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Quiz about If Its Not True Its a Good Story
Quiz about If Its Not True Its a Good Story

If It's Not True It's a Good Story Quiz


Some of the most famous stories in history have been partially or totally fabricated by storytellers. Here, Ralph the Llama tries his hoof at historical myth-busting, and attempts to identify how and why some of these stories came to be. Enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by doublemm. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
doublemm
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
326,537
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
5312
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 1 (7/10), amarie94903 (10/10), Guest 174 (6/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Ralph: "Firstly, due to laws on bakeries at the time, this lady's words may not have been as evil as they sound today. But, in actual fact, these words first appeared in print in 1766, when this famous queen was just 11. I would suggest that this story was put together by angry citizens of the time, who aimed to make this woman even more unpopular than she already was."

To which queen is Ralph referring?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Ralph: "I put it to you that your misunderstanding of a Latin phrase was the cause of a major modern misconception about the ways of ancient Rome. Your great work, "Pollice Verso", can be seen as popularizing the myth that a thumbs-down gesture from the emperor was used to put a gladiator to death. This, we now understand, was not necessarily the case."

Which 19th century French artist is Ralph addressing here?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Ralph: "Great discoveries tend to be linked with simple sparks, such as Franklin's kite, Darwin's finches, and Mendel's peas. I would suggest that you, Voltaire, tweaked a fruity tale about this great scientist to create a story which is still well known by schoolchildren around the world today."

To which scientist is Ralph referring?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Ralph: "Whilst this product is accepted by most to have been invented by Thomas Edison, scientists such as Sir Humphry Davy, Warren de la Rue, and Sir Joseph Wilson Swan may have something to say on the issue. The fame of Edison at the time is the probable explanation for the spreading of the myth that he invented this revolutionary product."

What invention is Ralph talking about?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Ralph: "This is a clear example of a false accusation to further tarnish the image of an already despised ruler. Firstly, this man could not have started the infamous fire in Rome, as many sources place him several miles away, in Antium at the time. Moreover, if taken to mean a violin, the fiddle which he supposedly played whilst many died was not even invented until the next millennium!"

Which tyrannical ruler is Ralph providing an alibi for?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Ralph: "Thomas Fuller, I put it to you that you are at least partly responsible for spreading the myth of how an English king knighted a piece of meat, thus giving us the sirloin steak. In fact, the word's origin is not as extravagant as many are led to believe, and is actually taken from the French for "above the loin"."

What king is most famously linked to this legend?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Ralph: "This curious character's existence is simply a way of discouraging the voyeurs. The first appearance of this man was made a full 600 years after the first written account of Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry, which itself is now accepted to never have happened."

To which man is Ralph referring?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Ralph: "Limes were never used by this famous explorer as a way of preventing scurvy whilst at sea. Although limes *were* used, they were pre-dated by lemon juice, and even this commodity was only introduced by the Admiralty some 20 years after the death of this man."

Which globe-trotter is Ralph discussing here?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Ralph: "Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, your ignorance was the cause of the execution of 20 citizens in 1692/3. Furthermore, the game of Chinese whispers over the next few centuries resulted in another historical myth - that these citizens were burned at the stake for their supposed wrong-doings."

To which event is Ralph alluding?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Ralph: "This man's alleged appointment of his horse to the senate was born from rumour and has stuck for over 2,000 years due to its eccentricity. The eccentricity of the man himself was what made this myth so believable, but alas, there is no evidence to substantiate it."

What man is Ralph talking about?
Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Ralph: "Firstly, due to laws on bakeries at the time, this lady's words may not have been as evil as they sound today. But, in actual fact, these words first appeared in print in 1766, when this famous queen was just 11. I would suggest that this story was put together by angry citizens of the time, who aimed to make this woman even more unpopular than she already was." To which queen is Ralph referring?

Answer: Marie Antoinette

The story goes that Marie Antoinette answered "let them eat cake" when told that ordinary French people were starving. The actual word has been altered through time and translation, and actually reads as "let them eat brioche" as opposed to "let them eat cake".

