User:Dr bab/LOCM Tasklist

The following items may not be properly sourced as common misconceptions:

Vikings did not wear Horned helmets.

A single off-line source with no quote. Nothing sourced at Vikings or Horned helmets apart from a straight dope article that lists two sources:

"The Invention of the Viking Horned Helmet" by Roberta Frank in International Scandinavian and Medieval Studies in Memory of Gerd Wolfgang Weber (2000), edited by Michael Dallapiazza et al.

and

"The Origin of the Imaginary Viking" by Johnni Langer in Viking Heritage Magazine, December 2002

It would be beneficial if we could find these sources and get some quotes.

Iron Maiden not used as a torture instrument

A single offline source in German with no quote given. Google gives a couple of "top ten misconceptions about history" hits.

Marie Antoinette did not say Let them eat cake.

Only source at present is howstuffworks.com. At Marie Antoinette the following source is used:

Lady Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey, p.xviii, 160; É. Lever, Marie-Antoinette: The Last Queen of France, pp. 63–5; Susan S. Lanser, article 'Eating Cake: The (Ab)uses of Marie-Antoinette,' published in Marie-Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen, (ed. Dena Goodman), pp. 273–290.

However, it is not clear that this establishes this as a common misconception, it may just as well only be a source for the phrase it is now generally regarded as a "journalistic cliché".. At Let them eat cake the sources seem to be mainly concerned about sourcing the quote to the right person.

George Washington did not have wooden teeth.

Currently sourced by an article from msnbc which deals with the real composition of the dentures. The existence of a belief in wooden teeth may be implicit in the article, but nowhere does it state that this is a common misconception. The article on George Washington cites an article at americanrevolution.org, where it states "Contrary to American legend, George Washington never owned a set of wooden teeth". Legend is not the same as "common misconception". Other sources at George Washington deal with the poor state of the man's teeth, the reason for this, and how the bad teeth may have caused the clenched-jaw expression often seen in portraits. The article at americanrevolution.org does list a bibliography where something may be found if anyone has access:

Callcott, George H., A History of the University of Maryland., Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD.

Hillam, Christine. Ed. for Lindsay Society for History of Dentistry 1990. Roots of Dentistry pub. by British Dental Assoc.

Hoffman-Axthelm, Walter. Translated by H. M. Koehler. History of Dentistry. Quintessence Pub. Co. 1981

Klatell, Jack DDS. Kaplan, Andrew DMD. Williams, Gray, Jr. illus: Caroline Meinstein. The Mount Sinai Medical Center--Family Guide to Dental Health. Macmillan Publ. Co. 1991.

The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD

Prinz, Hermann. Dental Chronology: A record of the more important events in the evolution of dentistry. Lea & Fehiger, Philadelphia, PA.

Ring, Malvin E., Dentistry: An Illustrated History Henry N. Abrams, Inc., C.V. Mosby Co. 1985.

Stier, Charles J. papers, Baron Henry deWitte's Archives, Antwerp.

Weinberger, Bernhard Wolf. Introduction to History of Dentistry in America Vol. 1 & II. C. V. Mosby Co. 1948.

The United States Constitution was written on parchment, not hemp paper.

One source seems to be a pro-marijuana page citing the benefits of hemp paper and mentioning that the drafts of the declaration of independence was written on such paper. The other source is "constitutional FAQ answer #145", stating that "Urban legend is that the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights were written on hemp paper".

Benito Mussolini did not “make the trains run on time”.

A single source describing this as "a myth, nurtured and propagated by a leader with a journalist's flair for symbolism, verbal trickery and illusion." Trains are not mentioned in the Benito Mussolini article, but nevertheless there is an external link to snopes.com were two sources are given:

Montagu, Ashley and Edward Darling. The prevalence of nonsense. New York: Dell Publishing, 1967 ((pp. 19-20).

Smith, Denis Mack. Mussolini. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. ISBN 0-394-50694-4 (p. 118).

Polish Cavalry mounting a brave but futile charge against German tanks using lances and sabres.

The source, Panzerwolrld.net, cites a source

ZALOGA, Steven J. Poland 1939 - The birth of Blitzkrieg. Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2002.

and quotes the following: "If a single image dominates the popular perception of the Polish campaign of 1939, it is the scene of Polish cavalry bravely charging the Panzers with their lances."

The same source is given at Charge at Krojanty. Under Polish Cavalry an interesting source is given to an article in the Guardian:

"The column below repeated a myth of the second world war, fostered by Nazi propagandists, when it said that Polish lancers turned their horses to face Hitler's panzers. There is no evidence that this occurred."[1]

The polish Wikipedia may be a good place to start looking in this case maybe.

Entrapment law in the US requiring police officers to identify themselves as police.

Only source pointing to a common misconception is snopes.com article "It has long been accepted hooker lore. There is also a reference to a court case, from which I found the following snippet through google:

whatever its precise effect may be, the concept of entrapment involves as a necessary element the idea that an accused person has been induced to commit a crime which he or she otherwise would not have committed or would have been unlikely to commit’.

This seems to indicate that this second source did not deal with "common misconception", but with explaining the entrapment laws.

Searing meat does not "seal in" moisture.

Nothing in the online source, and through google books I was able to look at the paper-source:

"The pioneer of mass-produced meat extracts was Justus von Liebig, inventor of the mistaken theory that searing meat seals in the juices."

Placing metal inside a microwave oven does not damage the oven's electronics.

Only source is a patent, which is probably a primary source. A different source would be beneficial.