Top 10 Most Famous Facts That Are Wrong

This article is riddled with mis information and inuendos.

Note that it keeps saying "may". You can't base history off of speculation. If a person can't demonstrate and provide proof that they flew a plane first, then you didnt' do it.

That is like saying John Adams may have been the first president, because of something stupid because of a vote miscount, but he wasn't. George Washington gets credit, fair or not.

Saying that an ancient philosopher said there are special forces guiding nature, is just being used to say that Darwin wasn't first. The philosopher could of been referring to fairies for all we know.


There are so many wrong historical ideas that this article could of played on, that nitpicking what "may" of happened isn't educating anyone.

Things that most people are wrong about:

The Mason-Dixon Line:

was formed long before the civil war, it wasn't created during the civil war.

The Declaration of Independance wasn't signed on July 4th, it was basically drafted that day. The signings took weeks as traveling took awhile. It was finally signed in August.

The Thermopylae wasn't protected by only 300 warriors, it was protected by 4k-7k. Only Sparta provided 300 warriors.

The Great Wall of China can't be seen from the moon.

Abraham Lincoln didnt' free all the slaves, only those states in the Confederacy, five of them were exceptions.

Mario Antoinette never said: Let them eat cake. At the time that was reported, she would of only been 11.

and the list of actual historical mis-information goes on.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
Abraham Lincoln didnt' free all the slaves, only those states in the Union, five of them.

Wrong, the Emancipation proclamation only applied to the Southern states, it was still legal to own slaves in some of the Northern states and since the South had already seceeded, that means he didn't free any slaves. It was more of a political thing to help the Union gain Europe's support in the war.

reply to post by Nosred


Whoops, I mentioned the wrong side. XD Your right. Will edit for correctness.

4. JFK’s Assassination was Part of a Larger Conspiracy

Though the idea that President Kennedy’s assassination was part of a larger conspiracy is actually an urban legend, the fact that it is believed by such a large percentage of the population—by some estimates, as much as 70%–makes it to many people’s way of thinking, a cold and hard fact. The idea that a lone nut job like Lee Harvey Oswald could have pulled off what was effectively the murder of the century without help is too much for some to accept, leading to nearly fifty years of all manner of conspiracy theories. These theories are generally divided into two groups: one which believes that Oswald was “set up” by someone—the CIA and the Mafia being the main suspects—and the other being that while he was in on the killing, he had help (and, in fact, may have been just one of several gunmen that day). Oswald’s death at the hands of a Dallas nightclub owner named Jack Ruby a couple of days later—in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters no less—seals the deal for most people, making the JFK conspiracy one of the most successful and lucrative cottage industries in America to this very day. Of course, no amount of evidence demonstrating that Oswald indeed possessed the means, motive, and opportunity to carry out the most heinous crime of the twentieth century all by himself or the lack of even a shred of solid evidence to suggest otherwise does little to dissuade the truly convinced, meaning that the idea that JFK’s death was the product of some massive CIA/Cuban/Russian/Mafia/Vice President Johnson plot a “fact” for millions that is unlikely to ever die.

Interesting read.

Actually, not a single shred of evidence actually points to Oswald conclusively being a long gunman at all. The shot's, according to the Warren Commission, don't fit the level of skill Oswald possessed for one thing, he quite obviously wasn't a communist (more than probably he was working with the American Government, particularly in Russia, as I showed in this thread) and he certainly didn't fit into most of what we've been told about him over the years now (The backyard photos anyone? General Walker maybe?).

He was also spotted by Carolyn Arnold at approximately 12:25 on the second floor lunchroom, the very same day of the assassination - Kennedy and his own motercade was running late and ended up going past the Texas School Book Depository at merely 12:30. This means Oswald would've had to have anticipated JFK being late, waited for Arnold to leave before making his way up to the 6th floor, finding the snipers nest, assemble his weapon, murder the president with 3 shots with-in mere minutes. He would've then had to maneuver his way back down to the second floor hiding his weapon in the process, not be spotted by a single witness in this entire process, and all in the space of 90 seconds after the assassination as this was when Police Officer Baker found Oswald in the same lunchroom he was previously seen in... and looking "completely relaxed" and not out of breath also, this according to Baker.

How anyone can buy the idea Oswald was even in a position to shoot anyone, I have no idea.

The majority of the claims coming from the Warren Commition have also repeatedly been debunked and or brought into serious question - the 3 bullets spaced out for example - the way in which the warren commission claimed it occurred doesn't fit the claim made by one single witness, instead the majority verdict is 1 shot, then a pause, then 2 shots almost on top of each other towards the end of the killing. This alone proving more than one gunman being present. Many more witnesses can remember hearing extra shots also, and at different times to the warren commission but consistent with other witnesses in different positions. Again, this gives us reason to believe there was another shooter present.

