Wednesday, February 16, 2011
We've all heard things which are incorrect in regards to history but is generally accepted outside the world of closer research and study.
What ones have you heard about you'd deem a common misconception?
Napoleon was unusually short
Much of the reason for the rumours that Napoleon was a short man comes from the confusion between old French feet and Imperial (British) feet. Measured shortly after his death in 1821, Napoleon was recorded at 5ft 2in in French feet, which corresponds to 5ft 6.5in in Imperial feet, or 1.69m. This makes him slightly taller than the average Frenchman of the 19th century. Napoleon’s nickname of ‘le petit caporal’ has also perpetuated the rumour, with non-francophones interpreting ‘petit’ to refer to his height, when it was actually a term of affection referring to his camaraderie with ordinary soldiers.
46 comments:
What? Napoleon wasn't short? i can't believe that
Haha, that was quite interesting!
haha thats a weird mistake in history
Napoleon was tall? Wow
I didn't even know people thought he was short. Interesting...
I like this blog. Good concept
History is a fun hoppy^^
Interesting misconception.
I'll never believe he wasnt a gnome!
I guess this is good to know for my Jeopardy appearance.
My last post was about Kamikaze fighters. Some people say that fuel in their planes was on purpose so little that they couldn't fly back and had to either suicide in sea or at enemy boats. Thats totally myth because all of them was allowed to come back to the base wihout suiciding. However probably noone did, as their have this Japan sence of honour :-)
dude this changes EVERYTHING.
nice blog man, supporting and following
Great info and very interesting, going to follow you to read more misconceptions in history
awesome blog man
yea i read this sometime ago and it was def interesting
I like your blog; great idea! Another misconception about Napoleon is that he's French. When he was born in Corsica, it was still a part of Italy!
Why do they French have to make everything retarded. Great idea for a blog.
Napoleon is great!
What? He was tall? No way.
wating for more
waiting for more
wow thats very interesting
Very interesting I'll be back!
He is now taller than my girlfriend. She is still 5'2".
oh finally a nice blog,
but all men smaller than 175 have great chances becoming world leaders:
mao, hitler, caesar, napoleon, kahn, woody allen... and the list goes ooon
Napoleon couldn't have been short otherwise the military would not have taken him into the ranks (I think)
nice one! I look forwards to reading more of these - be sure to check out mine if you enjoy maths ^^
I never knew any of this, that is a common misconception . I'm gonna be correcting peers whenever they refer to him as a tiny man
5'6" isn't that short at all. Not at all like I figured he was.
really? time to one-up my friends xD
I used to hate history, but my interest in it was awakened by an AMAZING history teacher that I have at my high school. She is so remarkable, people have been trying to convince her to write a book for YEARS.
This website is a REALLY good idea, and I honestly can't wait to see what you come up with in the future. I'm adding you to morning coffee, and I already sent you a follow. I hope you do the same :)
Haha, I actually just learned about this earlier.
Good post tho!
Oh wow, I totally believed that he was short, who knew?
Lol ive heard about this before
I was still taller than him! :P Looking forward to the next installment. Followed.
Hey, man. Since you can just delete this before it gets posted I figured I'd tell you that I'm looking for as many clicks as possible.
I'll return the favour to you right now.
I agree about the blog being a great concept. I'll check this daily! Check my blog out and do the same!
I love stuff like this. A lot of people believe what they read in their text books but a lot of times it's inaccurate.
Apparenly (perhaps rumoured) hitler had a rare conditon of Triskaidekaphobia which is the fear of the number 13. Not quite a minsconception, but I still thought it would be interesting to mention it given the topic title : P People would of never knew if it is indeed true.
Ha, remember hearing about this little fact a year or so ago.
Im surprised with that. I had already heard that Napoleon was at short leg with soldiers, that makes me like him. Also great blog.
very very interesting
good, post. Even my history teacher taught me napoleon was more than averagelyshort..
Ha!? Really now. This changes everything.
I actually knew that Napoleon one. It all a matter of relativity... Those other things on the other hand... those I didn't know...
How does this effect the Napoleon Complex theory I wonder...
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