Historical Misconceptions Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

This peculiar belief may have come down to us from the Roman word, vomitorium. That however was an area of large buildings such as stadiums. Instead, Romans tended to eat round a focal point in the room, usually while lying down, with their feet pointing away from the food and their heads facing towards it. Feet and hands were washed before a meal, and after each course. Napkins were also commonly used.

They did however have one bad habit at meal time, and that was to throw all their food scraps on the floor to be cleaned up by the slaves.

Answer: Horns

This is another common misconception that many people believe is gospel truth today. There is, in fact, no record at all of Vikings wearing horned helmets into battle or during their daily village lives. Instead, the helmets the men did wear into battle were made of leather, fitted closely to their heads and greatly resembled those worn by Norman soldiers. If horned helmets of any kind were worn at all, it was by their leaders for religious or ceremonial purposes, and evidence of this is very slim indeed.

The concept of your average Viking in the street getting about wearing a horned helmet was made popular by the German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) in his 1876 "Der Ring des Nibelungen" series of operas. This composer was rather taken by the notion of the heroic Teutonic warrior.

Answer: A complete fabrication

Historians have found no evidence of the use of the iron maiden as a torture or execution device. It is believed that this object seen in the occasional museum today, and said to represent a torture device from medieval times, is a copy based on a fabrication.

The oldest of these machines was thrown together in 1793 by one Johann Philipp Siebenkees, a German philosopher, to create a sensational (and commercial) exhibition.

Answer: No

He in fact discovered the Caribbean islands instead, but perhaps that's splitting hairs. Columbus himself thought he had reached the east coast of Asia. The continent of America was "discovered" by Leif Ericson some five hundred years earlier than the time of Columbus, when he established a Norse settlement in Newfoundland.

Answer: Libya

Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324) was an Italian traveller who journeyed over much of Asia when little was known about most of that continent. He detailed his wanderings of twenty-four years in a book which sparked the interest of Europeans into exploring the rest of the globe for the next several centuries. Pasta, however, was introduced into Europe by Arabs from the north of Africa, in the 7th century. That took place when they were busily conquering Sicily.

Answer: Let them eat cake

Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) was the wife of King Louis XVI of France during the years prior to, and during, the lead up to the French Revolution (1789-1799). Both she and her husband were beheaded. This beautiful queen was treated barbarically by her captors before her death, with the French believing many of the completely false statements and actions she was supposed to have said and done, none of which includes the heartless statement above.

Instead, the expression "Let them eat cake" first appeared fifty years after her death, in the 1843 satirical journal "Les Guepes" (Engl. "The Waspsa"), which was a monthly publication by the French writer, Alphonse Karr.

Answer: Wood

George Washington (1732-1799) was the first President of the United States of America. This great man achieved many wonderful things, and had just as many incorrect beliefs associated with his name. One of these misconceptions, of all things, was about his teeth, said to be made of wood.

His dentures were actually made of hippopotamus and elephant ivory, with a dash of gold here and there, and the occasional horse and donkey tooth thrown in for good measure. He had several sets of these, as, by the time he was President, he only had two of his own teeth left.

This is more than evident in some of the great man's portraits.

Answer: August 1776

Composed by Thomas Jefferson, who would go on to become the 3rd President of that nation, the original handwritten Declaration of Independence was drafted, in a hurry, between June 4 and 28 June 1776. This first draft was then presented to Congress on the date it was completed. Congress edited this work for several days, tightening up sentence structure and omitting some passages until, by the 2 July, it was shortened by one fourth and ready to be officially presented for approval. That took place on July 2, 1776 when the new handwritten document was officially adopted.

After two more days of tidying up what would become the final draft, this handwritten copy was approved and sent to the printers on July 4 1776. Though some signed the first handwritten amended copy on 2 July, and some signed the final handwritten copy on July 4, the actual signing, by the majority, of this momentous document in its official printed form, took place in August, 1776.

Answer: Slightly taller

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was in fact above average height for Frenchmen of his time, standing at 5 foot 7 inches tall (169cm). It is believed that this misconception came about at his death when he was measured by his English captors who were using a different measuring system from that of the Continental system in use at that time in history.

Answer: Unknown beyond the fact it was in a barn

The Great Chicago Fire burned out of control for two days. It caused untold damage to property and killed hundreds of people. It is looked upon as one of the greatest disasters that the U.S. experienced in that century. Nothing is known about the origin of the inferno beyond beyond the fact that it began in DeKoven Street in a barn belonging to the O'Leary family.

The story about that poor old cow kicking over a lantern was a complete fabrication by a journalist, Michael Ahern, who worked for the "Chicago Republican" newspaper.

He thought it would make a good colourful story.