The 20 Great Historical Myths, Part 2
16. The Great Train Robbery was the first feature film
When it was released in 1903, “The Great Train Robbery” pioneered several techniques, including jump cuts, medium close-ups and a complex story. But the first feature film? It only lasted ten minutes! Even most short films are longer than that. The first feature film was a 100-minute Australian film, “The Story of the Kelly Gang”, released three years later. Even if you think of a feature film as the “prominence” of a movie show, the title would go to one of several French films made during the 1890s (but I won’t name one, as that could cause a number of arguments).
15. Van Gogh cut off his ear
Van Gogh is known as the archetypal starving artist, who only sold one painting in his life and, in a fight with Gauguin, cut off his ear, shortly before committing suicide. Although he met a tragic end and his own paintings sold poorly, it is worth noting that he spent most of his life teaching and selling art. He only spent eight years of his life painting, which helps explain why he didn’t starve. Also, he didn’t cut off his entire ear, just part of the left lobe. Painful, but not as bad as you might have thought.
14. Witches were burned at the stake in Salem
The Salem (Massachusetts) witch trials of 1692 resulted in the arrest of 150 people, of whom 31 were tried and 20 executed. But just as these judgments were based on ignorance, there are many misconceptions about them. To begin with, the 31 convicted “witches” were not all women. Six of them were men. Also, they were not burned at the stake. As any witch hunter would know, a true witch could never be killed by this method. The usual method was to hang him, although one was crushed to death under heavy stones.
13. Napoleon was a small corporal
Some people believe that Napoleon’s domineering ambitions were to compensate for his small physical size. not so True, Napoleon was called Le Petit Corporal (“The Little Corporal”), but he was 5 feet 7 inches tall, taller than the average 18th-century Frenchman. So why the nickname? Early in his military career, he was used by soldiers to make fun of his relatively low rank. The name stuck, even when he became ruler of France.
In the next chapter, we find out what Nero, King John, Sir Walter Raleigh and Ferdinand Magellan DID NOT DO. (Hint: It was the stuff they’re best known for.)