As the comedian David Mitchell put it, Marie may have simply misunderstood the situation:
"The people have no bread."
"Let them eat cake."
"No, Your Majesty, there is no cake, either."
"Oh, I now see this is a serious problem."
But joking aside, the meaning of this phrase may not have been nearly as cynical as it sounds today, as laws in 18th century France required bakers to drop the price of "fine breads" (such as brioche) when standard loafs had sold out, which was often the case. In the end this is all simply noise, as the sentence was first seen in print when Marie Antoinette was just 11 and was not even in France. It was attributed to an unknown princess by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1766.
2. Ralph: "I put it to you that your misunderstanding of a Latin phrase was the cause of a major modern misconception about the ways of ancient Rome. Your great work, "Pollice Verso", can be seen as popularizing the myth that a thumbs-down gesture from the emperor was used to put a gladiator to death. This, we now understand, was not necessarily the case." Which 19th century French artist is Ralph addressing here?

Answer: Jean-Léon Gérôme

The thumbs-down sign for a gladiator to be put to death was certainly popularized, if not started, by the artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. The Latin phrase "pollice verso" means simply "turned thumb" (without any indication of the direction) and Gérôme assumed that the thumb was turned down, when, in fact, the meaning is unclear.

It is said that Ridley Scott, director of the film "Gladiator", viewed the dramatic painting known as "Pollice Verso" before accepting the directing role. Some sources even credit the great, but inaccurate, painting as being the deciding influence for Scott.

Whilst some now claim that the actual gesture given by the emperor to signal for a gladiator to be put to death was a closed fist, others even claim that the thumbs-up was the fatal sign. Interestingly, if a man killed his opponent before the emperor had decided on his fate, he would be put on trial for murder.
3. Ralph: "Great discoveries tend to be linked with simple sparks, such as Franklin's kite, Darwin's finches, and Mendel's peas. I would suggest that you, Voltaire, tweaked a fruity tale about this great scientist to create a story which is still well known by schoolchildren around the world today." To which scientist is Ralph referring?

Answer: Newton

Truly a brilliant man, and hailed as a genius already in his own lifetime, some may have been a bit carried away when talking about Newton's achievements. The story of the apple falling on Newton's head was put forward by Voltaire long after Newton's death. This story has stuck and there have been many depictions of the great scientist musing under a tree just before the famous fruit fell. There have also been jokes to the effect that if Newton was sitting under a pumpkin or coconut tree we might never have been given the theory of gravity.

It is generally accepted that an apple was the inspiration for Newton's famous theory, as he watched it fall *from a distance* in the orchard near his home.
4. Ralph: "Whilst this product is accepted by most to have been invented by Thomas Edison, scientists such as Sir Humphry Davy, Warren de la Rue, and Sir Joseph Wilson Swan may have something to say on the issue. The fame of Edison at the time is the probable explanation for the spreading of the myth that he invented this revolutionary product." What invention is Ralph talking about?

Answer: The electric light-bulb

English scientist Sir Humphry Davy invented arc lighting many years before Edison was even born, and many later improved on his model. In 1840, Warren de la Rue (another Briton), enclosed a platinum coil in a vacuum tube and passed an electric current through it, allowing the light to glow for a longer period that Davy's carbon filament.

After many experiments with metal filaments, Edison returned to the carbon filament, demonstrating that this could allow the light to glow for very long periods of time.

This was demonstrated in October 22nd 1879.
5. Ralph: "This is a clear example of a false accusation to further tarnish the image of an already despised ruler. Firstly, this man could not have started the infamous fire in Rome, as many sources place him several miles away, in Antium at the time. Moreover, if taken to mean a violin, the fiddle which he supposedly played whilst many died was not even invented until the next millennium!" Which tyrannical ruler is Ralph providing an alibi for?

Answer: Nero

It has been claimed by some that Nero could not play the fiddle at all! Granted, this seems impossible to substantiate, but the violin itself was not invented until over 1,000 years after the Great Fire of Rome. (Some sources claim that the "fiddle" refers to the lyre.) Many sources also claim that Nero was in Antium, not Rome, when the fire started and that the evil emperor actually rushed to Rome as soon as he heard and funded much of the aid with money from his own pocket.

Whilst Ralph may be able to free Nero from blame for the Great Fire of Rome, the Roman emperor was known for many other inexcusable evils, such as numerous murders, including that of his own mother.
6. Ralph: "Thomas Fuller, I put it to you that you are at least partly responsible for spreading the myth of how an English king knighted a piece of meat, thus giving us the sirloin steak. In fact, the word's origin is not as extravagant as many are led to believe, and is actually taken from the French for "above the loin"." What king is most famously linked to this legend?

