10 Common History Myths and Legends Debunked

The history we all share is our past, but it goes on to affect the present and future. As children and even as adults, we have been led to believe that certain historic myths and legends are facts or in some cases, the outright truth. These are either things that happened in the past or things that have been believed to be the reality for years.

Backing this read with real factual information, I take you across such tales and misconceptions - not only about India but the world history as a whole!

Beginning with some Indian History Myths first -

1. Hockey has always been India's National Sport

Back in school, our 'General Knowledge' textbooks always made us believe this, but truth being told this is another myth! There is no national sport of India.

2. Hindi was and continues to be the National Language of India

Having grown up listening to everyone around me propagate this, I can only imagine how shocking this would be. In the constitution, Hindi has been declared as an Official Language and not a National Language.

3. Mahatma Gandhi said "An eye for an eye would leave the world blind"

While Gandhiji would have totally nailed the Twitter world in today's time with his brilliant one-liner game, this was not something said by him. A lot of us might have heard this in the movie Gandhi. That being said, there is no record of this statement put across by Gandhi in any of his collected works whatsoever.

4. Subash Chandra Bose died in a plane crash

Contrary to popular belief, this statement does not hold true. Around the time of Netaji's demise, there was no plane crash! Further there was no DNA Analysis done on what was claimed to be Bose's ashes.

5. India has been an officially secular country since the year 1947

Despite this being a very popular idea, it is actually just a common misconception. Only in the year 1976 was the word 'Secular' included in the Preamble of India. However, the Supreme Court still continues to uphold this belief.

It is interesting to note how even in the year 2020, India remains to be "Secular" only on paper and official documents, not in reality.

Let us now take a small around-the-globe myth-busting trip, shall we?

6. Albert Einstein failed in Mathematics

We all have our own ways of convincing ourselves every time our parents lectured us on finding out how 'amazing' our score was in the Mathematics exam (that they found even from our secret hiding place - between the books!). Unfortunately, this is less of a fact and more of a myth. Although he was a poor student who was known to fail in subjects that he did no take a liking to, Einstein excelled in Mathematics and its application in Physics!

7. Majority of Western men in the Colonial times wore wigs

Though it was very fashionable to sport wigs and powdered hair, only 5% of the population really wore them! Unless you were rich (read: a lawyer, doctor, or a statesman) you could not afford these fancy wigs given how expensive they are. So in reality, only the elite few adorned them. Such streaks of misconceptions! (pun intended)

8. Thomas Edison was the first inventor of the light bulb

Guess it is time to update history and separate it with unchecked facts. The light bulb had been around years before Thomas Edison "created" one when what he did was improvise the previous versions. It is unknown to most people that around 20 other inventors were also working on the improvement; it is just that Edison cracked it first!

9. People were burned at stake during the Salem Witch Trials

While in the European Witch Trials people were left to burn at stake, this absolutely does not hold true for the American trials! Importantly, the trials did no revealing as to how the so called 'Witches' carried out their acts of dark magic. At the end, around 20 people were executed, out of which 19 were hanged and 1 was pressed (in a large vice). Not a single person was burned as it has been talked about.

10. The Great Wall of China is the only manmade object that can be seen from space

There are many roads, bridges, and cities (mainly at night) as well as Spain's Greenhouses which are visible from space. Not so surprisingly, some things about China are just not reliable.

That being said, you can always rely on the TruthOrTales team for quality content! Give the heart button below a tap, and don't forget to share this blog and comment your views on it!