7 Historical Figures Famous for Something They Never Did
By Evan Andrews
Even if you disagree with Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous remark that “history is a set of lies that people have agreed upon,” there’s little doubt that myths, misconceptions and outright fabrications have often shaped our understanding of the past. In some instances, these legends have become so ingrained that they overshadow the actual facts of a historical figure’s life. Find out the truth about seven notable people who’ve become forever linked with something they never did.
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| George Washington Carver |
George Washington Carver was an American scientist and inventor famous for creating alternative food products and farming methods. But while Carver’s many innovations earned him comparisons to Leonardo da Vinci, the erroneous belief that he invented peanut butter has stuck in the popular imagination.
Carver was indeed a peanut pioneer—he is reputed to have found over 300 uses for the legume during his career—but he wasn’t the first person to create peanut butter. In truth, evidence of peanut-based pastes can be found in South America as far back as 950 B.C. Meanwhile, modern peanut butter substances were first patented in 1884 by Marcellus Edson—who referred to it as “peanut-candy”—and later by John Harvey Kellogg, who unveiled a process for creating peanut butter in 1895. While he eventually became its most famous advocate, Carver did not begin his own experiments on the peanut until 1903.
http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-historical-figures-famous-for-something-they-never-did?cmpid=INT_Outbrain_HITH_HIS&obref=obnetwork
