How accurate is history?

I miss Adam and Wil on TripleJ’s breakfast, the new guys really don’t cut the mustard. But the one interesting thing I have heard them deal with is the debate about “Tom Price”, the mining town in WA.

Who was the person who actually discovered the Iron Ore there?

Was it Lang Hancock, or Bill Burns and Ian Whitcher?

Not that I really care, but this was only 40 or so years ago. There are people who are still alive who were involved in the discovery. So why is there so much uncertainty about what happens? It really makes me wonder how much of ‘ancient’ history is true.

How accurate were the records from 1914-18, let alone hundreds or thousands of years ago? How do we know we haven’t had the wool pulled over our eyes about thing in history?

I mean, Pythagoras didn’t really discover that theorem (the Egyptians knew about it all along), and Aristotle’s 4 humours held back medicine for centuries!

Similarly with the 4 elements and general science. And Fraud (intentional error) just made his results up, yet they have been treated as gospel. Don’t get me onto gospel!