"Let Them Eat Cake" and other tragic faux pas

Did Marie Antoinette really say “Let them eat cake,” before promptly getting her head chopped off on a guillotine by angry, starving French peasants?  And did Captain Edward Smith of the Titanic ever make the claim that his ship was “Unsinkable,” before it sank like a rock into the North Atlantic?

After fact checking these legendary faux pas; I could not confirm that Marie Antoinette ever said "Let them eat cake," but I did find out what her nickname was. It’s Marietta and it's spelled exactly like the city near Atlanta Georgia.

As for Captain Smith, I could not verify that he ever used those exact words that his ship was "Unsinkable!" But there are some witness accounts that he went down with his ship.

But what else do these two well known historical figures have in common besides both meeting with tragic ends? Perhaps they failed to understand something very important and this failure to 'get it' or by being misunderstood if not misquoted; led to people changing their perceptions of them -from adoration to condemnation. That ever happen to you?

Unfortunately I too have said some embarrassing things  that I wish I hadn't said. Like the time I made the faux pas of asking a woman if she were pregnant because her belly was large and she replied, "No I'm not pregnant!" Uh-oh, right then I felt like a part of my own anatomy was in danger of being kicked.  But instead she was gracious with me and I lived to tell about it.  But I will never, ever ask that dumb question again! I just keep learning. I'm getting better all the time at keeping my mouth shut when it should be.