Comments on: The 20 Greatest Historical Myths

By: The B-Roth

The B-Roth — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:08:51 +0000

This article was so full of misinformation (as many have, correctly, commented already) that one has to wonder if the person who wrote it was getting paid. If so, they should be fired for such gross incompetence. They were probably a journalism major, which is why no one believes what they read in newspapers anymore, and this article is itself proof why no one should EVER believe anything they read “on the internet.”

By: itrokz

itrokz — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:45:01 +0000

For the liberation of India.. Most of it is true, like Gandhi was one of the important leader and an important component for the India’s freedom, Though Independence to India was inevitable.. But Independence by forced means was not possible at that time, which as you mentioned Subash Chandara Bose tried and could not succeed in it.. and if Gandhi had did so at that time, which could have created more complications on all fields and to the partition of India & Pakistan too..

By: smiley

smiley — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:01:53 +0000

in regards to #1
ok im a 13 yr old 8th grader and we just learned tht george was appointed by john hancock to b prez. my last name is randolph so im ok with a randolph as prez but still why confuse the little ones? watts the point of this page anyways? im pretty sure noone tht has a lifecomments on thisstuf. i just happened upon it n decided to set u ppl straight

By: Joe Hova

Joe Hova — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:05:13 +0000

In debunking myth no.2 you draw upon two other myths- that Mithras was born on the 25th of December and that he was born of a virgin. Neither of these claims have any basis in historical evidence, though there was a festival of the sun god on 25th of December in Roman times.

By: the hottness

the hottness — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:47:01 +0000

in regards to #2:

Mithra(of sumerian origin i believe) is not the only other prophet/deity said to be born at or around Dec 25.
The Egyptian god Osiris is said to have died on Dec 22, and be born again on Dec 25th. The same with the Greeks and Dionysos.
Its been the same orgin story and celebration days for countless cultures around the world. Its always been an alagory to explain our suns movement in the sky during the course of Dec 21st to Dec 29ish(the suns movements directly relate to earths distance from the sun). Jesus is actually one of the youngest religions to celebrate the winter solstace.
Its the same thing with all christian holidays( easter for example, is just the christian celebration of the spring equinox).

“Larskie Says:

In Luke 2:7 NIV, it was clearly stated that Mary gave birth to Jesus and she put him in a manger. While in Matthew 2:7-11 NIV, you will read that the Magi visited, worshipped, and gave gifts of gold, incence, and myrrh to Jesus. The “number” of the Magi (or Three Wise Men) most probably were accredited to the number of gifts enumerated.”

As for this comment. Larskie, dont use the bible to try and prove your point. Its not a history book and many of its stories have been debunked several times. That would be like me saying that the movie “Independence Day” is proof of extraterrestrial life.

By: mike

mike — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:51:34 +0000

#20 has no place in here, regardless of the fact that there is no historical data to support adam and eve, most scholars regard Genesis as a story, and not something to be taken literally.
#14 – I believe that witches in Salem were actually tied to rocks and thrown into a lake, with the belief that if they were, indeed witches, they would float instead of sinking. Those who didn’t drown were stoned or hung.
#12 – Whether King John “signed” the magna carta with a name or provided the royal seal is irrelevant. The royal seal is equivalent to a signature.
#10 – Yes, magellan died before he technically managed to circumnavigate the entire world. That being said, without his contribution, the voyage would never have happened. I think we can credit him with the accomplishment.
#9 – You seem to get hung up on little word-choice technicalities. The saying of what Nero supposedly did while Rome was burning varies, I have heard many variations of this story. There is no definitive proof of where he really was during the fires, but it’s pretty irrelevant. The point is that he was highly unconcerned with the plight of his people, and did very little or nothing to help.
#6 – Yes, the war raged on until much later. However, America formally stated itself as an autonomous country on july 4th , 1776, despite the signing occurred on july 2nd.
#5 – I agree, tesla should have been mentioned. Also, it is worth mentioning that edison did invent the vacuumed bulb where others had failed, as well as the filament.
#4 – Columbus did NOT believe the earth was pear-shaped. He just thought that it was about 60% the size it really is. Also, he did set foot on mainland america.
#3 – Its fairly common knowledge that Jesus’ birthday is not mentioned in the bible, although most scholars assume it was somewhere around July. The early church simply adapted pagan symbols into the church so that the pagans would convert more easily into Christianity, with holidays such as the winter solstice (december 25th), and the symbol of the cross, which previously had meant pain, suffering, and humiliation.
#1 – Once more, you seem to be stuck in the technicalities of words. Washington was the first elected official of the united states, according to the electoral college that had been established originally in the constitution (where the names of the president and vice president were written on a piece of paper and counted. Actually, John Adams ended up tying for the office of president due to the problems with this system; since there was 1 vote for president and 1 vote for vice president but no distinction between the two, he ended up having exactly the same number of votes as Aaron Burr, his running mate. He ended up being president not due to the fairness of the election, but popular consensus among the senators that he was the intended winner.) That being said, washington was the first elected president of the US, while the predecessors were not, in fact, anything more than temporary heads of the government for the sake of appearances.

By: Michaela

Michaela — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:11:54 +0000

Timote, Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source of information, therefore making your comment obsolete.

By: SLR

SLR — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:48:23 +0000

@ KC -
We have not ever had a popularly elected president, nor an electoral college which is the mechanism of the popular vote…if that had been the case, Al Gore, who received more popular votes in 2000 than George Bush, would have become president. Few states require electors to vote the same way as the popular vote of their state, and several electors have, over the years, voted for another candidate other than the one chosen by his or her state. The founders set it up that way on purpose, so that the electors could correct it if the “uneducated” public made a decision which was not in the best interests of the nation.

By: timote

timote — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:55:03 +0000

#6 “As most American school children (and many non-American ones) are aware, America’s founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.”

Not correct, that is a myth!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29

By: KC

KC — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:58:14 +0000

George Washington was not popularly elected! What an amateur mistake. The Electoral College process by which he was elected was not, as it is now, essentially a mechanism of a popular vote. The electors were not expected to vote for whichever candidate won a popular vote in their respective states; in fact, only 6 states chose to select their electors by means of a popular vote.