Historical 'Facts' People Learned In School That Are Actually Not True

The phrase "history is written by the victors" is a common saying. It's often attributed to Winston Churchill, although there's no proof he said those exact words.

It points out that those who win conflicts shape how those events are remembered, recorded, and taught to future generations, leading to biased historical accounts and warped perceptions.

But victors or winners isn't always determined by actual victory. The victor is most often whoever holds power.

Reddit user vn66 asked:

"What historical 'fact' did you learn in school, that later turned out to be completely wrong or misrepresented?"

Ättestupa

"Early 90's in Sweden, I learned about 'ättestupa'—the Viking practice of seniors throwing themselves/being thrown down cliffs when they could no longer sustain themselves/contribute to the community."

"They did not actually do that."

~ xfactotumx

Monsoon Season

"In 7th grade, my geography teacher taught us China had such a big population because of the Asian monsoon (rain) season. We didn't get it."

"So my teacher explained China had a big population because due to the rain, couples would stay inside more, get bored, and have sex to pass the time, leading to more children being born."

"She even asked this question on a test."

~ nerodidntdoit

She Was Framed

"I’m a teacher, so I like to check myself when I say something students are surprised by."

"Recently, I found out that Black Widow spiders only eat their mates in captivity."

"It’s actually not common in the wild."

~ Can_I_Read

Significant, But Not First

"Rosa Parks wasn’t the first to refuse to sit in the back of the bus. Shout out to Claudette Colvin!"

~ Dirty_Sanchez74656

"Rosa Parks' protest on the day was impromptu."

"With that said, she had been an NAACP activist for more than a decade, had recently done training in activism for racial equality, and had had a previous dispute with the bus driver."

"So she was kind of a 'perfect storm' of a test case. The NAACP's quick recognition and elevation of her case was exceptional, and they had likely been waiting for such a case to occur."

~ PM_Me_OnePieces

Absolute Authority

"In 5th grade, 1990, the teacher told the class, 'All of the Central American countries are Spanish-speaking.'

"My aunt had just returned from Belize and I rose my hand and said, 'Belize is officially English speaking'."

"Teacher says, 'No, just like South America, they are all Spanish speaking'."

"She was adamant, so I figured I must be wrong."

"Imagine my surprise when I learned Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, French is the official language of French Guiana, English is the official language of Guyana, Dutch is the official language of Suriname, and a bunch of countries have Indigenous languages (Aymara, Guaraní, Quechua, Shuar) that share official status with a European language."

"It was so disillusioning to find out a teacher was so wrong about something."

~ OleThompson

Pinoy Pride

"In the Philippines, I was taught that Filipinos invented the fluorescent bulb and karaoke."

"A United States immigrant from Germany, Edmund Germer, is credited with inventing the fluorescent lamp."

"The karaoke machine was invented by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue in 1971."

~ Jaives

Mocked

"I had a teacher in the 90s laugh at me when I said I didn't think currencies needed to be tied to gold."

'He didn't know the gold standard ended decades ago."

"He said, 'What, are countries just gonna say it's worth something?'"

~ MxOffcrRtrd

We Cannot Tell A Lie

"Young George Washington and the cherry tree."

"That story was in textbooks all through elementary school."

~ CanisArgenteus

"Also, his teeth were not made of wood."

"The real story is pretty disgusting."

~ committedlikethepig

More Than Three

"I was taught that Central America is its own continent and not part of North America."

"All through school I was taught North America was just Mexico, Canada, and the United States."

"There are 23 countries in North America."

"Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States."

"North America also includes 18 territories overseen by other countries, like Greenland, Puerto Rico, and much of the Caribbean."

~ Ok_Specialist_2545

Cultural Genocide

"Colonization was taught as 'and Europeans arrived and all was well, except for some small pox and minor stuff'."

~ Expansion79

"Yeah, we learned similar sanitised stories in Australia, where very similar atrocities happened to Indigenous Australians."

"We were also taught that many Indigenous mothers saw how much better the White settlers lived, in houses and with more stuff, so many of them 'gave up' their children to live better lives with White families who couldn’t have children, or wanted more. They allegedly chose to give their children better lives."

"The truth is that those babies were just stolen by White people, and it was completely sanctioned by the government. If the Indigenous families fought too hard, they came back with police who removed the kids, and often beat and imprisoned the families fighting to keep their own children."

"It took decades for the government to officially acknowledge these actions, admit they were wrong and apologise. Most of the mothers whose children were stolen have passed away now, but many of the stolen children are still around."

"Some were lucky enough to find family members, particularly their parents, before they passed away, but many weren’t. They call themselves The Stolen Generation."

"It was basically an attempt at cultural genocide as well. When they couldn’t actually kill all the Indigenous people, they did their best to destroy their culture by removing the children, relocating them and not letting them learn any of their history or cultural traditions."

"Many indigenous peoples were forbidden to speak their own languages, and many traditional practices were outlawed."

"The history of our country, much like the United States and Canada, is a shameful one where the White colonisers did atrocious things to the Indigenous peoples. It’s disgraceful, but I am very glad that we are finally learning the truth."

~ DarthRegoria

Confidently Incorrect

"Teachers being confidently incorrect is the worst."

"I had a high school history teacher who docked points off my essay because 'nobody ever called WWI "The Great War"'."

~ angelbelle

Just Say No

"D.A.R.E. taught me that people would be offering me free drugs everywhere."

"Boy, were they wrong."

~ Accurate_Interview10

Ironically, Tesla

"That Thomas Edison invented the light bulb."

~ Rogue-Hero94

"Ah, yes. The 19th century's Elon Musk."

"Didn't actually invent anything, he just stole other people's ideas, then told everyone he invented it."

~ Reddit

Glory Hog

"'Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...' But Paul Revere only rode approximately 20 miles—from Boston to Lincoln, Massachusetts on April 18, 1775 to warn of approaching British troops—before being intercepted by a British Army patrol."

"It was actually Israel Bissell who rode from Watertown, Massachusetts to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (345 mi.) on the 18th until the morning of April 19th to alert the Continental Congress."

"Bissell's message resulted in more than 50,000 armed troops being mobilized to Boston to meet the British invasion."

"Four men and one woman made late night rides, alerting American revolutionaries of the approaching danger."

"In addition to Revere and Bissell was Samuel Prescott, William Dawes, and Sybil Ludington."

~ sgt_barnes0105

Indian Wars

"Battle of Wounded Knee."

"It wasn’t a battle, it was a massacre."

"Also, my class only taught the number of American soldiers wounded, not the hundreds of unarmed Lakota women, children, and elders that were killed."

~ Darth-Skvader

"Any time there was a 'confrontation' between American Army troops and Indigenous people (attacking entire villages), it was a 'battle' if the Army won, a massacre if the Army lost, and it didn't matter who started it (the Army)."

~ livinglitch

What facts that you learned in school did you know then or later found out weren't true?