Explorer Marco Polo ‘never actually went to China’
10th August 2011
The archeologists point in particular to inconsistencies and inaccuracies in his description of Kublai Khan’s attempted invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281.
“He confuses the two, mixing up details about the first expedition with those of the second. In his account of the first invasion, he describes the fleet leaving Korea and being hit by a typhoon before it reached the Japanese coast,” said Daniele Petrella of the University of Naples, the leader of an Italian archeological project in Japan.
“But that happened in 1281 – is it really possible that a supposed eye witness could confuse events which were seven years apart?”
August 10th, 2011 at 08:30
And Paul Revere never made it to Concord, and the much-beloved Brontosaurus turned out to be a mistake (the skeleton actually belongs to the species Apatosaurus).
The older I get, the more my childhood icons are shattered. But never fear: St. Ronald still saved us all by slaying the Soviet Dragon. That’s one myth which will never die.
August 10th, 2011 at 11:27
Stick around and maybe your liberal icons will be shattered as well.
As for Reagan, the fact that the Russians seem to think he had a hand in the fall of the Soviet Union would be enough to convince me that he did.
As for Marco Polo, his travels did have an incredible impact on Western civilization. If he messed up in his memoirs – or even (gasp) exaggerated a bit – it doesn’t lessen the impact. I just don’t share the angst that these archeologists must have over this.
August 10th, 2011 at 12:22
Obviously reading for content wasn’t your strong suit in school. Had you been paying attention, you might have noted that Polo didn’t just “mess up his memoirs”: in short, he faked them.
Let me put it into perspective: It’s akin to finding out that Jim Bowie and David Crockett weren’t actually at the Alamo, but died in a whorehouse in Seacaucus, NJ in 1907.
But then, maybe accuracy in history isn’t as important to Texans as jacklighting wetbacks from a pickup truck.
August 10th, 2011 at 17:19
“..jacklighting wetbacks…”? You may have to give up your PC Card for that. I think that term would bring a universal response of “What the hell is that damn Yankee talking about?”, even on the border.
August 10th, 2011 at 20:57
PC card…wait a minute…I’m sure it’s here somewhere…Oh, yeah, now I remember; Sister Gardenia tore it up in third grade when I told her I thought Jesus was a douchebag.
Oh, well. And so it goes.