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35 Myths and Misconceptions That You’ve Been Repeating Like An Uninformed Parrot

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35 Myths and Misconceptions That You’ve Been Repeating Like An Uninformed Parrot

January 30, 2025

We’re sorry to break this to you, but a ton of things that you’ve taken as factual were completely fabricated in a long game of “telephone.” Somewhere along the line between the truth and your mind, some misinformed so-and-so threw a deceitful wrench in the gears. This deceit made it all the way to your brain, and it’s time to extract said wrench and get this game of truth telephone back on track.

35

Bathing in Medieval Times

Everyone in HISTORY THE medieval times smelled awful. Actually, they were way into bathing. Contrary to popular belief, medieval people actually lik

34

Ostriches

MYTH Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they're scared. TRUTH Ostriches run (at high speeds) when they're scared. They never bury their heads. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Coffee

Contrary to popular belief, lighter coffee has higher caffeine content. When coffee is roasted, it loses caffeine, meaning that a dark and robust cup of coffee has less caffeine than a lighter roast. CRACKED — Source

32

Ellis Island

BELIEF: Immigrants' last names were Americanized at Ellis Island. TRUTH: The inspectors never even wrote down the names of the immigrants but checked — Source: New York Public Library

31

The Empire State Building

Death By Penny Drop agh GRAGKED.COM No, dropping a penny off the Empire State Building won't kill someone, 6th grade bully on a field trip. Thanks to drag, that penny would top out at 25 miles per hour. Real New Yorkers know it's the lazily installed window A/C units you have to look out for. — Source

30

Sushi

CRACKED SALMON SUSHI IS AUTHENTIC JAPANESE FOOD Before the Norwegian salmon industry got involved, sushi made with salmon wasn't something that was eaten in Japan. They even had to be convinced to give it a try. — Source

29

Coca-Cola

atLe BELIEF: Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus as we know him. TRUTH: In 1836, illustrator Thomas Nast originated the classic imagery of Santa Claus in a — Source: Coca-Cola

28

The Supreme Court

CRACKED.COM MYTH: The Supreme Court has always had nine justices The number of justices is set by Congress. At its founding, the Supreme Court only had six members. To help cement anti-slavery, Abraham Lincoln helped to add a tenth seat. In the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt even proposed raising the number to 15. — Source

27

Sugar

Brown sugar is not healthier than regular white sugar. vs The only difference between the two is the taste. Although the difference in taste is caused by brown sugar's containing more minerals, the amount is too small to have any sort of effect. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Ice Cream

Ice cream doesn't cool you down, it warms you up! That's because the body heats up while it digests the ingredients in ice cream. GRACKED.COM — Source

25

Serial Killers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Most serial killers had an abusive childhood. REALITY: A whopping 70% of serial killers reported no child abuse. These numbers might include individuals who don't want to admit experiencing a traumatic childhood, but that's still a pretty high number debunking the popular belief. Many of them did however report bed wetting, abusing animals, and setting things on fire. — Source

24

The Shape of the Earth

BELIEF: Medieval Europeans believed the Earth was flat. TRUTH: People knew the Earth was round by sixth century BC. The myth was started by people in — Source: Washington Post

23

Chloroform

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Chloroform can knock you out in seconds. REALITY: Nope, try five minutes. While chloroform has been used in murder cases, it doesn't have an immediate effect on a damp cloth over one's face. It will take around five minutes to kick in, and there will be a lot of kicking from the victim. In real murder cases, victims were usually tricked into taking the anaesthetic, or giving drugs prior to getting chloroformed. — Source

22

Fingerprints

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Found fingerprints at the crime scene? Bingo! REALITY: There are no true consensus as to how and if fingerprint forensics really work. The precision and methodologies of fingerprint forensics have been questioned and opposed by a lot of experts (even entire countries). The claim that no two fingerprints are identical has still not been proven, but the error rate has. Point is that it's not an exact science, and shouldn't be believed to be. — Source

21

Rabbits

MYTH Rabbits eat carrots, obviously. TRUTH Carrots should only be rare treats, as rabbits don't eat them in nature. Their main source of food should be hay, grass, greens, and pellets. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Male Emotions

CRACKED.COM CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, MEN ARE MORE EMOTIONALLY' SENSITIVE THAN WOMEN. In one experiment, when presented with blissful, funny, exciti

