The Great Wall of China can be seen from space, cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis, and if you swallow gum it will stay in your stomach for seven years. No matter when or where you grew up, some “facts” are known by every single person on this planet. However, just because everyone has heard them, it doesn’t mean they are true. Here are some of the most commonly known facts that are actually false.
Dropping a penny off the Empire State Building can hurt a pedestrian.
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Most people have heard that if a penny is dropped off the top of the Empire State Building (or a different tall building), it will accelerate to such a speed that it could kill someone if it struck them. In reality, according to Mythbusters, getting hit by a coin dropped from a skyscraper might sting, but won’t seriously hurt anyone.
Twinkies never go bad.
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Contrary to popular beliefs, Twinkies do go bad. In fact, up until 2012 – when Hostess filed for bankruptcy -, their shelf life was only 26 days. Since returning to shelves in 2013, Twinkies now have a shelf life of 45 days – which, for baked goods, is still a long time.
The Great Wall of China can be seen from space.
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Although the Great Wall of China is frequently billed as the only man-made object visible from space, this is a myth. According to NASA, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from the final frontier. In fact, no human structure can be seen from orbit – the only thing that can be seen is city lights at night.
You need to wait 24 hours before filing a missing person report.
It is a common misconception that you need to wait 24 hours before filing a missing person report. In reality, taking action within the first 48 hours is crucial to bringing a missing person home. So the sooner the authorities are contacted and an investigation is started, the easier it will be to find them.
We only use 10% of our brain.
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For decades, Hollywood movies have been telling us that we only use a small part of our brain in our daily lives, but the notion that we only use ten percent of it is an urban legend. The truth, however, is that we use every region of our brain, but not at the same time, almost every day.
It takes seven years to digest chewing gum.
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While it is true that not all ingredients in gum are digestible, it is not true that it stays in your stomach for seven years if swallowed. The gum base, which is indigestible and can not be absorbed, simply passes straight through your stomach in a matter of hours or days.
Dogs can’t see colors.
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Although dogs cannot see colors the same way humans do, it’s not true that they can only see in black and white. Behavioral tests suggest they see in yellow and blue and lack the ability to see the range of shades from green to red.
Goldfish have a 3-second memory span.
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Contrary to popular belief, goldfish have a relatively good memory which can span weeks, months, or even years. According to fish cognition expert Culum Brown, goldfish have such impressive memories that they’re frequently used as a common model for studying memory and learning in fishes.
Inuit tribes have several words representing snow.
It is not true that Inuit tribes have a disproportionate number of words to describe snow in their languages. This myth comes from a misconstruction of a statement by anthropologist Franz Boas noting that Inuits had several words for various snow-related concepts, just like the English language.
Bulls hate the color red.
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Bulls do not particularly hate the color red. In fact, they don’t hate any specific color because are colorblind. What does bother them is the motion of the bullfighter’s cloth which they perceive as a threat.
We only have five senses.
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Originally, only five human senses were recognized (sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing). Nowadays, scientists acknowledge there are many more including balance, pain, temperature, hunger, and thirst.
It’s dangerous to wake up a sleepwalker.
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Waking up a sleepwalker will not cause them to have a heart attack or any type of serious trauma. The risks associated with sleepwalking are caused by injury or insomnia, not from being awakened. The only thing that will happen if you wake up a sleepwalker is they may get confused or disoriented at first, just like any other sleeping person would be.
Shaving thickens your hair.
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Shaving hair does not change its thickness, color, or rate of growth. The reason why people say shaved hair grows thicker is that it grows back with a blunt tip. During this phase, the hair might feel coarse as it grows out, but it is not actually thicker or darker.
Everyone needs to drink eight glasses of water a day.
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It’s not true that everyone needs to drink eight glasses of water every single day. Some people may need more water, while others might need less. The amount of water each person needs varies by weight, clothing, activity level, heat, and humidity. Besides, you can also get water from food.
