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September 26, 2025 10 mins

 Think you know history? From Marie Antoinette’s fake cake quote to a pope putting a corpse on trial, we debunk 10 myths and reveal the weird truths behind them.
You know the story — or so you thought.
This episode of An Ounce dives into 10 famous “facts” that never happened, plus a few true events so strange you’ll swear we made them up. From Columbus’s wrong math to political window-tossing in Prague, we’re swapping history class clichés for the real — and often ridiculous — truth.
It’s fast-paced, insightful, and packed with twists that outsmart the obvious.
What surprised you the most? Drop a comment below.
If you could rewrite one moment in history, what would you change?
👉 Like, subscribe, and share for more smart, surprising storytelling.

🎥 Related episode: The Corpse on Trial: Pope Formosus and the Cadaver Synod –  https://youtu.be/sd81dgO6Wpw
🎥 Related episode: Operation ‘Paul Bunyan’ in the Korean DMZ - https://youtu.be/lAYCcG8Xuqo
#HistoricalMyths #WeirdHistory #AnOuncePodcast #OutsmartTheObvious
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⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – Intro: What You “Know” Is Wrong
00:45 – Marie Antoinette’s Cake Problem
01:44 – The Pope Who Put a Corpse on Trial
02:35 – Medieval People and the Shape of the Earth
03:42 – Defenestrations of Prague
04:23 – Franklin’s Kite and the Real Experiment
05:12 – Operation Paul Bunyan: The Tree War
06:14 – Nero and the Nonexistent Fiddle
06:48 – Jeremy Bentham Attends Meetings (While Dead)
07:33 – Great Wall of China from Space? Nope.
08:02 – Medieval Toilets and the Groom of the Stool
09:17 – Big Picture: History’s Bad Habits

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📚 References (Fully Written Out URLs):
• Marie Antoinette quote – Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marie-Antoinette-queen-of-France
• Cadaver Synod – Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/cadaver-synod-medieval-trial-dead-pope-180971919/
• Columbus & Earth’s Shape – History.com: https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/columbus
• Defenestrations of Prague – Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/event/Defenestration-of-Prague
• Franklin’s Kite Experiment – Franklin Institute: https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/kite-key-experiment
• Operation Paul Bunyan – U.S. Army: https://www.army.mil/article/112622
• Nero & Rome Fire – National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/nero
• Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon – University College London: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bentham-project/who-was-jeremy-bentham
• Great Wall visibility – NASA: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2012/05/11/the-great-wall-of-china-from-space/
• Medieval Toilets – Historic England: https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/medieval-toilets
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Credits:
Images and Video: Via iStock and Getty, Picryl, Wikimedia, and A.I. generated as noted in the video.
Music: Via the YouTube Audio Library: Clouds Lifting, Country Funk, For our Friends, Merry Go Round, and Tomorrow’s Light by Telecasted. 

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