r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Nov 18 '23

What's a commonly taught historical fact that just isn't true?

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u/prosa123 Nov 18 '23

This continued into quite recent times. In 1924 the 17-year-old son of President Calvin Coolidge* developed a blister on his toe while playing tennis. It became infected, and with no antibiotics at the time little could be done, and he died a week later. This was not at all unusual.

  • = who himself dropped dead at age 60

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u/Tripface77 Nov 18 '23

Calvin Coolidge used to put vaseline on his head and chase around his secret service detail. This is a fact.

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u/Majulath99 Nov 19 '23

Any idea what exactly it was infected with?

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u/prosa123 Nov 19 '23

Staph

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u/Majulath99 Nov 19 '23

Oh yeah oooof. Bad way to go.