Ok, me and my friends used to have this strange belief that a knights rank was determined by the spikey-ness of his helmet. I recall one of my arguments with my friend ending with: "MY HELMET IS SPIKIER THEN YOURS, SO THERE!"

Nahtiak

I remember having read Adolf Hitler's name someplace when I was really young, but had no idea why exactly he was so infamous. All I knew was that he was German.

So, I figured that 'Hitler' would be the perfect name for a German Shepherd dog. My parents convinced me otherwise.

Anon

When I was very young I thought that "B.C." stood for "Before Cloth." Prior to that time, I imagined everybody was running around wearing animal skins because they didn't know how to weave textiles yet.

Anon, A Mouse

I used to think that the Marc Anthony that is married to Jennifer Lopez, was the same one that was married to Cleopatra.

kim

When I was six or so I first learned the story of Robin Hood, only I misunderstood one vital point: I thought that King Richard had gone off not on the Crusades, but rather an actual cruise. I didn't understand why everyone thought Prince John was such a bad man because I'd be angry, too if my brother went off on holiday and left me home alone!

Meg

That the McCartney Era was another name for Beatlemania (due to confusion between "McCartney" and "McCarthy"

James Anderson

When I was 9 years old, I heard my dad listening to something on the Discovery Channel about the Great Depression. Using my warped information, I concluded that the Great Depression was caused by large numbers of people jumping off of tall buildings and creating a huge hole (or depression) in the street.

Lara

Ok, this isn't my belief but one of my friends at school...
At our secondary school, our history curriculum ONLY covered the two world wars (seriously, that was all we were taught) and didn't include any Colonial or American History.

This was when the film Independence Day had only recently been released - my friend was amazed when she saw Independence day on her calendar... only having the film to connect it to, she thought there had actually been an attempted alien invasion and the 4th of July was a commemorative holiday.

To be fair though, I only found out yesterday that The Boston Tea Party was a protest against British colonists (i'm 20), I had always thought it was a slightly less- well known music festival than Woodstock, where people had drunk tea rather than dropping acid.

It's a good job GCSE's got easier.

Jessica

When the Apollo missions were going on. I just could not believe how foolish the astronauts were, going out of their spaceships without their Ray gun's. What would happen if a space monster jumped them from behind a rock?
Also, I refused to believe my older brother when he told me that the Astronauts lived in only the very top bit of the massive Saturn V rockets & only the very tip of the rocket return to earth after the mission.

Space Boy

I used to think that the evolution of species included the transition from the "big, fancy white hair" of Federalist justices/presidents/etc. (pre-Jefferson) to our current bald, sometimes dark-haired politicians. I thought it had become genetically impossible to have those luxurious white locks.

Celia Rangel

I used to think that the Elgin Marbles were actually the kind of marbles we used to play in the street with, and not great big statues. I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about and why they wanted them back.

linda hurst

I remember when i was little i asked my dad who the first person on earth was and he told me it was michael jackson! i actually believed him and whenever i heard the name on tv i was like, "wow, he must be really old!"

Katie

From when I was five until I was about seven, I thought humans had evolved from bears, not apes.

Anthropology Major

I thought Marco Polo was Irish.
Mark O'Polo.

Claire Sparkes

I used to believe when i was about 4 (now 15) that dinosours died because they didn't brush their teeth

gullable

i used to believe the underground railroad that the slaves used was really a railroad and i couldnt understand how they could afford all those trains and why they wouldnt get caught using them. i guess i know why i got the question about it worng then:)

fortydx

I used to believe the Spanish attacked England with a monsterous ship called the "Armada". It was made up of a hundred ships!

Terry Debassige

My mother once told me that thinks like fossil ammonites were the
remains of creatures that lived "a long time ago". I tokk this to mean about
a hundred years, and imagined Victorians sharing their world with giant
snails and the like. Not sure about dinosaurs, though.

Ollie

In first grade we were reading about Amelia Earhart, and how Roosevelt was president at the time. However, I did not understand that "First Lady" meant you were the president's wife, I thought it meant Eleanor Roosevelt was the first woman who ever existed!

Anon

I used to believe that like the iron age and the bronze age there was a stayon age my grandmother always used to say 'in this day and age'

carrie moore