Vitamin C prevents colds.
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Vitamin C does not prevent the common cold but it does support a healthy immune system. This means that not getting enough vitamin C will make you more susceptible to colds and that taking vitamin C while you have a cold may prevent complications and reduce the duration of the cold.
Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.
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Cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis or make them larger. At worst, it may cause temporary swelling which quickly goes away. If you were wondering where that cracking sound comes from, it’s just gas bubbles forming when the joints separate.
Detox diets can cleanse your body of unhealthy toxins.
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There is no scientific evidence that detox diets can actually achieve anything. That is because our bodies are naturally designed to repair, regenerate and detoxify themselves. Organs like the liver, kidneys, and lungs automatically break down and eliminate toxins, as well as internal waste products – so there is no need to cut back on specific foods in order to detoxify your body.
Rust causes tetanus.
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Injuries caused by rusty objects are not any worse than injuries caused by any other discarded item. The reason why we associate tetanus with rust is that old objects left in nature will not only collect bacteria such as Clostridium tetani but also rust. But you can also be exposed to tetanus-causing bacteria in non-rusty situations such as cleaning animal cages and being bitten by infected animals.
Conditioner repairs damaged hair.
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Since hair is not a living tissue with regenerative abilities, products such as conditioner cannot heal or repair split ends and dry hair. In reality, conditioners and serums smooth the cuticle, which is the outer layer of your hair, to disguise damage and make your locks look repaired.
Fortune cookies are Chinese.
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Despite being associated with Chinese cuisine, fortune cookies were actually invented in Japan in the 19th century. The cookies were brought to the United States by Japanese landscape designer Makoto Hagiwara in the early 1900s. This modern version of the fortune cookie was originally introduced at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
Carrots improve eyesight.
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While it is true that carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which converts into vitamin A in your body, it is a myth that they can improve your eyesight. The origin of this myth is probably the fact that individuals with low vitamin A are more likely to experience night-blindness. However, if you can see in low-light conditions, eating lots of carrots will not improve your vision. That is because once your body has enough beta-carotene it stops converting it into vitamin A to prevent the accumulation of toxic levels of the substance.
Touching a toad will give you warts.
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It is believed that this myth originated because many frogs and toads have bumpy skin. However, these lumps and bumps on their skin are not even warts – they are just glands. Human warts, on the other hand, are caused by a virus called human papillomavirus – which is contagious among humans.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
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Lightning can definitely strike the same place more than once. In fact, tall and isolated objects are repeatedly hit by lightning often. The Empire State Building, for example, is struck by lightning about 25 times every year.
Bats are blind.
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Although bats rely on echolocation to find the exact locations of their prey, they are not blind. In fact, some scientists believe their eyesight is even better than most humans’. Combined with their echolocation abilities, bats’ eyesight allows them to find prey even in low-light conditions.
Clouds are lightweight.
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Although they may look super lightweight, clouds are actually made up of water – which means they are pretty heavy. The average cumulus cloud, for example, weighs 1.1 million pounds. The reason why clouds can still float despite their incredible weight is that the air below them is even heavier than them.
Humans evolved from monkeys.
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Humans are not descended from monkeys or any species of primate living today. However, humans and chimpanzees do share a common ape ancestor that lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. Although obviously, since then, humans and chimpanzees have evolved differently from that same ancestor.
You should wait 30 minutes to swim after eating.
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Swimming after eating isn’t dangerous at all. This myth is so widespread that the American Red Cross even issued a scientific advisory review called American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Committee Scientific Review: Eating Before Swimming to debunk it.
If you touch a baby bird its mother will reject it.
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Birds don’t really have a strong sense of smell, so they won’t be alarmed by the smell of human hands on their babies. However, just because baby birds won’t be abandoned if you touch them, it doesn’t mean you should pick them up if you think they are lost. Most times baby birds look stranded, their parents are actually hiding close by.
You swallow eight spiders a year in your sleep.
