Mini Myths
The Rise of Cowboy Hats
“I never trust a man who doesn’t wear a cowboy hat.”-Professor Buzzkill Everyone loves the cowboy hat. Even if you don’t wear one, you want to see your cowboy movie heroes wearing one. Anything else would be un-American, right? Wrong. The classic, iconic cowboy hat design didn’t appear until 1865 and didn’t become popular until…
Read MoreDr. Samuel Mudd & John Wilkes Booth
Don’t get mudd on your hands The Civil War era has given rise to perhaps more legends and myths than any period of American history (apart from the country’s founding). This is not surprising, given that so many strange things happened during that time, and that emotions about the war have been running high ever…
Read MoreThe “Twinkie Defense”
Were Twinkies used to defend an assassin? We’re going to take you all the way back to 1978, Buzzkillers. That may be ancient history for some of you, but it’s still current affairs for your favorite Professor. A murder trial in California during late 1978 became famous for something called the “Twinkie Defense.” According to…
Read MoreGrigori Rasputin: The Mad Monk
The myth of the mad monk I love the Russian Revolutionary period in the early twentieth century, Buzzkillers. It’s one of those exciting and dramatic episodes of modern history that has everything: an out-of-touch and strange royal family, fiery politicians of various stripes trying to reform things, oppressed people rising up, and a mad, but…
Read MoreSt. Patrick’s Day Myths
Is St. Patrick’s Day more of an American tradition? What can possibly be wrong with St. Patrick’s Day? Not much, except that there’s very little historical basis behind stories about St. Patrick. And there’s certainly no historical basis for excess drinking, green beer, and the Chicago River turned green. Or is there? The Professor becomes…
Read More“Washington Crossing the Delaware”
“Americans will cross a frozen river to kill you in your sleep on Christmas.” -Unknown The painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851) by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (1816-1868) is one of most iconic images in the American cultural consciousness. On Christmas night in 1776, the General, faced by a hostile and half-frozen Delaware river, mustered 13 men into…
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