Answer: Henry VIII

Many stories surround Henry VIII - the lover of food and the taker of many wives. In fact, the story of how the sirloin steak got its name is seen by many as tripe! One of the first to perpetuate this myth was Thomas Fuller, who gave the eccentric account of Henry VIII's knighting of this fine piece of meat in "The Church History of Britain" (1655). Furthermore, the term was written as "surloin" until the 18th century, which corroborates the theory that the sirloin got its name from a French term - "surlonge" ("sur" - "over/on/above", "longe"-"loin").
7. Ralph: "This curious character's existence is simply a way of discouraging the voyeurs. The first appearance of this man was made a full 600 years after the first written account of Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry, which itself is now accepted to never have happened." To which man is Ralph referring?

Answer: Peeping Tom

Writer Daniel Donoghue claims that the myth of Lady Godiva "was based on the life of Godifu, a real woman who lived in Coventry in the latter part of the eleventh century and was married to one of the most powerful men in England."

The first written account of Godiva's ride appeared 200 years after the supposed event in 1057. The action was supposedly taken by Godiva in protest of her husband's harsh taxes on the people of Coventry. On the contrary, many claim that there is evidence that Leofric was generous and kind, giving much money to the poor and religious institutions.

The story of Peeping Tom seems even more tenuous, with his first appearance coming a full 600 years after the first account of the ride. According to legend, the people of Coventry, out of respect for Lady Godiva, stayed indoors. Tom's curiosity, however, led him to view Lady Godiva as she rode naked on the streets. Peeping Tom is almost certainly a fictional character and was created as a way of discouraging "peeping".
8. Ralph: "Limes were never used by this famous explorer as a way of preventing scurvy whilst at sea. Although limes *were* used, they were pre-dated by lemon juice, and even this commodity was only introduced by the Admiralty some 20 years after the death of this man." Which globe-trotter is Ralph discussing here?

Answer: James Cook

Cook never carried lemons or limes on board, but rather used sauerkraut and 'rob' (a concentrated fruit juice) as a way of preventing scurvy. Both the sauerkraut and juice were boiled so as to preserve them for the long voyage, but this in turn dramatically reduced the amount of vitamin C they contained.

The name "Limey", which was used to describe British sailors, was first recorded 1859. Oddly, limes contain much less vitamin C than lemons, and were only used because they were viewed as more "British".
9. Ralph: "Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, your ignorance was the cause of the execution of 20 citizens in 1692/3. Furthermore, the game of Chinese whispers over the next few centuries resulted in another historical myth - that these citizens were burned at the stake for their supposed wrong-doings." To which event is Ralph alluding?

Answer: The Salem Witch Trials

Another, smaller, misconception about the Salem witch trials is that all suspects were women, when in fact 6 of the 20 people executed in 1692/3 were men.

The suspicions arose when the Puritan minister of Salem, Samuel Parris, found that his daughter (Betty Parris) and niece (Abigail Williams) had suffered violent fits. The ignorance of the time allowed people to believe that the girls had been possessed by a satanic force, and fingers were soon pointed at social outcasts in the Salem community. A total of 31 suspects were rounded up and of these 20 were executed (some sources say 19). Hanging was the usual method, and none were burned at the stake. The ignorance of the time was comically highlighted by Chief Wiggum in a "Treehouse of Horror" episode of "The Simpsons", where he tells Marge (a suspected witch) that she will be pushed off a cliff. If she is a witch she would prove this by using her powers to fly back to them so that she could be executed, and if she were innocent she would fall to her death.
10. Ralph: "This man's alleged appointment of his horse to the senate was born from rumour and has stuck for over 2,000 years due to its eccentricity. The eccentricity of the man himself was what made this myth so believable, but alas, there is no evidence to substantiate it." What man is Ralph talking about?

Answer: Caligula

About seventy years after Caligula died, the historian Suetonius wrote: "It is also said that he [Caligula] planned to make him [Incitatus] consul." Suetonius makes it clear that this is a second-hand account and that the information he has been given is doubtful (making sure to use phrases like "it is also said"). There are no other records of that era which speak of Caligula's intentions to make his horse a consul.

Caligula took an avid interest in torture, and often practiced his inhumane methods on political opponents and even random passers-by. He was certainly *not* a pleasant piece of work.
Source: Author doublemm

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