Checking historical trivia claims for accuracy

[BobG]

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

What does that mean for bald people?

Actually, this one is probably true when analyzing groups. Nutrition during childhood will affect development, including brain and neurological development. The statement is about as meaningful as saying people with lead or cadmium in their hair are less intelligent. True, but it's the toxic chemicals during childhood that reduced brain capability, not an indication that less intelligent people produce more lead and cadmium.

 

[Art]

Gokul - Re horses - I was told it was only legend with the possible exception of Gettysburg by a curator whilst in a museum in Washington.

The problem with many statues of Napoleon and the legend is that they do depict him on a horse with both forelegs raised whereas he did not die in battle.

Based on the link Evo supplied it seems only 1/3 of sculptors know of this code

 

[Art]

Some other commonly believed modern myths gleaned from the Web,

No two snow flakes are the same shape.

Warm air rises, cool air is sucked into replace it.

Heat is caused by molecules moving.

Earth rotates exactly once in 24 hours

Venus is the only planet with a day longer than its year

Without the Bernoulli effect, airplanes couldn’t fly

Columbus proved that the Earth is round

Butterflies emerge from a cocoon

The taste map of the tongue

The sun is the main source of heat on Earth

The reason clouds form when air cools is because cold air cannot hold as much water vapor as warm air.

The water in a sink rotates one way as it drains in the northern hemisphere and the other way in the southern hemisphere due to the Coriolis Effect, caused by the rotation of the Earth.

 

[Gokul43201]

Gokul - Re horses - I was told it was only legend with the possible exception of Gettysburg by a curator whilst in a museum in Washington.

The problem with many statues of Napoleon and the legend is that they do depict him on a horse with both forelegs raised whereas he did not die in battle.

Based on the link Evo supplied it seems only 1/3 of sculptors know of this code

I'm not denying that it's very likely just bogus - the veracity of most stories varies inversely with their interestingness - but the "debunking" performed at the first site was terrible. At least snopes got the math right.

Also, I came across this in the course of my wanderings:

For equestrian monuments: If the horse has its four legs on the ground it means that the rider was not killed in action. In this case the rider must have his head covered and must not be holding his weapons. When the rider was wounded in a battle, the horse is depicted with one of its fore legs rose. The rider should hold his weapons in combat ready position and must have his head covered. A horse standing on its hind legs means that the rider was killed in combat. In this case the rider's head must be uncovered and the figure must be represented as if engaged in action.

http://www.periferia.org/publications/statuary.html

 

[Moonbear]

What does that mean for bald people?

I don't know, but currently I'm acquiring more silver and platinum in my hair.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Gokul - Re horses - I was told it was only legend with the possible exception of Gettysburg by a curator whilst in a museum in Washington.

The problem with many statues of Napoleon and the legend is that they do depict him on a horse with both forelegs raised whereas he did not die in battle.

Based on the link Evo supplied it seems only 1/3 of sculptors know of this code

I don’t know about American military statue rules, but I have heard something along the lines that the tradition of representing riders upon horses performing the pesade or levade( I think the levade actually originated later again) began with Velazquez, and that this position with a rider was a newly attained feat, and very difficult for both horse and rider to accomplish.

‘In this court, dedicated to preserving reputation at all costs, with its coffers and its gene pool disastrously reduced, artifice and sleight-of-hand were essential. Once there, the radical youth could not carry on painting like Caravaggio, he gives his master's what they want; we see the great Olivares in gleaming black armour, easily staying in the saddle as his horse performs a levade, a move which requires the peak of equestrian ability, and also conveying the message that this man, not the king is the architect of Spain's military prowess.
This is a pose he also uses, with some irony, for the King's heir, Infante Baltasar Carlos, all part of a highly ambitious programme of political propaganda.’

After that, because it showed greatness, many people wanted themselves represented in similar fashion, and from this I’d guess that how they died wasn’t a consideration in this context.