5 Historical facts you probably didn’t learn in scool

You shouldn’t believe everything your teachers taught you. But don’t blame them, they were probably also just misinformed. They’re only human, after all.

1. Thomas Edison loved to steal ideas.

That’s the guy who invented the light bulb, right? Wrong. It was actually a British scientist named Humphry Davy. Edison just modified the idea and patented it. Edison was known in the world of inventions as a ‘thief of ideas’.

2. Ancient civilisations knew the Earth was round long before Galileo.

Based on ancient drawings of two stars rotating one another, scientists have reason to believe that ancient Greeks and Egyptians not only knew that the earth was round, but also that it revolved around the sun. This was long before the invention of electricity, after all, and the only entertainment they had at night was to watch the stars.

3. A woman discovered the double helix structure of DNA

It is widely believed and reputed that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered that the DNA molecule twists in the shape of a double helix, when in fact Rosalind Franklin (no, she’s not related to Benjamin Franklin) hypothesised the shape a few years before the two men. Their confirmed theory was based on her hypothesis.

4. Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals
Though many dispute this fact, correspondence between the American president and his colleagues confirm that he did, in fact, conjure the idea of double-strength glasses.

5. Table Mountain was once part of the ocean floor

Dubbed one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World, this landmark got its significant shape because it used to be the ocean floor, eroded away over eons of natural forces.