Medieval Flat Earth Beliefs
While the Middle Ages are known as a time of scientific regression, Europeans understood that the Earth is round. This had been mathematically proven centuries earlier by Greek scientists viewing shadows cast by measuring tools at various points on the planet. The arguments medieval scholars had about the planet regarded its exact size and the possibility of other people living on the opposite side of the planet, not its shape.
Thomas Crapper’s Inventions
Thomas Crapper was a plumber and manufacturer of water closets, but he did not invent the flushable toilet, contrary to popular belief. With a name like “Crapper,” it has to be true, though, right? The guy’s name means toilet! Well, again, no: the word “crappe,” meaning waste, dates to the 13th Century. The first flush toilet was probably Sir John Harington, who installed such a device at Queen Elizabeth’s Surrey palace in the 16th Century.
Let Them Eat Cake
Marie Antoinette likely never said that her subjects should “eat cake” since they were out of bread. This famously out-of-touch line was used as a way to demonize her before and after her public execution, but there’s no evidence she ever said it. In fact, these exact words were attributed to various other nobles in the decades leading up to the French Revolution.
The British are Coming!
Paul Revere is often depicted as shouting “the British are coming!” as he rides through the Massachusetts countryside to warn of the approaching soldiers. However, the colonists would have viewed themselves as British, thus making it impossible he would have shouted such a phrase. Moreover, there were already British troops camping all over the region, so shouting their arrival would tip the colonists’ hand. Instead, Revere likely carried his message to high-ranking people and whispered about the arrival of the “regulars.”
