Can't help but wonder if your teacher quietly informed you that it was actually the year 1347 that Constantinople was contaminated. I remember after learning the beginning of phonics that I had the hardest time sounding out and spelling the word "sabataage."
He didn't know that. And if Mister Flint mis-remembered the exact year, cut him some slack. As the only living witness, he's still an international treasure.
I think reading books beyond the normal level of my peers and owning a dictionary expanded my vocabulary. Being quiet, bookish and wearing glasses made people think I was smarter than I actually was.
Being into Star Trek helped, in high school during my sophomore year, a teacher who was a former Marine would start class with words on the board, to increase our vocabulary. One day, one of the words of "Emissary", and I mentioned I knew it from watching Deep Space Nine. I was also the kind of kid who loved reading comic books and watching cartoons, so I first learned about DNA from the G.I. Joe cartoon storyline where Cobra created Serpentor, and the term "symbiote" from Spider-Man comics with Venom.
I'm pretty sure I learned the word "aura" from Silver Age FLASH comics. As in the Flash's "protective aura." And I know I learned about "astral projection" from DOCTOR STRANGE.