Posts Tagged ‘Myths’
Winston Churchill, Alexander Fleming, and Penicillin
It’s a Monday Myth day! A little extra credit to give you a Buzzkill boost for the start of your week! In the early days of email, a wonderfully-constructed tale flew around the interwebs. It was about a medical emergency, a heroic rescue, and a family’s gratitude. It attracted our attention here at the Buzzkill…
Read MoreMolly Pitcher
An ode to Revolutionary War camp followers The more we study the American Revolutionary period and the stories that are told about it, the more we realize that many of those stories are really about 1876, rather than 1776. In other words, a lot of our perceptions about the American Revolution come from stories crafted…
Read MoreThe Hitler Jig
Hitler didn’t dance that jig France fell to Nazi Germany in June 1940. The Germans stage managed it so that Hitler would receive the French surrender in the same railroad car that the Germans had signed their surrender that ended World War I. Hitler stepped out of the railway car while the surrender documents were…
Read MoreEve and the Apple
The apple of Adam’s eye Many of us “know” that, in the Garden of Eden, Eve was tempted by a serpent to eat an apple from the tree of knowledge. She ate the apple, and that led to God expelling her and Adam from the Garden of Eden. This is known as the “Fall of…
Read MorePaul Revere’s Ride
Listen, oh Buzzkillers, and you shall hear,the true story of the Ride of Paul Revere All American children grow up hearing Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem that tells us this great story. On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith and American patriot, jumped on his horse and rode through “every Middlesex village and…
Read MoreThe Truth About The Scopes Trial
Quit monkeying around On April 24, 1925, a high school teacher named John Scopes taught a class in Dayton, Tennessee, using a state-mandated textbook that included a chapter explaining Darwin’s theory of evolution. In doing so, Scopes was in violation of Tennessee’s Butler Act, passed earlier in the year. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and…
Read MoreThe Myth About Construction Workers Entombed in Concrete
Was the march of progress that heartless? It’s a story that drives tour guides and historians of engineering crazy. A worker falls into a pool of wet concrete that’s being poured as part of a major construction project. Before he can be saved, his body slips beneath the surface and he drowns in the thick…
Read MoreSt. Francis of Assisi
Three types of myths about St. Francis St. Francis of Assisi is one of the most popular saints in the Christian religion. He’s known as a lover of animals, the first eco-warrior, and a peace-negotiator during the crusades. How much of this is true, and how much is myth? “Make me the instrument of your…
Read MoreThe Spanish Flu Pandemic
The flu didn’t start in Spain, so why have they been blamed? The great influenza pandemic of 1918-1920 was the one of the worst disasters in human history. It is difficult to determine with pinpoint accuracy, but experts say that somewhere between 50 and 100 million people were killed by the flu world-wide. Compare that…
Read MoreTy Cobb Myths
Does Ty Cobb live up to his reputation? He is often referred to as one of greatest baseball players of all time, but was Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach, rotten to the core? Was his professional greatness mirrored by personal repugnance? As is so often the case, Cobb’s soiled reputation was mostly the product of a…
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