BACK TO THE FUTURE
PRESIDENT Trump rewrote history by claiming that George Washington's army took over airports during the American War of Independence in the 1700s.
The president was speaking at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to mark America's Independence Day, becoming the first president in nearly 70 years to mark the occasion by addressing the country.
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Describing the war that gained America its independence, Trump said: "Our Army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry under the rocket's red glare had nothing but victory."
America fought the War of Independence against Great Britain from 1775 to 1783, while the world's first airport opened in Hounslow Heath, West London in 1919, a century and a half later.
The first aeroplane flight only took place in the early 1900s, when the Wright Brothers designed, built, and flew the world's first successful plane in North Carolina.
The speech also contained other historical errors.
Fort McHenry was the site of the Battle of Baltimore, which took part in the War of 1812, again fought against Britain but 29 years after the War of Independence officially came to an end.
Trump also said: "In June of 1775, the Continental Congress created a uniform army... named after the great George Washington, commander in chief."
The Continental Army, to which Trump later referred by name, was actually named after the congress that formed it, not president-to-be George Washington.
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
The American Revolution War, or War of Independence, was fought between Britain and America between 1775 and 1783.
The war began amid unrest in Britain's thirteen colonies on the eastern coast of North America.
The people living in the colonies believed that since they were being taxed and governed by Britain, they should be represented in its parliament.
The concept of "No taxation without representation" originated in the English Civil War, and the American colonists argued any laws passed in Britain that affected them were illegal under the English Bill of Rights 1689.
Attempts by Britain to quell unrest failed, and in 1774 the colonies formed the Continental Congress to coordinate a resistance.
In 1775, the war for America's independence began, the Continental Army was formed under the command of George Washington, who would later become the first US president.
In 1782, Britain withdrew its forces from the American continent, and the war formally ended the following year, when Britain agreed to recognise the sovreignty of the newly-formed United States.
The errors in Trump's speech were quickly noticed by users of social media, who took to twitter to point them out.
"Trump just said the army took over the airports during the Revolutionary War. That’s, um, 127 years before the aeroplane was invented," wrote one.
"American Airports in the 18th century. We learn something new every day," wrote another.
GAFFES GALORE
The speech wasn't the only of the President's recent public statements to contain inaccuracies.
In a tweet this week, Trump referred to Air Force One, the state-of-the-art jet in which all American presidents travel, as "Aircraft One".
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After meeting the Prince of Wales on a state visit to the UK in June, he tweeted about having met the "Prince of Whales".
At a press conference in April with the NATO secretary general, Trump claimed that his father, Fred Trump, was born in Germany, when he was in fact born in New York.
In a sit-down meeting in front of cameras in March, he also referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as "Tim Apple", later tweeting that he had made the slip on purpose as an "easy way to save time & words".
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