The problem with history is, to state the obvious, that it's already happened. If you're unsure about something, there's no way to go back and check – and almost every historical period is full of gaps, uncertainties and questions that may never be answered. But sometimes historians do know the real truth, only to find that the general public has decided to go a different way, and from Cleopatra to President Kennedy there's a whole range of historical misconceptions that are widely held – and wrong.

Click through this gallery for the most common historical myths that many people believe. To view these images in FULL SCREEN on a desktop, click the icon in the top right...