We also have images of the Grassy knoll - particularly images showing potential shooters such as Badge man. Something Lee Bowers, a witness behind the knoll, as well as those on top of the triple overpass, claim to have seen. They also point out that a flash of light, and a burst of smoke was seen at the time the fatal head shot was fired in the exact position of badge man..

Not to forget Jack Ruby has repeatedly been linked with the mafia as well as Oswald - most famously by Rose Cheramie and one of Ruby's new dancers for his club, Janet "Jada" Conforto, who claimed they met in this club (and on other occasions prior to the assassination) and she (Rose Cheramie) also claimed the president "would be killed in a few days" which he then was of course. She was only ignored due to appearing to be intoxicated at this time.

And there is literally thousands of more points to delve deeper into here. So, If anyone still believes Oswald was a lone gunman here.. Or that the Warren Commission was being truthful, you really ought to look into this case a lot more...

Evidence highly points to a conspiracy in this case - more so than quite possibly most conspiracies discussed on ATS and anywhere else.

Neat read.

I'd have to disagree with some though...especially us losing the Vietnam War.

Quite simply, we failed our objectives, and thus, did indeed lose the war.

However, using the same logic, we won the Iraqi war (we achieved the objective of removing Saddam Hussein from power)...even though we are still bogged down there in police actions.

I still think the Phoenicians were well-aquainted with the Americas (North and South), even before the Vikings, and certainly before Columbus.

Edison certainly had a way with "stealing" the work of others and selling it. But, as he's the one who sold it, it's why he's credited. Tesla was a much better inventor, but not so good at the game.

JFK was obviously killed for SOME reason, and since that reason has not yet come to light as a certainty, it of course yes, is part of a bigger conspiracy (i.e. WHY?) Lots of theories, no solid answer though.

reply to post by nixie_nox

Mario Antoinette never said: Let them eat cake. At the time that was reported, she would of only been 11.

That's actually incorrect, she married Louis at age 15, meaning that if she were to have said that at age 11 she would have been saying it to her parents in Austria.

Although yes, the quote is incorrect, when the people of Paris were rioting out the front of the palace in Versailles because they were starving she is supposed to have said that, it was invented to be used against her.

reply to post by Rising Against


Great post mate!

I'm completely with you on this one, although I had no idea about some of the details that you provided I have always felt pretty sure that it's not possible for Oswald to have acted alone, if he indeed did act at all.

What are your thoughts on Santo Trafficante? He's the Florida mob boss who claims to have organized the hit, did on his deathbed anyway and there's also that other guy, the New Orleans boss who people suppose contributed too.

The bullet holes across the street from the car should have been evidence enough to prove there was more than one shooter...

reply to post by sir_slide

What are your thoughts on Santo Trafficante? He's the Florida mob boss who claims to have organized the hit, did on his deathbed anyway and there's also that other guy, the New Orleans boss who people suppose contributed too.

The New Orleans Boss.. Do you mean Carlos Marcello?

Here's an image of him alongside Trafficante among others..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/84ef40231ccc.jpg[/atsimg]

Anyway, according to Jack Van Laningham, the eventual cell mate of Carlos Marcello, he was the one whom had ordered "the hit" here. His reasoning? It was primarily to get to Bobby Kennedy - the very man going after the Mafia and jailing them left, right and center. Marcello himself was even deported by Bobby to Guademala at one point before he managed to sneak back into America.

He and many others really hated the Kennedy family and particularly Bobby. Marcello is even once claimed to have said: "Cut off the tail of the dog first (this being Bobby), and the head (JFK) will turn around and bite you. But instead cut off the head of the dog first (Assassinate JFK) and the tail dies with it (Bobby stops coming after you).

Anyway, Here's the interview with Van Laningham where he discusses Marcello and his confession to playing a huge role in the assassination.

Trafficante was still very involved though. He's even said to have told a friend prior to the assassination: "Mark my word, this man Kennedy is in trouble, and he will get what is coming to him. Kennedy's not going to make it to the election. He is going to be hit."

Another top figure in Chicago, Sam Giancana, is also someone you should read up on. He's a very interesting character and played a huge role in the presidency of John F. Kennedy.

Fun list, but questionable on many levels. The claim that "most people believe this, but they are wrong" is probably my biggest problem with it. Just for one example, the idea that "Columbus discovered America." I went to grade school in the 1950's and even way back then I remember specifically being taught that there was some convincing evidence that Leif Erickson may have made it over as early as 1000 AD. I don't think there was as much evidence back then that there is now, but the fact that such an item turned up in grade school textbooks over fifty years ago is, I think, testimony that we had gotten over the "Columbus discoverd America meme a very long time ago.