From George Washington’s cherry tree and Neil Armstrong's iconic quote to Thomas Edison's invention of the lightbulb and Marilyn Monroe’s IQ – stories about famous Americans have taken on a life of their own. There’s just one problem: many of them aren’t true.
Read on for the REAL story behind 15 widely believed 'facts' about famous Americans. To view these images in FULL SCREEN on a desktop, click the icon in the top right.
A widely circulated myth claims that Marilyn Monroe possessed an IQ of 168, suggesting she was not only a cultural icon but also a genius surpassing even Albert Einstein. However, there is no evidence that Monroe ever took an IQ test, let alone achieved a score of 168.
The myth seems to have gained traction in the 1980s and 1990s through biographies and media stories attempting to redefine her legacy. The IQ claim likely emerged in response to discoveries about her personal life – such as her extensive library – fuelling the idea that she was misunderstood.
While Monroe may not have a documented IQ score, she clearly showed a sharp mind and a love for learning. She was an avid reader, with more than 400 books in her personal collection, covering everything from literature and art to politics and philosophy.
Always looking to grow, Monroe studied acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and even co-founded her own production company to take control of her career. These moves reflect a thoughtful and ambitious woman who pushed back against the shallow stereotypes often attached to her. The high IQ story might be a myth, but her real-life achievements are proof of her intelligence and determination.
Paul Revere’s ‘Midnight Ride’ is one of the most famous stories to come out of the Revolutionary War – due mostly to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1861 poem, Paul Revere's Ride.
Tasked with riding from Boston to Lexington to warn the militias in Massachusetts that the British were poised to attack, he supposedly screamed “the British are coming!” by way of warning. In truth, the series of events were a little less dramatic.
While Revere did make the journey on horseback, he was detained by British patrols before he could even reach Lexington. Moreover, he was just one of many riders deployed that night, and certainly didn’t yell “the British are coming” – especially as most of the colonists would have still considered themselves British. If he said anything at all, he would have used the term ‘Regulars’ – which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
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Rosa Parks is often portrayed as an ordinary, tired seamstress who spontaneously refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on 1 December 1955.
According to this simplified narrative, Parks was exhausted after a long day at work and, without planning, decided to defy the driver’s order to move to the back of the bus. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. While this story captures the bravery of her action, it overlooks her deep roots in civil rights activism.
Rosa Parks was far from an accidental hero. By the time of her arrest, she was a seasoned activist and the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP.
Reflecting on that pivotal day in her autobiography, Parks wrote, “I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” Her refusal to give up her seat was a deliberate act of defiance – a challenge to segregation rooted in her years of activism.
One of the most persistent myths about John F. Kennedy is that during his famous 1963 speech in West Berlin, he mistakenly called himself a jelly doughnut by saying, "Ich bin ein Berliner."
According to the myth, the use of the word 'ein' allegedly changed the phrase’s meaning from 'I am a Berliner' to 'I am a jelly doughnut', since Berliner is also a regional term for a type of pastry.
However, this interpretation has been widely debunked by linguists and historians. In proper German, Kennedy’s phrase was not only grammatically correct but also necessary for clarity. Without 'ein', the sentence could have been misunderstood as him literally identifying as a citizen of Berlin, rather than expressing solidarity with the people of the city.
Native German speakers at the time understood Kennedy’s intention as a powerful declaration of support during the Cold War. The speech was received with enthusiastic applause, and no one mistook his words for a reference to a pastry.
There’s few historical figures more shrouded in myth than George Washington, first president of the United States. From his alleged super-strength to his wooden teeth, these stories – some true, many not – have made him one of American history’s most revered leaders.
A widely told story depicts a young George chopping down his father's cherished cherry tree. Confronted by his father, he supposedly confessed, saying, "I cannot tell a lie... I did cut it with my hatchet." This tale has been used for generations to illustrate Washington's supposed inherent honesty and integrity.
In reality, this sweet story was a tall tale concocted by one of Washington’s early biographers, Mason Locke Weems, who was looking to depict the president as morally impeccable in the fifth edition of his book, released in 1806. Nonetheless, the story stuck – and endures to the present day.
The story goes like this: on 10 June 1752, Benjamin Franklin discovered the existence of electricity when he went to fly a kite in a thunderstorm.
Attaching a key to the kite’s string, his strange outing had an important mission: to see if the key would attract an electrical charge. There’s just one small problem with this story; by 1752, Franklin already knew electricity existed, as did many others.
The purpose of Franklin’s experiment was to test his theory that lightning was a form of electricity. Two similar experiments had already taken place in France, although Franklin probably wouldn’t have been aware of them.
And while he didn’t actually discover electricity, his kite experiment did demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning – although it’s very unlikely that lightning struck the kite’s key. If it had, Franklin would probably have died instantly.
For centuries, Christopher Columbus has been credited with discovering America in 1492, an event often taught as the beginning of the New World’s history. The popular narrative paints him as the first European to set foot on American soil, opening the door for exploration and settlement.
In this version of history, Columbus is celebrated as a heroic pioneer who brought European civilisation to previously unknown lands, laying the foundation for the United States. This myth ignores the reality of pre-existing indigenous cultures and earlier European contact with North America.
The Americas had been inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years before Columbus arrived, with thriving civilisations and complex societies. Columbus also never set foot in what is now the United States; his voyages took him to the Caribbean, parts of Central America and South America.
Moreover, Norse explorer Leif Erikson is believed to have reached North America around AD 1000, predating Columbus by nearly 500 years. Archaeological evidence, such as the Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, supports this earlier European presence.