19

The Stock Market

BELIEF: Many stock brokers jumped out of windows when the market collapsed. There were two jumping TRUTH: suicides between the crash and 1929. The myth of the common Wall Street suicide originated with a comedian's quip. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

Knights

CRACKED You-had- -to-be- borna knight. It's a common misconception that knights were born into their title. In reality, knighthood was a privilege that was earned through brave acts or service, and could even be bought or granted as a reward. — Source

17

Benjamin Franklin

BELIEF: Benjamin Franklin proposed a wild turkey be the official symbol of the U.S., instead of the bald eagle. TRUTH: Ben Franklin, in a private lett — Source: American Heraldry

16

Knuckles

CRACKED MYTH: CRACKING YOUR KNUCKLES WILL CAUSE ARTHRITIS. FACT: Studies have shown no evidence to support this common belief. The cracking sound that you hear when you crack your knuckles is caused by the release of gas bubbles in the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints. Arthritis is caused by inflammation of the joints- and the release of gas bubbles is not thought to cause it.

15

Yams

Have you tasted yam? Chances are, you probably haven't. Yams in America aren't actually yams. They're sweet potatoes. The confusion dates back to the time when the government tried to differentiate orange-fleshed sweet potatoes from the other kinds of sweet potato by calling it yam. To this day, Americans call orange-fleshed sweet potatoes yams. CRACKED.COM — 21 Debunked Food Myths

14

Palm Trees

CRACKED PALM TREES ARE NATIVE TO L.A. It's a common misconception that palm trees are from Los Angeles. In reality, most of the palm trees in L.A. were brought in from other places and planted to make the city more beautiful and attract more people. с DESER SP KEE adidas HOLTYWO VEN Sterlins 2

13

Siberia

MYTH Siberia is a frozen wasteland. REALITY Parts of Siberia have beautiful summers. Novosibirsk reached 87.8°F (31°C) last June. CRACKED.COM — 15 Countries We Picture Wrong Side By Side With Reality

12

Birds

Contrary to popular belief, handling a baby bird won't make its parents reject it due to the smell of human. Most birds can barely smell. ... but it's still a bad idea to handle any baby birds you find. Their parents are rarely far off, and even if you don't see them, they see you. CRACKED.COM — 40 Myths (That've Been Around Forever) We All Believe

11

The Middle Ages

Contrary to popular wisdom, witch burning wasn't really a thing in the Middle Ages. It only got going after the Middle Ages ended, and really kicked off around 1500. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Bats

2 MYTH: BATS ARE BLIND. B CRACKED.co The misconception is that bats use echolocation to locate food to make up for their poor eyesight, when in reality they have excellent vision attuned for low light. A bat is no more blind than a dolphin, another creature that uses echolocation. — Source: Britannica

9

Potted Plants

35 Myths and Misconceptions That You’ve Been Repeating Like An Uninformed Parrot

8

Cowboys

BELIEF: Cowboy hats were worn in beginning of the Western American frontier. TRUTH: The cowboy hat didn't become popular until after the American Civi

7

Pythagoras

a2+b = c2 t BELIEF: The Pythagorean theorem was discovered by Pythagoras. TRUTH: The theorem was used centuries before Pythagoras was born. Little is — Source: Maths History

6

The Great Wall

BELIEF: The Great Wall of China is visible from space. TRUTH: The Wall isn't visible with the naked eye while an astronaut is in low orbit, but you ca — Source: NASA

5

Henry Ford

BELIEF: Henry Ford invented the automobile and/or the assembly line. TRUTH: Henry Ford didn't invent either. However, the Ford Company developed the m — Source: Henry Ford

4

Pilgrims

BELIEF: Pilgrims wore all black and buckle hats. TRUTH: Pilgrims dressed mostly in earth tones and would wear hats but without buckles. The fashion st — Source: Smithsonian Magazine

3

Ancient Rome

BELIEF: Classical statues were white. TRUTH: Ancient Roman and Greek statues used to painted bright colors but have faded over time. CRACKED.COM — Source: New Yorker

2

Vikings

BELIEF: Vikings wore horned hats. TRUTH: They either wore no hats or simple hats of iron or leather. The horned hat imagery was invented in the 1800s. — Source: History Channel

1

Happy Days

Conventional wisdom says Happy Days croaked when Fonzie literally jumped the shark in season five. But a more accurate low water mark might be The Nu

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