The Mega Misconception Book 1326838423, 9781326838423

Table of contents :
Introduction
ACTORS
ANIMALS
BOOKS
COMICS
DINOSAURS
DISNEY
DRUGS
EXERCISE
FOOD AND DRINK
GAMES
HISTORY
THE HUMAN BODY
INVENTIONS
LAW
MENTAL HEALTH
MISCELLANEOUS
MOVIES AND TELEVISION
MUSIC
NATURE
PEOPLE
PIRATES
PLACES
PREGNANCY
PRESIDENTS
PRONUNCIATIONS
QUOTES
RELIGION
SCIENCE
SHAKESPEARE
SLEEP
SPACE
TECHNOLOGY
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES
VIDEO GAMES
WAR
WEAPONS
WORDS
The 10 Most Bizarre Misconceptions

Citation preview

Content Actors Animals Books Comics Dinosaurs Disney Drugs Exercise Food and Drink Games History The Human Body Inventions Law Mental Health Miscellaneous Movies and Television Music Nature People Pirates Places Pregnancy Presidents Pronunciations Quotes Religion Science Shakespeare Sleep Space Technology Unsolved Mysteries Video Games War

Weapons Words The 10 Most Bizarre Misconceptions

Introduction When I was writing my first book, 365 Ways to Stop Sabotaging Your Life, I asked a couple of friends for their help. Some of my friends know a lot of random facts, so I asked them to give me as many inspiring stories as possible. One of my friends told me an incredible story. In the late 19th century in the UK, a farmer saved a young boy from drowning. The drowning boy’s father, Randolph, thanked the farmer by promising to pay for his son’s education. The farmer’s son was Alexander Fleming who, many years later, discovered the life-saving antibiotic, penicillin. What’s more incredible is that Randolph was the father of Winston Churchill. What’s even more astounding is that Churchill’s life was endangered years later and he was saved by penicillin. Penicillin has saved millions of lives thanks to Churchill’s father being at the right place at the right time. I thought this was one of the most incredible stories I had ever heard in my life. It’s such a brilliant example of how one act can create a cycle of positivity for decades, affecting millions of lives. I went home to research it further before I put it into my book. But there was a problem. It’s not true. There are so many inconsistencies in this tale that it can’t even be hypothetically possible. Yet people believe it because it is an uplifting story. Also, Fleming didn’t discover penicillin. Ernest Duchesne discovered it but he died before he could prove his discovery. But wait a minute…he didn’t discover it either! Bedouin tribesmen from North Africa have been using penicillin for millennia. Also, Churchill was never saved by penicillin. In this book, I have busted over 1,500 myths that have been disguised as genuine information in schoolbooks, encyclopedias, and “facts” plaguing the Internet. Hopefully, some of these will change your perception of reality for the better. Enjoy.

ACTORS 1. Mel Gibson is Australian. Mel Gibson was born in the United States and moved to Australia at a young age. 2. Russell Crowe is Australian. Russell Crowe was born in New Zealand. 3. Hugo Weaving is Australian. Hugo Weaving is from Nigeria. 4. Guy Peace is Australian. Guy Pearce was born in Cambridgeshire, England and moved to Australia when he was young. 5. Nicole Kidman is Australian. She is from Honolulu, Hawaii. 6. Sam Neill is Australian. Sam Neill tends to play Englishmen even though he has a New Zealand accent (that gets mistaken for Australian.) However, Sam Neill isn’t from any of these countries. He’s Northern Irish. What’s with all of these fake Australians? 7. Keanu Reeves was born in Hawaii. Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon. 8. Jean Reno is French. Jean Reno is best-known for playing the titular role in the film, Leon. He is so good at playing the likeable French assassin that many people believe that Reno is from France. Reno is Spanish-Moroccan. 9. Audrey Hepburn was born in England. Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium.

10.

John Goodman, Martin Sheen, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lee, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Bacon, Scarlett Johansson, Donald Sutherland, Marilyn Monroe, and Alan Rickman have won an Oscar. None of those actors have ever even been nominated for the award. 11.

