Sometimes, we get things wrong about history. For example, for decades we believed that 15 million Aztecs were wiped out between 1545 and 1550 because of smallpox or measles. But this week, it was discovered that it was an enteric fever. This week it was also revealed that Black Death was spread by fleas and lice from humans as well as rat fleas. In honor of these myths getting debunked this week, The Guardian put together a list of 10 historical “mythconceptions,” including that Columbus “discovered” America. In fact, there is evidence of a European presence in the Americas that precedes Columbus by several centuries. It is likely that the first explorer to discover America was instead Leif Erikson, who voyaged from Greenland to what is now Canada in about AD1000. Another myth is that the free press was all started by men. The Guardian writes that the first daily newspaper was established in 1702 by a woman named Elizabeth Mallet, who assembled and published it at her printing house on Black Horse Alley. Another myth The Guardian debunks is that all Victorians were sexual prudes. In fact, they were “quite direct in affairs of the flesh,” and you can find passages from Queen Victoria’s diary where she discusses kissing Prince Albert “again and again.”
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