5 HISTORICAL MYTHS THAT ARE NOT TRUE

1. FEMINISTS BURNED THEIR BRAS
During the 1960s, the women's rights movement demanded equality with men, promoting equal pay and access to contraceptives. But the myth that hippie feminists burned their bras in protest actually comes from the media, not from the protesters. The bra burning myth traces back to protests against the 1968 Miss America Pageant. During the protest, women threw their bras, girdles, mops, and cookware into a garbage can, declaring the items "instruments of female torture." A New York Post article took liberties with the truth and invented the "bra burners" to link the women with war protesters who burned their draft cards.

2. VAN GOGH CUT OFF HIS EAR
Known as one of the greatest Dutch painters of all time, Vincent van Gogh is also famous for his struggle with mental illness. According to one myth, van Gogh cut off his own ear after the end of a troubled love affair. In reality, van Gogh did fall in love with a prostitute named Clasina Maria Hoornik, who eventually left the artist to return to prostitution. A distraught van Gogh did cut off the lower portion of his earlobe and gave it to a prostitute. However, the artist only took off a small part of his ear, not the entire ear as the myth claims.

3. EINSTEIN FLUNKED OUT OF MATH

Physicist Albert Einstein was undeniably a genius. The Nobel prize winner developed the theory of relativity, changing physics forever. But one myth makes Einstein's genius seem more relatable: the story that a young Einstein flunked out of math. Except the story isn't true. Einstein received high marks in every subject, and by 11 his reading list included college-level physics textbooks. Einstein did fail an entrance exam for a technical college at age 16, probably because the exam was in French and he wasn't fluent in the language.

4. CATHERINE THE GREAT DIED FROM HOOKING UP WITH A HORSE

Powerful female rulers often faced harsh rumors, and Catherine the Great is no exception. The Russian empress even became the target of a particularly nasty rumor that said she died while attempting intercourse with a horse. The story claimed that the horse fell on the 67-year-old empress, crushing her to death. The rumor tore down Catherine's reputation by labeling her a sexually deviant monster and a freak of nature. In reality, Catherine died alone in her room of a cerebral hemorrhage.

5. GLADIATORS WERE ALL SLAVES

Popular films like Gladiator and Spartacus popularized the myth that ancient Roman gladiators were slaves, forced to fight to the death for the enjoyment of spoiled aristocrats. But that myth is more Hollywood than history. In fact, many gladiators volunteered to fight, signing up to join gladiator schools for glory and wealth. Some were former soldiers, knights, or even upper-class Romans who wanted to show off their strength. Many trained to wound, not kill, their opponents. And for several centuries, women also fought as gladiators.

Culled: from ranker.com