Shirley Temple won an Academy Award for Best Actress at the age of six. Shirley did win an Oscar in 1935 at the age of six. To this date, she is still the youngest actor to win an Oscar. However, she didn’t win for Best Actress. Bette Davis won that year for the movie, Dangerous. So Temple must’ve won for Best Supporting Actress, right? However, that category didn’t exist until the year after. Shirley’s singing, acting, and dancing was such an inspiration, the Academy created an Oscar for her. 12. Marilyn Monroe had six toes on one foot, When a photographer called Joseph Jasgur snapped a picture of Monroe on Zuma Beach in California, it appeared that she had six toes on her left foot. Although this was simply because of the angle, Jasgur’s publisher milked this photo to promote his book. However, this myth can be disproven by every other photo of Monroe that shows her having only five toes on both feet. 13. Marilyn Monroe wore a size 16 dress, Many sources state that Monroe was a size 16. Some sources make this idea slightly more believable by saying she was a size 12 in the US, which is a size 16 in the UK. Neither of these statements are true. According to all of her dressmakers, Monroe had a 22-inch waist, making her a size 6. 14.

Marilyn Monroe was the model for Tinkerbell in the movie, Peter Pan. Monroe couldn’t have been the model for Tinkerbell for Peter Pan since she was barely known when the film went into production. 15.

Daniel Day-Lewis has won more Oscars for acting than anyone else.

Day-Lewis has won three Oscars for Best Actor. However, Katherine Hepburn has the record for winning the most Academy Awards for acting. She won four acting Oscars for Morning Glory, The Lion in Winter, On Golden Pond, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? 16.

Orson Welles’ radio show, The War of the Worlds, caused mass panic and even death, as listeners genuinely believed that aliens were attacking. Few people were gullible enough to believe that what they were hearing on the radio was an alien invasion (The acting was really bad back then). Even if someone believed it, the clip lasted 30 seconds and then the news reporter told the listener that what they heard was an extract from a fictional story. 17.

Jeremy Irons sings “Be Prepared” in the movie The Lion

King. Okay, I’ll give Irons some credit. He did sing most of it. But when he roars, “You won’t get a sniff without me” he threw his voice out and couldn’t continue. That’s where Jim Cummings stepped in and finished the song. Wait… Jeremy Irons has a very recognizable voice. Surely Cummings couldn’t imitate him and sing in that voice and sing well? Well, Jim Cummings has one of the most interesting acting jobs. He imitates other actors’ voices perfectly and sings as them. He also imitated Christopher Lloyd as Rasputin singing in the movie, Anastasia. 18. Boris Karloff was extremely tall. Karloff was imposing and intimidating as The Monster in the movie, Frankenstein, and as the title character in The Mummy. In both films, Karloff looks very tall. But Karloff wore platform shoes in Frankenstein and The Mummy looks taller than he is because Karloff wore a fez. Karloff was 5ft 11, which is reasonably tall but most people assumed he was about 6ft 8. 19.

Arnold Schwarzenegger became a millionaire when he turned into an action star. It’s easy to assume Arnold was a big dumb jock who owes all of his success to luckily falling into Hollywood.

But Arnie was extremely successful before he became known as a Hollywood star. He was already a millionaire before he starred in a single movie. And it wasn’t from bodybuilding as you might assume, but from bricklaying. He advertised himself as a specialty European bricklayer to sound more like a powerhouse company. It worked since Arnie became a millionaire within a year of moving to the States at only 21 years of age. 20. Bruce Lee died from an allergic reaction to aspirin. The drug that Bruce Lee took is called Equagesic (which is an aspirin.) However, Lee was allergic to meprobamate; an ingredient in that type of aspirin. I may sound like I am splitting hairs but this sort of misunderstanding is exactly what led to Lee’s death. Lee knew he had no problems with aspirin and had taken anti-inflammatory medication many times as he recovered from injuries from his fighting scenes. He had never taken Equagesic before and was oblivious to the fact that one of its ingredients was lethal to him. 21. Bruce Lee was incredibly famous at the time of his death. While he was alive, Lee was best known to Western audiences as Kato in the Green Hornet TV show in the 1960s. However, the show only ran for one season and Kato wore a mask. After Lee starred in several martial arts movies, he became famous, but only in Asia. He never experienced fame in the US since he died in 1973; one month before the release of the Hollywood-produced film, Enter the Dragon, with him playing the main character. He only became famous worldwide after the movie became a cult-classic. 22. Voice-over acting is the easiest acting job. There are countless jokes about a big-name actor performing a voiceover for a movie or a commercial in less than an hour and getting paid a million dollars. In reality, it’s common for voice recording sessions to be eight hours or longer with little time for breaks. While performing, the actor will be in a tiny room that can get as hot as a sauna. Saying the same lines over and over can cause damage to an actor’s vocal chords. Actors can pass out from heat, dehydration, or exhaustion.

