History Isn't Always Correct

Napoleon
Graphic Source: Public Domain

History is supposedly a narrative description of past evens. Every school child is taught history, but are they taught the correct version? Historical events could have happened in our past or way before we were born. History can be as old as the universe, or as new as a second ago, but there is always one common thread and that is that history is correct, just because it is history. Unfortunately for us this is not always the case. Many things that we have been taught are just plain wrong. It is very difficult for us when facts that we heard all our lives and maybe even were drummed into us in school are incorrect. Lets take a simple fact, Napoleon was very short. Everyone has heard this, haven't they? Why it has always been said that he was only 5 feet 2 inches tall. Yes this is correct, but that was in French feet, a measurement that was used before 1799, or that is what some historians believe now. A French foot was shorter than the 12 inches we use today. It is calculated that Napoleon was about 5 foot 7 inches in our measurements, which would have put him at above average height for his day.

The Hindenburg
Photo Source: US Navy

I think that most people know about the Hindenburg. The Hindenburg was a German air ship that exploded as it was trying to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey. It was not a blimp, which is essentially a balloon with a gondola under it. It was a rigid ship with cells in it that were filled with hydrogen, which is a very explosive gas. For year we have been told that the reason the ship had such dangerous gas in it, was that the United States, which was just about the only source for helium a much safer lighter than air gas, would not sell it to the Germans. This is simply wrong. In 1929 the US government gave Germany the chance to buy it, but they felt it was too expensive. They were quick to blame the crew for the accident when actually there was an undetected leak in the upper part of the machine.

William Henry Harrison
Photo Source: Public Domain

“Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” was a famous slogan that was used to get William Henry Harrison elected president. He was painted as a hero. It turned out that his attack on the indians was carried out without permission. He claimed that he had tried to negotiate with Tecumsch, the leader, but it was found out later that he wasn't even there. He had gone away earlier recruiting braves. The reason for the attack was that a very drunk man had told Harrison that the indians were going to attack. Lastly, Harrison never really won the battle. About 60 indians were killed and slightly more soldiers on Harrison's side. It is amazing what a PR campaign can do.

When the US entered into the Vietnam war, it was because we were told that the North Vietnamese torpedo boats had launched an unprovoked attack against a US destroyer that was on a routine patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin. Everyone here believed this story and indeed it is even told today. Unfortunately that is not the correct account of events. The true story is that we attacked North Vietnam the day before and we did it twice. Later on, then President Johnson stated, “for all he knew the Navy had been shooting at whales”, during the attack. A tacit admission that he really didn't know what was going on, but the truth was revealed later that he actually did.

Every time we read something on the history of the life of George Washington, we keep hearing about the fact that he had wooden teeth made that he wore. First of all, can you imagine how uncomfortable that this would be, never mind the splinters that would eventually occur? Anyway this fact is false. It is said that he did have false teeth made, but they were made from Hippopatamus ivory. That in itself seems very strange. I don't know why, but I would have thought that they would have been made from either bone or elephant ivory.

Nikola Tesla
Photo Source: Public Domain

The story goes that Nikola Tesla, the great electrical genius and inventor of AC current, died in a New York hotel room in 1943. The story is correct so far. We have also been told that upon his death the government rushed in and took all of his papers and they were never seen again. Historians state that this is not how things happened. Tesla had designed some things that could have been used as weapons. The US government went to his apartment in an orderly fashion and removed the papers and documents and placed them with the Office of Alien Property. In this case Alien means non US citizen. They were moved to the Manhattan Warehouse and Storage Company and a certificate of ownership was given to his nephew. In 1952 everything was shipped to Yugoslavia where the Nicola Tesla Museum is located in Belgrade. So you see, nothing disappeared. The US government admits to having microfilmed the papers before sending them.

When we talk about the American Civil War, we are taught that the North had a united front and every northern state contributed to the war effort. This is not exactly true. California was considered a northern state and yet they had only sent 200 men to fight with the armies of the North. Another interesting Civil War fact that seems to be left out of most historical reports is the fact that when the war started, a man waited outside of the office of General McClellan for days trying to get a commission as an officer. He was totally ignored. His name was Ulysses S. Grant, who would later lead the Union forces to victory and become president.