Okay, I want to test everybody's education with a simple quiz...

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>Answer truthfully, and only answer one question at a time before moving to the next one.

<b>1. True or false: Before 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, people thought that the world was flat.


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2. In 1828, Washington Irving wrote a biography on what famous explorer?


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3. In the most popular depictions of him, what is the Greek god Atlas holding on his back?


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4. In that 1828 biography, what horribly inaccurate myth did he spread that is still in school textbooks today?</b>

Answers are in the spoiler message...

<b>Spoiler Message:<b>
<span style="background: black; color: black;">1. False
2. Columbus
3. A globe (a round earth)
4. That Columbus was trying to prove that the world was round (to which he was right), instead of the more accurate version of Columbus trying to prove that the world was 4x smaller than it was (to which he was wrong).

I have one question: WHY IS THIS SHIT STILL IN TEXTBOOKS?!?!</span></div>

[Julius Seeker]

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '><div class=msg-quote>. True or false: Before 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, people thought that the world was flat.

Of course, but not everybody thought the world was flat. Christopher Columbus didn't even discover the western continent. Maritime Canada were already known to exist hundreds of years before, and had been used as fishing grounds by Northern Europeans in Norway, Scotland, and other countries since the first millenium. Lief Erikkson discovered Maritime and Northern Canada in 986 AD roughly a year after Greenland (which is located among the Northern Islands of Canada) was colonized, Iceland was discovered in 874 AD. The Sinclair expedition was made in 1398, Portugese began fishing off the coast of Newfoundland in 1452, and John Cabot mapped the area in 1497.










2. In 1828, Washington Irving wrote a biography on what famous explorer?


I've never even heard of this guy









3. In the most popular depictions of him, what is the Greek god Atlas holding on his back?




The Earth







4. In that 1828 biography, what horribly inaccurate myth did he spread that is still in school textbooks today?



No idea, I have not heard of this guy before. I have certainly not read any of his books.</div>

[Kupek]

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '><i>1. True or false: Before 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, people thought that the world was flat.</i>
Generally false. There might have been some people who did, but anybody with a decent education knew that the world was round.

<i>2. In 1828, Washington Irving wrote a biography on what famous explorer?</i>
Dunno.

<i>3. In the most popular depictions of him, what is the Greek god Atlas holding on his back?</i>
The world.

<i>4. In that 1828 biography, what horribly inaccurate myth did he spread that is still in school textbooks today?</i>
Didn't know 2, so 4 is a wash.

[read answers]

Should have noticed the trend. I don't know why this stuff is still in textbooks - I noticed some inaccuracies regarding Columbus in the textbook used in an American history course I took a year ago. Have you read <i>Lies My Teacher Told Me</i>?</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>Okay, now read my answers.</div>

[kali o.]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>1. False. If I recall, he was simply looking for a shortcut to India or China...or something.

2. Dunno.

3. The world.

4. Because I don't know 2, I don't know this.

Seems American based. At least Columbus-wise...never really delve into much of that in Canadian History (though I know Vikings touched down in North America long before Columbus).

*looks at spoiler section*

Uhh...almost all Columbus. Cheap.</div>

[Mr.Person]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Never read Washington Irving, but after reading the spoiler I see the Columbus bent.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>He wrote Sleepy Hollow, as well as a bunch of other (probably inaccurate) biographies.</div>