Most of the voiceover actors of the anime, Dragon Ball Z, have blacked out after they shouted their lines over and over for hours on end throughout the years. Jessica Calvello is a renowned voice actor with almost 80 voiceover credits but she had to leave an animated show when she injured her throat during a voiceover session. Voiceover actors are prone to injuries like any actor performing an action scene.

ANIMALS 23. Flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp. Flamingos are pink because they eat blue-green algae (which is red, orange, and yellow.) But never pink. Or blue. Or green. 24. The first animal to be domesticated was the dog. It wasn’t the dog, or the cat, or the horse, or the sheep. It was the reindeer. Mongolians domesticated the creature 14,000 years. 25. Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer is male. Rudolf is female because she has antlers. Male reindeer lose their antlers in winter. 26. Musk deer are deer. Deer belong to the Pecora family. Musk deer are the only living members of a separate family of mammals called Moschidae. 27. Antelope only eat plants. Although most antelopes are herbivores, duikers eat bugs and birds. 28. Turkeys come from North America. No, and it’s not Turkey either. Turkeys originally came from Mexico. 29. The starfish is the best animal at regenerating. If you cut a starfish in half, it will turn into two starfish. As remarkable as that sounds, it can’t hold a candle to the regenerating power of the flatworm. This 20-millimeter creature doesn’t look remarkable but if you cut off 1/279th of its body, that piece can regenerate into a new flatworm. This means if you cut a flatworm into 279 individual pieces, it can potentially regrow into 279 separate flatworms. 30.

Lobster and caviar have always been associated with the

wealthy. Lobsters can cost $40 (£30) to eat. However, these crustaceans were so abundant during the 18th and 19th century, they were fed to pigs, used as bait

to catch other fish, and their shells were used as fertilizer. Lobsters were so popular in North America that they would wash ashore in piles up to 2ft high. Although caviar is also regarded as food for the wealthy, this is only a recent trend. In the 19th century, caviar was served for free at bars like peanuts. Nowadays, the most expensive caviar (Beluga caviar) can cost from $7,000-$10,000 and possibly your soul. 31. Zebras have stripes for camouflage. Unless the grass is black and white, zebras aren’t going to hide from predators. Flies are attracted to black surfaces so they tend to chill out on animals with dark skin. A zebra’s black stripes protect them from the sun but the white stripes confuse the flies so insects rarely land on them. 32. All big cats are dangerous to humans. Snow leopards don’t display aggressive behavior towards humans. There has never been a verified snow leopard attack on a human being. 33. Beetles and bugs are similar to each other. A bug is any insect with a sucking mouthpart. A beetle is an insect with hard forewings (called elytra) and a plated exoskeleton. Beetles are endopterygotes, which means it undergoes a metamorphosis, where the entire body changes throughout its life. 34. Ostriches have the strongest kick in the animal kingdom. That honor belongs to the zebra since it can kick with a force of 15,000 Newtons. That’s enough power to kill a lion. A professional boxer can punch a person with a force of 3,300 Newtons, which would be strong enough to break a rib. Any zebra on Earth is over four times stronger than Mike Tyson in his prime. 35. Ostriches build the largest nests in the animal kingdom. Gorillas make the largest nests. 36.

The animal that lays the largest egg in proportion to its size is the ostrich.

At this point, it seems I have a personal problem with the ostrich but it doesn’t have the largest egg proportionate to its size either. The kiwi lays the biggest egg proportionate to its size. Its egg is 25% the size of an adult kiwi. 37.

The bird that lays the smallest egg proportionate to its size is a

wren. Finally, that honor goes to the ostrich. Although the ostrich lays bigger eggs than any other bird (2.5lbs,) the egg is less than 1% of the bird’s overall weight, since an ostrich weighs about 400lbs. 38. A Pitbull locks its jaws when it bites down. No dog locks its jaw. There’s another misconception that a Pitbull’s bite is stronger than any other dog. In reality, the German shepherd is the canine with the strongest bite. 39. Jellyfish propel themselves forward with their tentacles. A jellyfish’s tentacles are only used to catch and sting prey. Jellyfish move by taking in water through their bell and squirting it out, which jettisons them forward. 40. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience. Cryptozoology is the study of animals that may or may not exist. Sea monsters, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster are classified as cryptids. It may seem stupid for anyone to take cryptozoology seriously. Europeans laughed when they heard Aborigines talking of a hopping deer with an extra head in its stomach. Then one day, the Europeans saw a kangaroo. Scientists thought the platypus was a beaver with a duckbill superglued to its face. Sea serpents are not mythological. They’re called oarfish and they measure nearly 60ft. People laughed at the idea of a land crocodile until they saw the Komodo dragon in 1927. The first time Andrew Battel saw a gorilla in the 19th century, he was teased for finding a so-called man-ape.

