Renaissance & Enlightenment
Renaissance and Enlightenment Myths
The age of reason got plenty wrong too, from 1500 to 1799.
The Renaissance and the Enlightenment gave us the scientific method, the modern map, and the radical notion that you should check things for yourself. They also gave us phlogiston, the substance fire supposedly released; spontaneous generation, the idea that maggots grew from meat on their own; and a medical establishment that kept bleeding patients right through the age of reason. This is the era that should have known better, and in many ways did, which makes its blind spots more interesting. Reason is a brilliant tool, but it works on the assumptions you feed it, and the assumptions were often wrong. The great reference works of the day, Encyclopaedia Britannica included, catalogued plenty of confident errors alongside the genuine breakthroughs.
Many of these were recorded in the reference books of the day. See The Britannica Files for errors pulled from historical Encyclopaedia Britannica editions (1768 to 1860).
68 entries
Marie Antoinette Said 'Let Them Eat Cake'
No historical evidence she said this; it was propaganda before her death
Continents Are Fixed in Place
Plate tectonics revolutionized continental drift theory
Combustion Releases Phlogiston, an Invisible Fire-like Substance
Lavoisier's oxygen theory replaced 100 years of phlogiston doctrine
Diseases Spread Through Bad Air Called Miasma
Germ theory displaced miasma once microscopic organisms were identified
The Earth Was Created in 4004 BCE, Making It About 5,770 Years Old
Geological evidence pushed Earth's age back to millions of years
Species Are Immutable and Fixed Since Creation
Darwin's evolutionary theory overturned the doctrine of immutable species
Masturbation Causes Insanity, Blindness, and Physical Degeneration
No causal link exists; the 'masturbatory insanity' diagnosis reflected moral panic rather than medicine
Human Races Exist in a Natural Hierarchy with Inherent Intellectual and Moral Differences
Scientific racism was pseudoscience; modern genetics shows all humans are one species with trivial genetic variation
Captain Cook Discovered Australia
Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for 65,000+ years; multiple Asian traders arrived centuries earlier
Betsy Ross Designed and Sewed the First American Flag
No historical evidence supports that Betsy Ross designed the flag; attribution likely originated from her grandson's claims
Thanksgiving Was a Friendly Feast Between Pilgrims and Native Americans
The reality involved complex power dynamics, cultural misunderstanding, and preceded centuries of colonization and genocide
'Rule of Thumb' Comes from Beating Wives
A false folk etymology with no historical basis in law
The Forbidden Fruit in the Garden of Eden Was an Apple
The Bible never names the fruit; the apple was a later European add-on
Continents Are Fixed and Do Not Move
Plate tectonics shows continents move due to seafloor spreading
Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever
Both conditions benefit from proper nutrition
Paul Revere Rode Alone Shouting 'The British Are Coming'
He rode with others and likely said 'The Redcoats are coming' to avoid confusion
An Apple Fell on Newton's Head, Inspiring Gravity Theory
An apple inspired him, but there's no evidence it hit him; Newton saw it fall
Salem Witches Were Burned at the Stake
Most were hanged; only two may have been pressed to death
Personality and Abilities Are Revealed by Skull Bumps
Phrenology was rejected by neuroscience
The Mind Starts as a Completely Blank Slate
Neuroscience revealed innate cognitive structures
Maggots Spontaneously Generate from Decaying Meat
Life does not emerge from inanimate matter, Pasteur and Lister proved it
Disease Results from Imbalance of Four Bodily Humours
Modern pathology replaced humoral theory with cellular and microbial mechanisms
Mental Illness Results from Demonic Possession or Moral Failing
Psychiatric medicine recognises mental illness as neurological and psychological in origin
Newly Discovered Lands Like Newfoundland Were Sparsely Inhabited or Empty
Population estimates were drastically wrong; indigenous populations were devastated by disease
The Pilgrims Landed at Plymouth Rock
Historical records are unclear about where the Mayflower passengers actually landed; Plymouth Rock's origin story is dubious
The Liberty Bell Cracked on July 4, 1776
The bell's crack occurred decades later, likely in the early 1800s; its significance was retroactively constructed
You Can't End a Sentence with a Preposition
Another Latin-based rule that contradicts how English naturally works
'Ain't' Isn't a Real Word
A dialectal contraction that earned dictionary status through centuries of use
'Xmas' Is Disrespectful Because It Removes 'Christ' from Christmas
X represents Chi, the Greek letter and first letter of Christ's name
Magellan Was the First Person to Sail Around the World
He died halfway, in the Philippines; his crew finished without him
Phlogiston Is the Element of Fire
Replaced by oxygen theory and modern combustion chemistry
Light Travels Through the Luminiferous Aether
