Well-Known Historical Stories That Sound Too Good To Be True Because They're Not True

One of the most legendary figures of the Anglo-Saxon world was Lady Godiva. Unhappy with her husband's decision to raise taxes on his subjects, she struck a deal with him: If she rode naked through Coventry, he'd lower the taxes. She made good on her promise, and the people of Mercia got the tax break they craved.

Even though her breezy ride through Coventry likely never happened, Lady Godiva really was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman in the 11th century. She also was generous with her wealth. 

Where did the myth of the noblewoman's naked ride come from? Historian Robert Lacey suggests that Lady Godiva may have appeared in the middle of Coventry "naked" - but naked as Anglo-Saxons would have understood it: without jewels or finery.

As a ruler whose legacy casts a long shadow, Catherine the Great has been the subject of myths and legends ever since she became empress of Russia in 1762. But one myth is wilder than the rest: that her life ended while a horse was pleasuring her.

The rotten roots of this myth stretch all the way back to the time of Catherine's rule, when her rivals attempted to discredit her by spreading ridiculous stories about her supposedly extreme sexuality. By claiming the empress passed in the throes of passion with a horse, critics tried to label her an unnatural deviant.

While it is true that Catherine (just like many of her male contemporaries) had several lovers over the course of her life, they were all human.

Remembered as one of history's most sensual queens - thanks to her affairs with two of ancient Rome's most powerful men - Cleopatra remains an enigmatic figure. Indeed, considering the centuries of myths about her, a lot of fiction has been entangled with facts. 

One of the wildest stories: that she had an ancient vibrator, which was essentially a gourd stuffed with buzzing bees. If that sounds too ridiculous to be believed, that's because it is - nothing suggests she actually had one.

The myth of her bee-powered device says more about our assumptions about Cleopatra's sexuality than it does about the actual queen.

It's one of the pithiest, most quotable moments leading up to the French Revolution: When informed that her poor French subjects couldn't afford bread, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, quipped, "Let them eat cake!" The line supposedly highlighted just how out of touch the frivolous queen was - and why she needed to go.

The problem: Marie Antoinette probably never said it. The story of a queen - not Marie Antoinette - directing her subjects to eat cake during a bread shortage can actually be traced back to the late 17th century, decades before the French Revolution. It wasn't until the 1800s that people started putting those words in Marie Antoinette's mouth.

Nearly every American hears the story in grade school: how Paul Revere rode his horse across Massachusetts in the middle of the night, warning his fellow colonists, "The British are coming!" 

While Paul Revere really did carry word to Lexington, MA, about an armed advance, the truth is a little more complicated. He spent part of his journey on a boat, for example, and was just one piece in a large information network. Revere shared the warning, "The Regulars are coming out," and was actually captured by British regulars before he even reached Concord.

Christopher Columbus was a man on a mission, or so the story goes. Funded by the Spanish crown to find a trade route to India, Columbus decided to sail westward to prove that the earth was round, not flat, as everyone believed.

The problem? It was already accepted that the earth was round, so Columbus had nothing to prove.

Where did the myth come from? Historians place the blame squarely on 19th-century writer Washington Irving's shoulders, whose The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus created the tall tale.