The History Bluff

By Miss Cellania in Blogs & Internet on Jan 15, 2009 at 12:02 pm

The History Bluff has a clue in the title of the site: it’s all made up! The tagline is “Making a mess of history.” Here’s a sample story:

Few heroes are as legendary as crossbowman William Tell of Switzerland who is said to have shot an apple off of his son’s head. The History Bluff tells the forgotten tale of William Tell and his other son on that fateful day.

In 1307 William Tell disrespected Hermann Gessler, the ruler of Tell’s province, by refusing to bow to him. As punishment Gessler arrested Tell and his two boys, Walter and Adam, and placed an apple on each of the boys’ heads; Gessler then told William Tell to shoot the apples.

Tell first took aim at the apple on Walter’s head, released, and breathed a sigh of relief when the bolt from his crossbow sliced the apple right through the middle. Confidently, the crossbowman took aim and shot at the apple on Adam’s head, but watched in horror as the bolt fatally struck his son in the larynx, which as a tribute, is now known as Adam’s Apple.

Adam was fatally struck in the larynx, ending all hope of a music career and/or life.

William Tell and his son Walter were later released from custody, but William could not get over the death of Adam. Many years later in 1354 a villager saw Tell jump into a lake with two large stones tied to his left ankle. Tell’s body was found two days later.

Read more preposterous stories you can easily pass along to unwitting friends. Link -Thanks, Dave Newell!


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  1. Justin
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    While some of the website is quite funny, is it really smart to screw up historical events and people? Our nation is already facing a crisis of historical illiteracy, I’m worried that these stories will be seen as fact by many who are indirectly linked to the articles.

    Sincerely,

    -Local grouch

    PS: After writing this, I read the top 10 new years resolutions by former presidents; it’s pretty funny. So I guess, I’m divided in how I see this website.

    http://www.thehistorybluff.com/top-ten-list/

  2. Lore
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    I agree with Justin, I”m all for fun and games but the US already doesn’t get it’s history and now were ready to screw it up some more….

    But it’s so funny…

    Ethics faltering…

  3. suro
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    Funny because even the “real story” of Tell is not real at all.

  4. Brent
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    For one thing, this particular story isn’t a part of US history. Also, this site is the least of worries when talking about literacy. Wikipedia will soon be seen by students as a definitive source for research.

    Do a search on The History Bluff for the Top 10 Christmas Moments of the 18th Century. It’s hilarious.

    This site reminds me of The Onion, one of my favorites. Excellent link, Miss Cellania!

  5. gtron
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

    in the far future digital archeaologists will debate on what the true history was… “President Obama Bin Laden?”

  6. Sammy
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    It reminds me a lot of the books “Areas of my Expertise” by John Hodgeman.
    A smart person making things up.
    If a very funny book

  7. DOJ
    Jan 15th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    that is word for word what they taught us at my public school

    and thanks to this link, I can now read ahead in the curriculum

  8. Evilbeagle
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am

    I kind of agree with Justin. Not only is history badly ignored in both US and UK schools, but it gets revised by PC idiots constantly. While it’s all very amusing, it sort of isn’t.

  9. KindleWindle
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    my teacher used this site in a lesson during class. We did a review of some stories and decided what was true and what was false in the stories. the guy who does the site sent us bookmarks and all. i think it’s a good thing. not like we get interested in history watching the history channel. this stuff is funny.

  10. ted
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    KindleWindle, are you saying your only two sources of history would be the History Channel or this web site?

    I guess we are doomed.

  11. Evilbeagle
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    KindleWindle… I’m going to echo ted’s question here, but also add this:

    In the context that your teacher used the site, it’s not all that bad, but putting stuff like that on the internet, where people have the attention span of fruit flies, don’t read everything in an effort to get to the good stuff, then it’s a bit dodgy and will mislead a lot of people. That’s the problem I have with it, aside from the reasons I mentioned in my first comment.

    And The History Channel is not the end all. Most real history is more fascinating than the majority of the fiction you get out there if you take the time to read up on it.

  12. KindleWindle
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    well i think The History Bluff (and TheOnion.com) are onto something. both sites have gotten me interested in history and current events. i now find myself going to the biography section in the library to read about people The History Bluff writes about.

    haha, ted. no, the history channel isn’t the extent of my education, it was an example.

    lastly, it’s not the history bluff’s fault that no one bothers to do research on what they read. if you’re on the internet you should be discerning no matter where you’re reading.

  13. Evilbeagle
    Jan 17th, 2009 at 4:49 am

    I know what you are saying, KindleWindle, and if someone is stupid enough not to look into something before they accept it as fact, then yeah, it’s their fault, but it still doesn’t sit right with me to have fake versions of history out there.


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