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Spiders do not see humans as prey, so they don’t even crawl into our beds intentionally. Rod Crawford, the arachnid curator at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, explains that spiders probably even find humans terrifying. Our heartbeats, breathing and snoring create vibrations that warn spiders of danger.
Dogs sweat through their tongues.
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Although their mouths are very important in the cooling-down process, dogs actually pant to regulate their body temperature. When they pant, moisture from dogs’ tongues, nasal passages and lung linings evaporates, cooling themselves as air passes over the moist tissue.
Walt Disney’s body is cryogenically frozen.
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According to his biography, when Walt Disney passed away in 1966, his body was cremated in Glendale, California. However, a rumor was spread about his body having been cryonically frozen. The myth spread when the president of the Cryonics Society of California gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times claiming that the Walt Disney Studios had called him to ask about the process. Even though he also said in the interview that Walt had not been cryonically frozen and that he himself had seen the ashes, that’s not what people remember from the interview.
Einstein failed math as a child.
Although Albert Einstein did fail to get a job in academics after college, he never failed math. When confronted about this myth, the scientist reportedly responded, “I never failed in mathematics. Before I was 15 I had mastered differential and integral calculus.”
SOS means “Save Our Souls” or “Save Our Ship”.
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SOS is a Morse code distress sequence, not an acronym. Established in the early 1900s, it became the International Morse Code distress signal used with maritime radio systems. It doesn’t mean “Save Our Ship” or any other phrase in any language.
Tongues have different taste zones for bitter, sour, salty, sweet and umami tastes.
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According to Brian Lewandowski, a neuroscientist and taste expert at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, “The tongue does not have different regions specialized for different tastes. All regions of the tongue that detect taste respond to all five taste qualities. There are some mild regional differences in sensitivity for different taste qualities, but these differences are small enough that they do not play a clear role in taste perception.”
Caffeine dehydrates you.
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Although caffeinated drinks may have a mild diuretic effect, they don’t actually increase the risk of dehydration. That is because the diuretic effect of caffeine is offset by the amount of water in a caffeinated drink.
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.
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This is actually half a myth. Mount Everest is still the tallest mountain in the world if you only consider what’s above sea level. However, if you measure Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano from its underwater base, it actually stands over 30,000-ft tall. Comparatively, Mount Everest stands 29,032-feet tall.
The Egyptian pyramids were built by slaves.
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The remains of workers buried in graves near the pyramids suggest that they had access to a rich diet and medical care. Therefore, archeologists believe that the workers who built the pyramids were not enslaved people.
Ninjas wore all-black outfits.
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Ninjas were covert agents in feudal Japan whose jobs included espionage, deception, and surprise attacks. To achieve all of that, they had to blend in, so they dressed in normal clothes to avoid standing out from the crowd.
The Black Death was spread by rats.
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According to scientists from the University of Oslo, the Black Death was not spread by rats as we were taught in school. Instead, the 2018 study suggests that the Bubonic plague was actually spread by human fleas and body lice.
Isaac Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head.
It was in 1792 that the story about Isaac Newton and the fallen apple was published for the first time. In the mathematician’s biography, it was reported that “the notion of gravitation came into his mind…. occasion’d by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood.” There is no record of an apple falling on his head, so historians believe he may have seen a fruit fall near him and wondered why it happened.
Accused witches were burned at the stake in Salem.
Not a single suspected witch was burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials. However, disturbingly, 20 people were still executed for practicing witchcraft. While 19 of them were hanged, the other victim was pressed to death with heavy rocks.
Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity.
Benjamin Franklin’s 1752 kite experiment did demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity, but he did not discover electricity. However, scientists were already well aware of the existence of electricity at the time.
Napoleon was short.
Napoleon Bonaparte was 5’5″. Although this might be a little short in comparison to today’s average male height, Napoleon was actually the average height for a Frenchman at the time.
Vikings wore horned helmets.