But what about recently discovered cryptids? For years, whales have been found with enormous wounds that appeared to come from a sea monster. It was speculated that there was an undiscovered squid even more colossal than the Giant Squid. This mollusk’s existence was verified in 2007. This colossal squid was named…the Colossal Squid. It measures a staggering 46ft long and weighs up to 1,650lbs. 41. Tigers roar at predators and prey. Tigers only roar to alert other tigers to their position. 42. Giraffes evolved with tall necks so they can eat from tall trees. Most giraffes tend to eat food from lower plants. Sometimes, there is food at the top of trees but the giraffes are more inclined to eat from lower shrubs and trees (as awkward as that can be.) Giraffes use their long necks like a swinging club to fight rival giraffes. The longer the neck, the more damage the giraffe can do to their rivals. Giraffes with smaller necks have been weeded out by natural selection as the long-necked giraffes were the superior fighters. 43. Apes eat bananas. If an ape is offered a banana, it will eat it. However, natural bananas only grow in Papua New Guinea. Apes eat berries, flowers, bark, stems, and roots. Saying that “All apes eat bananas” is like saying “All humans eat icecream.” 44. If a jellyfish stings you, you should urinate on the wound. Urine can infect the wound more. There is no universal cure for jellyfish stings. Every jellyfish has different toxins. Vinegar can stop the pain and infection almost immediately for one kind of jellyfish sting but can guarantee death for another type. The best bet is to spray the wound with salt water (not drinking water,) wrap it with a towel, and then immediately go to a doctor. 45. The box jellyfish is a jellyfish A true jellyfish has a bowl-shaped head. As its name suggests, a box jellyfish has a cube-shaped head and so, is classified as a cubozoan.

46. The Portuguese man-o-war is a jellyfish. The Portuguese man-o-war is also not a jellyfish. In fact, it’s not even a single species. It’s a siphonophore; a colony of organisms that work in unity. It is made of four separate polyps. 47. Mushers say, “Mush” to huskie dogs to make them run faster. It’s hard to hear in snowstorms, so people will not say “mush” because the sound doesn’t carry well. Instead, they say, “Hike.” 48. An owl makes a “t’wit t’woo” or hooting sound. No single owl makes the sound “t’wit t’woo.” A female tawny owl (or brown owl) says, “T’wit” to communicate with a male who will reply with, “T’woo.” Although hooting is the most distinctive sound that owls make, they also screech, whistle, bark, growl, rattle, and hiss. 49. Owls are wise. The Greek Goddess, Athena, is often depicted in sculptures and paintings holding an owl. Since Athena is the Goddess of Wisdom, the owl was believed to one of the smartest animals. Ironically, owls are one of the least intelligent birds. Their eyes are so big, there isn’t enough space for a big brain in their skull. The smartest bird is the crow. 50. Everyone knows what a bald eagle sounds like. Imagine in your head the sound that a bald eagle makes. Got it? Right, that’s the sound of a red-tailed hawk. It’s used as a bald eagle cry because it sounds more “patriotic.” The bald eagle sounds like an impatient seagull trying to shush someone. 51. Snails have shells and slugs don’t. One of the few basic differences between the two mollusks is that slugs live for 1-6 years while snails live for up to 25 years. However, to comprehend the subtler differences between the two species, you need a comprehensive biological understanding of gastropods. It would take at least ten pages to explain and would require the use of words like “Basommathophora” and “Papillodermatoidea.”

