Who Knew?

Today I stumbled across an article cleverly entitled, "101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived."

I was happily reading along until I stumbled across a few people I could have sworn were real people. I was (and still am) kind of embarassed by my lack of knowledge as to whether or not these certain individuals really existed.

Number 3 on the list: King Arthur. I had no idea that King Arthur may not have been a real person. I mean, I knew that whole excalibur thing was probably mythical bunk, but I would have bet my marbles that he was a real person. I made a quick jump over to Wikipedia and discovered, to my relief, that he may have been a real person. We just don't know for sure.

Number 7: Siegfried. When I got to this one I was stymied. I know for a FACT that Siegfried is a real person. Him and Roy have been performing in Las Vegas for years! And why are they only questioning Siegfried's existence? Does Roy's tiger attack make him somehow exempt? Then I realized they were probably talking about a different Siegfried. After another trip over to Wikipedia I think they may be talking about the dragon-slaying hero in some Middle high German epic.

Number 42: William Tell. They NEVER tell you in school that he wasn't a real person. They just tell you about the whole apple-on-the-son's-head shenanigan. Yet another Wikipedia trip informed me that much of my ideas about William Tell were incorrect. I thought he was an American colonist type. And a real person to boot. Turns out he is "of disputed historical authenticity" and he was Swiss. And in a completely different time period.

The public school system has failed me.