Debunking Famous Firsts (post yours here)

It's pretty clear football doesn't either. So-called 'gridiron' football was supposedly invented in the US in the late 19th century, but some version of the game, in a form recognizable to even a modern person's eyes, has been played since at least medieval times.

Myth: Woman have orgasms.



Reality:  I've never seen it.

Just 300 soldiers held off the Persians at Thermopylae for three days
This epic battle scene rose to modern fame through the Frank Miller-produced action flick 300.” In that fanciful flick, six-packed Adonises wield spears, swords and shields fending off Persian ghost ninjas from their beloved city of Sparta. Granting the obvious artistic license taken with the story, even the conservative retellings are sometimes mistaken. Indeed, there were only 300 Spartan soldiers guarding the pass at Thermopylae, but they had support from neighboring allies numbering over 5,000 soldiers. It is true however, that the Persian army was tens of thousands strong, perhaps even 100,000 in number. So a three day stand with less than 6,000 soldiers is still impressive.

Marie Antoinette once said, “Let them eat cake.”
According to legend, prior to the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, bride of King Louis XIV and queen of France, was notoriously indifferent to the plight of the masses as they cried out for bread amidst a looming famine. There was no bread, and she allegedly responded: "Let them eat cake." This story is unsupported by the facts, for the phrase “Let them eat cake” was previously ascribed to others. Moreover, even though the queen's lifestyle was immaculate, she was quite generous to charitable causes, and she recognized the plight of the masses. She was well-educated and intelligent and would have known better than to say something so inflammatory to a biographer or journalist.

The Salem witch trials burned people at the stake
This myth conflates different stories about witches. There were European witch trials in which convicted witches were burned at the stake, but no such burnings occurred in America during colonial times or later. The Salem Witch trials of 1692 predated the standard judicial procedures we know today, including trial by a jury of peers, presumed innocence, and Miranda rights. Most notably the trials never revealed how the defendants were even able to commit the occult acts for which they were accused. In the end, some 20 people were executed, 19 by hanging and 1 by pressing (in a large vice). No one was burned at the stake.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned
This myth is only true metaphorically speaking. Nero was a vicious tyrant who was notoriously indifferent to the suffering of his people. But he did not literally play the fiddle during the great fire in Rome (64 AD), because the fiddle originated in the 11th century, about 1000 years after Nero. Perhaps the myth traces to the Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote about unconfirmed reports that Nero sang while watching the city in flames. In reality, when Nero found out about the fire, he rushed to provide relief. But, that didn't stop his citizens from accusing him of intentionally starting the fire. He was suspected because he later used the razed land for some of his own building projects. He was never able to escape those conspiratorial rumors, since he'd lost all trust from the people. Instead, Nero blamed the fire on a small but growing Jewish-religious sect: Christians.


The Council of Nicea determined which books would be in the Bible
One of Christianity's most famous myths is that the Christian Church Council of Nicea in 325 CE (Nicea I) determined which books were to be included in the Bible. This myth was popularized in part by Dan Brown's skeptical novel, The DaVinci Code where he goes as far as to suggest that there was a historical Jesus who married Mary Magdalene (who was never a prostitute) and fathered a child with her. He also attributes a great deal of early church theology about women and scriptural authority to the influence of the heavy-handed Emperor Constantine. It is true that the Roman Emperor Constantine had a famous conversion to the Christian faith, and he played a noted role in calling the first official ecumenical (i.e., "universal") council of the Church. And it is true that this council was in Nicea, a city in Bithynia (modern-day Turkey). But, ignoring for the moment the obviously controversial claims about Jesus, Dan Brown's account is flatly mistaken about what happened at Nicea. The council convened to discuss the Arian controversy, not the Canon of Scripture (Canon refers to the rule or standard whereby books are considered inspired by God). The Arian controversy was a theological dispute championed by Bishop Arius, who had been teaching that Jesus wasn't always divine and was divine only in a different sense from Yahweh God. Today, the doctrine lives on as Arianism and is considered unorthodox. Meanwhile, it was not until 367 CE that Athanasias first offered the list of books now known as the Athanasian Canon—the 27 books of the New Testament (Matthew through Revelation). And even then, the councils that confirmed that list as official were in Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), not Nicea I (325). In short, this myth about the books of the Bible was off by about 70 years. Mr. Brown can be forgiven, however, because he is a novelist and not a historian.

Wall Street suicide jumpers
In the great stock market crash of 1929, countless bankers, brokers, and investors lost fortunes. But, the rate of suicides actually declined--a common phenomenon after tragic events. We aren't quite sure why this is, but one explanation is that great tragedy awakens people to the value of life, namely how fragile and brief it is. Another theory is that people surrender a felt sense of entitlement—and subsequent disappointment—and instead buckle down, work harder, trying to find ways to press on. Whatever the reason, the suicide rate did not increase after the 1929 crash. Even when people did take their lives, window-jumping was only reported in two cases.

Medieval People Believed in a Flat Earth
In some quarters, the fact that the Earth is a globe is regarded as a modern discovery, and there are few things people trying to attack the supposed backwardness of the medieval period like more than claiming they all thought the Earth was flat. People also claim Columbus was opposed by flat-earthers, but that’s not why people doubted him.

Correct but it's important to notice that during the Principate phase of the Roman Empire, the Empire was still considered a Republic in name and not a monarchy. Early Roman emperors used the title Princeps Civitatis (First among citizens) to keep the appearances of a Republic. 

interesting.