Long story short, some slugs sport a shell and some snails bear no shell. The shell is not a defining characteristic of either creature. 52. Rabbits eat carrots. In one Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs eats a carrot the same way Clark Gable did in the film, It Happened One Night. Although adults got the reference, kids thought Bugs was eating it because rabbits like carrots. Although rabbits will eat most vegetables (including carrots,) they normally eat grass and leafy weeds. 53. Hippos are slow. Despite weighing three tons, a hippo can run 30mph. This means that a hippo can easily outrun a human being. 54. Hippos sweat blood. There are many “random fact” books that state hippos sweat blood or their sweat looks like blood. This is impossible since hippos lack sweat glands. The red liquid that oozes out of the hippo’s skin is a naturally produced sunscreen. 55. The first farmed animals were sheep. Snails were the first farmed animals in 10700 BC. However, I do love the theory put forward by the comedian, Johnny Vegas, on the first farmed animal, “It was eggs because…they were easy to move.” 56. Centipedes have a hundred legs. A 100-legged centipede has never been found. In fact, only one single centipede has ever been discovered that had an even pair of legs. 57. Millipedes have a thousand legs. Many believe millipedes have a thousand legs. When I was a kid, I read that millipedes have two hundred legs but that’s untrue as well. Like centipedes, the number of legs varies. A millipede can have over a hundred legs or it can have over three hundred. There is no set number. 58.

Centipedes and millipedes are harmless.

Both of these creatures secrete cyanide, which can be lethal to children if ingested. 59. A platypus is harmless. A platypus is venomous. Its venom is not deadly to humans but it hurts like hell. Also, it would be pretty embarrassing to tell your friends that you need to go to a hospital because you got attacked by a platypus. 60. Anteaters are harmless. You’d think a slow, nearly deaf, almost blind, toothless animal would be harmless to humans, wouldn’t you? However, these mammals have been known to kill humans with their huge claws. If you see an anteater, stay away. 61. Kangaroos are harmless. A kangaroo’s springy legs are so powerful that they can easily shatter your bones with one swift kick. They are also dangerous boxers and can box rival kangaroos to death. 62. The only mammal that lays eggs is the platypus. The spiny anteater also has this distinction. 63. A dormouse is a mouse. Some people incorrectly call this creature a door mouse. It is not a mouse. Nor is it a door. It is a gliridae rodent and is not a part of the mouse family. 64. Greyhounds are grey. Greyhounds are faint blue. The name “grey hound” comes from the German word “greishund” which means “old hound.” 65. Black rhinos are black and white rhinos are white. Both animals are grey. They are so called because a black rhino has black lips and a white rhino has white lips. 66. Black mamba snakes are black. Black mambas get their name because the inside of their mouth is black.

67. A mountain goat is a goat. A mountain goat is an antelope. Back in the old days, people weren’t even trying to come up with names for animals, were they? 68. The black bear is black. Black bears can be black, white, brown, cinnamon, or blue. Okay, can we just fire the guy who’s in charge of naming animals? 69. Giraffes have lots of neck bones. The giraffe has seven neck vertebrae, like most mammals, including humans. 70. Electric eels are eels. An eel isn’t just any long serpent-like fish. An eel belongs to the Anguilliformes family. Electric eels are knifefish, which are more genetically related to goldfish and catfish than eels. 71. If you cut an earthworm in two, it becomes two earthworms. No, that’s starfish. 72.

The musical instrument of a snake charmer can hypnotize a

snake. Snakes are responding to the movements of the snake charmer. Not only are they not under any kind of hypnotic spell, but the snake might bite the charmer if it gets bored. 73. The world’s fastest animal is the cheetah. The cheetah can run at 71mph but it can only maintain this speed for a few seconds. When the peregrine falcon descends on its prey, it can fly downward at over 200mph. However, it can only do this while flying downward. The fastest natural animal is the swift. This bird can reach speeds of 106mph for long periods of time, even while it is sleeping. 74. An octopus has eight legs. An octopus has two legs and six arms. Wait… what’s the difference? We move our bodies with our legs and we use our arms for everything else.

