Historical Myths or Facts? Vikings, Napoleon, Cleopatra & More

Historical myths or facts? Five cases: Did Vikings wear horned helmets? Was Napoleon short? 🔎 Did Cleopatra live closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid? 🌕 Do we only use 10% of our brain? Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis? Myth or fact? 0:00 Every day we meet myths: fact or pure fantasy? 0:35 Case 1: Did Vikings wear horned helmets? 9:36 Case 2: Was Napoleon short? 17:51 Case 3: Cleopatra, the Moon landing and the Great Pyramid 25:36 Case 4: Do we only use 10% of our brain? 33:25 Case 5: Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis? 41:04 The verdicts Main sources: Roberta Frank (2000); National Museum of Denmark; Vandkilde et al. (2022) · Dunan (1963); Komlos et al. (2003); Knapen et al., Psychological Science (2018) · Britannica; Bronk Ramsey et al., Science (2010); Herodotus 2.125 · William James (1907); Beyerstein, Scientific American (2004); Lennie, Current Biology (2003) · Castellanos & Axelrod (1990); deWeber et al. (2011); Unger (1998). History's Biggest Myths is a LessonsLooped series: we take things everybody has heard and follow each one back to where it started. This is episode 1. Which verdict surprised you most? What should we check next? Tell us in the comments. Picture and sound credits Most pictures are public domain or CC0; music: Loyalty Freak Music (CC0). These works are used under Creative Commons Attribution licences, edited by us (cropped, toned, animated or drawn over): CC BY 4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... • Adolph Tidemand & Hans Gude, Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord, 1848 (one detail drawn in by us); Peter Nicolai Arbo, The Valkyrie, 1869; J. C. Dahl, View of Hønefossen, 1847. Photos: Nasjonalmuseet / Børre Høstland. https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... • Man with horned helmet, Grevensvænge (Nationalmuseet). Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen. https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... • Wellcome Collection: W. H. Lizars, Brain: lateral section, c. 1826 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... after Gérard de Lairesse, The bones of the hand, 1739 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... and The muscles of the back of the hand, 1739 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica, 1543 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Thomas Godart, Hand of a woman with Heberden's nodes, 1884, Barts Health NHS Trust Archives https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... • Sanders Theater, Harvard. Photo: NateBergin. https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... • Kawchuk GN, Fryer J, Jaremko JL, Zeng H, Rowe L, Thompson R (2015) Real-Time Visualization of Joint Cavitation. PLOS ONE 10(4): e0119470. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... (figures, video) • Chandran Suja V, Barakat AI (2018) A Mathematical Model for the Sounds Produced by Knuckle Cracking. Sci Rep 8: 4600. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22... (figure; the knuckle-crack sound) CC BY 3.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... • Cleopatra VII and Caesarion, Hathor temple, Dendera. Photo: Olaf Tausch. https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... • Graner J, Oakes TR, French LM, Riedy G (2013) Functional MRI in the Investigation of Blast-Related Traumatic Brain Injury. Front Neurol 4: 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2013.00016 (Figure 1) CC BY 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... • Gjermundbu helmet, c. 970. Photo: NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet. https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... • Reading Room, Army Medical Library. National Museum of Health and Medicine. https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... #history #myths #HistoryPodcast