Ask Lemmy

Some poor young girl got knocked up and she didn't want to say who the father was so she made up a story about how a spirit had impregnated her.

I think that one got way out of hand

That one story about NASA supposedly spending millions developing a pen that would work in space, while the Soviets just used a pencil.

What actually happened IIRC is NASA bought the pens from a private company that had already developed them. And they didn't pay millions. Pencils were a hazard in space, so NASA adopted this new pen soon afterwards, with the Soviet Space Program following suit soon after.

The Confederacy didn't actually fight for the states' right to continue slavery.
They fought against the states' right to abolish it, even if a state wanted to.
The distinction is subtle, but they actually wanted more power for the federal government to tell states what to do.
In this case, to tell them they aren't allowed to ban slavery.

The idea that eating carrots helps your eyesight came from WW2 Britain. It was an intentionally spread lie to cover up for the fact that they had radar.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

NASA spending millions to develop a zero-gravity pen while the USSR used a pencil. It's funny, believable, and false.

The Boston Massacre.

9 officers were surrounded by like 300 angry Bostonians who were wielding clubs and other weapons and goading them to fire their weapons while throwing shit at them. The fact that the only punishment for the officers who killed five people following their trial (in colonial court defended by John Adams) was that two had their thumbs branded indicated how two-sided the situation was.

Paul Revere's famous engraving depicting the incident was intentional anti-British propaganda used to advance the cause of the revolution.

While Wojtek serving in the Polish army during the invasion of Italy is true, a lot of his exploits are exaggerated. I still love it though.

Him helping out is confirmed, and if I remember correctly, the story of him carrying artillery shells is among the confirmed ones. And yes, he did in fact drink beer. But no, he didn't smoke cigarettes, on the account of being a bear. He ate them, though.

Marie Antoinette saying let them eat bread or something

From her point of view it sounds incredibly based, it would probably have just been ignorance though. I'm still glad she died because of that patronising comment that she kind of didn't actually say

There was a gap in [some military capability] during the Cold War, and the USA was losing it. Almost anything you stick in there, Russia was behind. They sometimes implied otherwise, but it's rare that they ever were. Occasionally, they used everything they had to just about match.

By the 1960s, their navy was pretty good, though. Don't let anyone tell you they were just a bunch of vodka drunk idiots. Not at that time, anyway.

At the opposite end of what this thread is about, Dr Strangelove is far more correct than it should be.

Myth: "The Polish military committed suicidal cavalry charges against German tanks in WW2."

The myth was originally spread by Germany as propaganda to emphasize how Germany was technologically superior. The myth has largely stayed alive because it has become romanticized into a heroic act.

The truth is that Polish cavalry charged German infantry, successfully taking ground against them. German tanks counter-attacked and Polish cavalry sensibly retreated but some were killed. Images of the aftermath were used to start the myth.

The Egyptian pyramid wasn't built by slaves. They were built by paid workers and evidence shows that they were treated well. Maybe they had some slaves but I think it's more likely a kind of adoration for their God/pharaoh

So many apocryphal stories are just the best...

At a dinner party, someone accused Winston Churchill of being drunk.

"That may be, madam, but you're ugly, and I'll be sober in the morning."

Likely never happened.

But the one that breaks my heart is that there is no evidence Carthage was salted after being destroyed.

That the four good emperors of Rome, namely Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pious and Marcus Aurelius had a good thing going until Marcus by deciding to pass the empire to their adopted sons. Nerva was also there with his excellent decision to adapt Trajan out of everyone.

This is portrayed as an altruistic non-nepotism move when in reality they were all childless. Nerva and Antoninus specifically selected because they were old and childless and Hadrian was just straight up gay. They probably would have passed on the empire to their sons if they had them.

I remember hearing about it back in the 70’s. Mentioned to my dad and he said he heard about the invasion part (most people did not hear the warning part at beginning of the show as they tuned in late). My dad and his 2 brothers took off for a week to the bush (they lived in northern Ontario) saying let’s see what’s happening after that week. Take the story as you wish, could have been true or they liked spinning stories. Was easy to believe as when they were younger they did go to the bush fairly often.