Fake History: From Mozart's Murder to Cleopatra's Asp

As Napoleon himself once said, 'History is a version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.'

Noted down in historical documents, copied and widely repeated, it doesn't take long for a version of the truth to become accepted as fact. But who invents these false accounts in the first place, and why do they gain traction so quickly?

Far from concerning the obscure and insignificant parts of our history, these fundamental inaccuracies and downright lies colour the depiction of m...