage and prep equipment (one tried to carry a refrigerator, and couldn’t get his plane off the ground), and wanted to arrive in a sort of luxury, unruffled, as it were. Lindbergh flew a plane with no toilet, and had pretty much a salami and a loaf of bread. He looked pretty rough, and I imagine didn’t smell so good when he arrived, but he arrived, which was the point. Nobody is claiming that Lindbergh didn’t do what he did, or that it was not an impressive achievement, in its way, or that the didn’t win a prize for it. The point, however, is that it is not very impressive as a _first_, and only a first at all if you gerrymander the criteria quite assiduously. On the other hand, your earlier post, which mentions Curtis’s flight to the Azores, albeit dismissively, but does not even allude to Alcock and Brown’s (prizewinning) non-stop flight to Ireland, almost looks like deliberate obfuscation. Alcock and Brown clearly have the best claim to have flown the whole width of the Atlantic, from America to Europe, in one hop (without stopping off for rest, recuperation, and refueling along the way, as Curtis did twice in the Azores). They did it. Lindbergh also did it, and perhaps with a bit more panache, but several years later. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/299 "2014-11-27T02:16:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Trinopus](#): > > > > They seriously (!) claim that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. > > So do most mainstream scientists. > > [http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html](http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html) Non-serious but still awesome scientists do too: [xkcd: Birds and Dinosaurs](http://xkcd.com/1211) ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744/300 "2014-11-27T02:24:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The South’s plan, at least in the invasion of Pennsylvania, was to threaten DC, not capture it - to besiege the capital and force the North to accept a deal. Actually _occupying_ the city was the last thing the South wanted to do, for the reasons you pointed out. That and the whole DC being fortified like the Maginot Line shortly after the first Union defeat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-myths-that-reallly-get-on-your-tits/704744.md?page=16)