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Coming June 5, 2012 !
Every day, stories
about people or objects are repeated in museums, schools, and historic sites that are not true. Some are outright fabrications.
Others contain a kernel of truth that has been embellished over the years. Because they are catchy, humorous, or shocking,
these stories often stick in our memories when less sexy information slips away.
Some of the weird things we hear
are actually true. Hat makers really were driven "mad"--or more accurately, they were poisoned--by the mercury they
used in making hats from furs. The symptoms, hallucinations, tremors, and twitching, looked like insanity to people of the
17th and 18th centuries, and the phrase "mad as a hatter" came about. But many myths are utter nonsense and persist
despite the best efforts of museum professionals to put them to rest.
It is hard to visit a historic
site or museum today without encountering at least one of these myths. How many have you heard? How many do you believe?
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