Special relativity showed aether unnecessary; light is electromagnetic radiation
Life Can Arise Spontaneously from Non-Living Matter
Pasteur and others proved life arises only from life
A secret Illuminati society controls world governments and events
Historical Illuminati disbanded in 1785; modern claims lack evidence
Nostradamus made accurate specific predictions about future events
Nostradamus made vague statements; matches are retrofitting and pattern-finding
The Moon is Made of Cheese
The moon is a rocky celestial body, not dairy
Living Things Contain a Vital Force
Vitalism was replaced by biochemistry
Heat Is a Fluid Substance Called Caloric
Joule's mechanical equivalence of heat proved heat is energy, not a conserved fluid
Whales Are Fish, Not Mammals
Linnaeus reclassified whales as mammals; Britannica's early editions lagged behind
Living Matter Contains a Special Vital Force That Chemistry Cannot Explain
Synthetic urea disproved vitalism; organic chemistry emerged as a normal science
Alchemy Is a Legitimate Path to Transmuting Base Metals into Gold
Alchemy's transmutation claims were false, but it contributed pragmatic laboratory techniques
Terra Australis: A Vast Undiscovered Southern Continent
The southern continent was largely myth; Antarctica exists but is ice and rock, not fertile land
Electricity Is a Weightless Fluid That Flows Between Bodies
Electron theory displaced single-fluid models of electricity
Sea Serpents and Leviathans Are Real Creatures Inhabiting Unknown Ocean Depths
Sea serpent sightings reflected misidentification; no conclusive evidence supports their existence
Seven Celestial Bodies Circle the Earth: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Modern astronomy revealed Uranus, Neptune, and the actual solar system geometry
Mercury and Arsenic Are Effective Medical Treatments for Syphilis and Other Diseases
Mercury has limited efficacy and severe toxicity; penicillin replaced it as the treatment of choice
Laudanum (Opium Tincture) Is an Effective Cure for Cholera, Dysentery, and Insomnia
Opium provides symptomatic relief but is highly addictive and ineffective against underlying disease
The Earth Occupies the Centre of Creation; Celestial Bodies Orbit It
Heliocentrism became the scientific consensus after Newton and Herschel
British Scientists Initially Thought the Platypus Was a Hoax
Platypus specimens did puzzle European naturalists who found them anomalous, though calling it a 'hoax' is exaggerated
The Great Fire of London Killed Thousands
Official records documented only six confirmed deaths despite the massive destruction
The Taj Mahal Was Built Entirely by Indian Workers
The Taj Mahal's construction involved master artisans from across Central Asia and Persia
'Decimate' Means Complete Destruction
A modern semantic shift from its original military meaning
The Outback Is Empty
It contains 60,000 years of Aboriginal occupation, hundreds of communities, and most of Australia's mining economy
The First Fleet Was Just Convicts
Of the 1,400-odd people on board, around 750 were convicts; the rest were marines, officers, free settlers, sailors, and their families
American Colonists Threw Tea Into Boston Harbour
They dumped tea overboard; the 'harbour' detail is commonly exaggerated
Mercury is a safe and effective medical treatment
Mercury is a toxic poison; historical mercury treatments caused severe harm
Maternal Impressions During Pregnancy Shape the Unborn Child's Form and Temperament
Maternal impression theory has no biological basis; development follows genetic and physiological principles
Barnacle Geese Grow from Barnacles Attached to Trees and Ships
Barnacle geese are ordinary birds; they breed in the Arctic, not from shellfish
Salamanders Can Live in Fire Without Being Consumed
Salamanders are amphibians; the myth originated from exposure recovery behaviour
Life Forms Exist in a Fixed Hierarchy from Minerals to Humans to Angels
The Great Chain of Being was a philosophical model, not a biological classification
The Telescope Was Invented by Hans Lippershey (or Giordano Bruno, or Zacharias Janssen)
Telescope invention was likely simultaneous among multiple inventors; attribution remains disputed
'Welsh Rarebit' Is a Corruption of 'Welsh Rabbit'
Actually the reverse: 'rarebit' came first, and 'rabbit' was the false back-formation
Chartreuse Is a Pink or Red Colour
Chartreuse is actually yellow-green, and has been since the 1600s
Tropical Climates Are Dangerous or Impossible for European Settlement
Tropical disease and climate posed challenges, but European adaptation proved feasible
Planetary Distances from the Sun Were Estimated at Incorrect Scales
Improved astronomical measurements revealed actual solar system geometry
Migratory Birds Hibernate in Lakes and Rivers During Winter
Birds migrate to distant breeding grounds; hibernation is rare in avifauna
Combustion Occurs When Oxygen Combines with a Substance's Fundamental Essence
Modern chemistry explains combustion via exothermic oxidation reactions
Some Geographic Descriptions Retain Flat-Earth Elements or Confusion About Antipodes
Despite ancient Greek knowledge of sphericity, linguistic confusion persisted in geographic terminology