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Although vikings definitely wore helmets, there is actually no evidence that they wore horned helmets. They most probably wore simple skullcaps designed to protect their heads from impact. The helmets we associate with vikings were created by a costume designer for a 19th-century opera.
Salt makes water boil quicker.
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Most people believe that adding a sprinkle of salt to water will make it boil faster. In reality, that depends on how much salt you’re putting in the water. Adding a little bit of salt will actually raise the water’s boiling point, which makes the boiling process slower. To speed things up, you would actually need to add more salt than most people would want in their food.
All of your nails grow at the same rate.
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According to HealthLine, fingernails grow at an average rate of 3.47 millimeters (0.13 inches) per month. However, the nails on your dominant hand grow faster than the ones on your other hand.
Olive oil prevents pasta from sticking together.
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The reason that people add olive oil to their boiling pasta water is not to prevent their noodles from sticking together, it’s to stop the water from boiling over. The oil sits on top of the boiling water and interrupts the water tension, preventing it from boiling over. If you want to prevent your pasta from sticking together, just stir it.
Each color of Froot Loops has a different flavor.
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Although Froot Loops are dyed in different colors, all loops taste the same. According to Kellogg’s, the company that makes the colorful loops, the colorful cereal loops are not individually flavored.
Hawaiian pizza was created in Hawaii.
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Hawaiian pizza was actually created by Greek-born Canadian Sam Panopoulos at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Canada in 1962. The idea of adding pineapple and ham or bacon to pizza was not initially popular, but it eventually became a staple in pizzerias around the world.
Embassies and consulates are foreign soil.
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The commonly held notion that embassies and consulates are considered foreign territory is incorrect. Although international law does create certain obligations for receiving states towards premises of diplomatic missions, it does not mean that embassies are foreign soil.
Buddha was a chubby, smiley Chinese monk.
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The chubby, smiling Buddha statues we find in Chinese restaurants and gardens do not depict the “real” Buddha. Nicknamed “the Laughing Buddha”, he is actually called Budai and he’s a reincarnation of the real Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The real Buddha, on the other hand, was actually very thin because according to Buddhist tradition, enlightenment stops you from craving the pleasures of the world.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
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Although Alexander Graham Bell is considered the inventor of the first practical telephone, a functional telephone already existed five years before Bell filled out the patent request. A voice-communication apparatus had been invented by Italian inventor Antonio Meucci.
The melody of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was composed by Mozart.
Mozart did not compose the melody of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The lullaby is sung to the tune of Ah! vous dirai-je, maman, a French melody published in 1761 which was later arranged by several composers including Mozart.
George Washington had wooden teeth.
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George Washington’s dentures were not made of wood. They were made of gold, hippopotamus ivory, lead, animal teeth (such as horse and donkey teeth).
Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence Day.
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On May 5th, Mexico celebrates its victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The country celebrates its independence from Spain on September 16th.
Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola.
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The jolly old man in red robes known as Santa Claus was not created by Coca-Cola as an advertising gimmick. The character had already been used in popular culture and other advertisements for many years before the soda company began using his image in the 1930s.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy was sung by Bob Marley.
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The song Don’t Worry, Be Happy is sung by American musician Bobby McFerrin. Bob Marley never sang this song since it was released in 1988, seven years after he passed away.
Sign language is the same worldwide.
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Just like most countries have their own native language, each country has its own native sign language and some even have more than just one.
Tang, Teflon and Velcro are spinoffs of the NASA Space Program.
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According to NASA itself, Tang, Teflon and Velcro were not spun off from technology originally developed by the agency for spaceflight. These products were simply used by NASA during experiments and missions.
Hello Kitty is a cat.
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The beloved Japanese character is actually a little girl. Yuko Yamaguchi, Hello Kitty’s lead designer since 1980, explains that ““I designed her to be a girl. She has a pet named Charmmy Kitty. I do not understand why Hello Kitty is perceived as a cat.”