Free · 10 questions · 4 min · no sign-up
History myths test
Some of the best-known facts about the past aren’t facts at all: the flat-Earth Middle Ages, horned Viking helmets, a tiny Napoleon. Most started as jokes, propaganda or later art, and stuck.
Question 1 of 10
Before Columbus sailed in 1492, what did educated Europeans believe about the shape of the Earth?
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About this test
Every wrong answer here is a named myth, with the real story after each question. At the end you get a course that starts from the ones you believed.
Questions people ask
Did people in the Middle Ages think the Earth was flat?
No. Educated Europeans knew it was round; ancient Greek scholars had shown it more than a thousand years earlier.
Was Napoleon short?
No. He was about 1.69 m, average for a Frenchman of his time. The myth comes from British propaganda and confusion between French and English inches.
Did Vikings wear horned helmets?
There’s no evidence they did. The image comes mostly from 19th-century art and opera.