Like many historical myths, there’s a grain of truth to this one. America’s first president suffered terribly with dental problems throughout his life, from missing teeth to inflamed gums. In fact, by the time of his presidential inauguration in 1789 George Washington had just one remaining tooth, forcing him to wear ill-fitting dentures (pictured) for the rest of his life.
And while it’s true Washington wore dentures to hide his dental woes, they weren’t made of wood – but composed of real human teeth, ivory, gold and even lead. Fascinatingly, a full set of Washington’s dentures remain intact and can be seen on display at Mount Vernon, his former home and plantation.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States who led his country through the Civil War, is often remembered as ‘The Great Emancipator’ – the man responsible for finally ending almost 250 years of bondage and enslavement of African Americans. The truth is a little more complex.
Lincoln believed slavery was morally wrong but was not an abolitionist in the strictest sense. His primary objective during the Civil War was to preserve the Union. In an 1862 letter, Lincoln wrote, 'My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery'.
And while it is often believed that the Emancipation Proclamation, which Lincoln signed in 1863, immediately freed all enslaved people, in reality it applied only to the Confederate states in rebellion and specifically excluded areas under Union control.
Far more significant for enslaved people was the 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, which legally abolished slavery in the United States and freed more than four million African Americans.
While almost always credited with inventing the lightbulb in 1889, Thomas Edison was in fact just one of more than 20 inventors who created electric lights in bulbs. However, he was the first to launch a commercially viable incandescent light and, critically, secured the all-important patents that would give him sole credit for the invention.
Edison even built his own team of developers and researchers to give him the competitive edge in what was a hotly contested race, with some arguing he borrowed or even stole ideas from rival lightbulb developers.
However, Edison’s role in bringing the lightbulb into the homes and workplaces of Americans and people around the world cannot be overstated.
He was a master salesman, marketer and inventor – developing a long-lasting filament, improving the vacuum inside bulbs and creating an electrical system with a power source. While he may not have been the sole inventor, he absolutely made the lightbulb a commercial success.
Among the most famous first words in American history may have never actually been spoken – or at least not how most people think. Shortly after Apollo 11 landed on the moon on 20 July 1969, millions of TV viewers around the world heard astronaut Neil Armstrong proclaim: "that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
After being repeatedly quoted in the press, Armstrong insisted they had misheard him – he had actually said “one small step for a man,” claiming the ‘a’ had been lost on the recording due to static.
However, after listening to the recording several times, Armstrong was forced to admit he may have misremembered. And that's how it remained until 2006, when Peter Shann Ford – a computer programmer and speech analyst – reviewed the original footage using modern equipment and concluded that Armstrong had been telling the truth; the 'a' had indeed been covered up by static.
A common misconception is that President Richard Nixon was impeached due to his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Many believe that his presidency ended after he was formally removed from office through the impeachment process.
This myth likely stems from the intense media coverage at the time and the fact that the House Judiciary Committee had approved three articles of impeachment – charging him with obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress – before his resignation.
But Nixon was never actually impeached. While the House Judiciary Committee did approve the articles, the full House never voted on them. Facing almost certain impeachment and conviction thanks to the 'smoking gun' tape, which revealed his direct role in the Watergate cover-up, Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974. Vice President Gerald Ford took office the same day, later issuing a full pardon for Nixon.
One of the most enduring myths about Abraham Lincoln is that he hastily scribbled the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope while on his way to the dedication ceremony at Gettysburg.
This story paints Lincoln as an effortlessly brilliant orator, capable of producing one of the most iconic speeches in American history on a whim. It also romanticises the idea that such a brief yet powerful address was a product of spontaneous genius, written amidst the clatter of a moving train.
While this tale adds drama and charm to history, it’s far from the truth. In fact, Lincoln carefully prepared the Gettysburg Address in advance, drafting it over several days. He wrote at least two known versions of the speech before leaving for Gettysburg, and his steady, even script is consistent with a firm writing surface, not the notoriously bumpy Civil War-era trains.
The final version, just 272 words long, was a masterclass in concision and purpose. Far from being a last-minute improvisation, the address was a thoughtful reflection on the sacrifices of the Civil War and a powerful redefinition of the nation’s ideals.
Many people believe that Henry Ford invented the automobile, revolutionising transportation with his creative genius. The story often suggests that Ford single-handedly brought the world into the age of cars.
This myth likely endures because Ford’s name is so closely associated with early car manufacturing in the United States, and his Model T became one of the most recognisable cars of the 20th century. The idea that he invented the automobile fits neatly into the narrative of the self-made industrialist changing the world with a singular breakthrough.
However, the first true automobile was invented by German engineer Karl Benz in 1885. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen is widely regarded as the first practical motorcar. Henry Ford’s real achievement wasn’t inventing the car – it was transforming the way they were built.
By introducing the moving assembly line in 1913, Ford revolutionised manufacturing, drastically reducing the time and cost to produce each car. This innovation made cars affordable to the average American, turning what was once a luxury item into a mass-market product.
Contrary to popular belief, Coca-Cola did not invent Santa Claus' iconic red suit as part of a marketing campaign. The belief is that Coca-Cola’s holiday ads in the 1930s created the jolly, red-suited Santa that we know today, linking him forever with the brand. According to this myth, Santa’s appearance varied significantly before Coca-Cola’s influence.
In reality, Santa’s red suit predates Coca-Cola’s advertising. The modern image of Santa was largely shaped by 19th-century American cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose illustrations for Harper’s Weekly in the late 1800s (pictured) showed him in a red suit with white fur trim. While Coca-Cola’s 1930s ads didn’t invent the look, they did help to solidify it in popular culture.