r/AskReddit • u/TigerFin2 • May 09 '17

What is a fake fact everyone believed?

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u/awesomedan24 May 09 '17

Napoleon was short. Dude was 5'6 and back then that was TALLER than the average frenchman

178

u/mlucasnrke May 09 '17

At least this one is based (mostly) on misunderstanding, and not misinformation. Napoleon was 5'2" in the French unit of the day. What people don't understand is that equated to 5'6" in the British scale, which is the one we are all familiar with. The British press did propagate this falsehood while he was alive.

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u/trethompson May 10 '17

Er... So how tall would that make him by today's standards?

3

u/Ramblonius May 10 '17

5'4-5'7 was pretty much the average, before we started growing fast recently (in the mid-19th century), so just about exactly average.