Octopi use their six arms for eating. Their two longer leg tentacles propel them forward in a similar fashion to how human beings swim. 75. Pigeons are infested with diseases. Ever since the term “rats with wings” was coined in the film, Stardust Memories, society sees pigeons as carriers of disease. However, there is no evidence that pigeons carry diseases according to a study performed by the Department of Health UK in 2013. A 2004 study called Health Hazards posed by Feral Pigeons stated that if a human makes contact with feral pigeons, “the risk is very low, even for humans involved in occupations that bring them in close contact with nesting sites.” 76. Marsupials only live in Australia. Although marsupials like kangaroos and koalas can only be found in the wild in Australia, opossums reside throughout North America and possums have been recently introduced in China. Also, wallabies reside in Ireland. 77. Elephants have a lot of bones in their trunks. There are no bones whatsoever in an elephant’s trunk. The trunk is made up of 40,000 muscles. 78. Human beings are the only animals that have funerals. Elephants bury their dead and mourn other elephants. It is not uncommon for them to suffer depression afterward. 79. Penguins fall over if they stare at a plane flying overhead. Penguins stop dead in their tracks when planes come near. Their heads follow the plane’s direction but not to the extent where the penguin falls over. 80. Rats caused the Black Death. No, and it wasn’t fleas either. It was squirrels. Marmot squirrels from Mongolia gradually spread the disease, as they are extremely prone to the bubonic plague. They spread the parasite to fleas and rats and eventually humans. Technically, they’ve killed more humans than any animal on Earth apart from mosquitoes.

81. Rats are a minor nuisance. In rural or poor regions, rats destroy or contaminate up to 40% of all food. These rodents can eat up to 20% of crops and then eat another 20% of grain in storage. Throughout the world, rats are thought to eat or destroy up to 10% of all food that humans produce. 82. Tigers are mostly found in the jungle. There are twice as many tigers in the US than in the rest of the world combined. 83. If a goldfish floats at the top of a fish tank, it’s dead. Most people don’t know how much to feed a fish so it’s instinctive to give it a lot of food and assume the fish will stop when it’s full. However, animals aren’t programmed that way. In the wild, animals don’t know when the next meal will come. It could be weeks or even months. If an animal sees food, they will devour it all. If the goldfish eats too much food, it will become constipated. To deal with this, it will float at the top of the fish tank for about three or four days waiting for its digested food to pass. After that, it will be back to normal. If you flushed your goldfish down the toilet after you saw it floating at the top of the fish bowl, he wasn’t dead. But he is now. 84. Goldfish have a three-second memory. A goldfish’s memory lasts three months. They must be pretty sick of seeing that castle in the fish bowl for the 3,000th time. 85. A goldfish only grows to the size of its bowl. It’s the quality of the water that affects the goldfish’s size, not the bowl. Bowls are simply not ideal for goldfish because they lack proper filtration, aeration, water volume for waste dilution, or bio-filtration. In their natural habitat, goldfish never stop growing and can weigh as much as 30lbs if given full care. 86. Lobsters are red. Lobsters are red after they are cooked. Most lobsters are naturally blue so it’s hard for predators to see them underwater.

87. Mammoths went extinct in the Ice Age 15,000 years ago. Mammoths went extinct 4,600 years ago. They were around when the pyramids were being built. 88. Mammoths were gigantic elephants. Not all mammoths were huge. The Cretan Dwarf Mammoth was only 3ft 4 tall. 89. The world’s laziest animal is the sloth. Although some reports state that sloths sleep for 20 hours, it’s more like ten hours. The koala is the laziest animal, sleeping for 22 hours a day. 90. Lemmings kill themselves by jumping off cliffs. This idea became popular because of the inaccurate 1958 Disney nature documentary White Wilderness (which won an Oscar.) Some sources state that this documentary invented this myth. However, this was already a common misconception and it has been seen in children encyclopedias dating back to 1908. 91. Dogs are colorblind. A dog’s spectrum isn’t as wide as ours but they do not see things like a black-and-white movie. They can see blue, violet, and yellow very clearly. The only strong color they can’t see is green but greenblind doesn’t have the same ring to it as colorblind. 92. Dogs have the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom. Bees have a better sense of smell than dogs. However, the African elephant has the strongest sense of smell in the animal kingdom. Their sense of smell is four times better than a bloodhound. Grizzly bears are a close second. 93. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. This is just an expression that some people take seriously. 94.

Piranhas can shred any animal to bones in less than a minute.

US president, Theodore Roosevelt, created the misconception that piranhas are the most ferocious animals on Earth. While he was in Brazil in 1913, Roosevelt went on a hunting expedition in the Amazon Rainforest. While on the Amazon River, the local fishermen pushed a cow into the piranhainfested water. Because the fish had been starved for days, they devoured the cow quickly. The fishermen orchestrated this spectacle because they knew that if the president of the United States talked about what the fish were capable of, it would increase tourism in the area. The piranhas’ reputation went beyond what anyone imagined after Roosevelt wrote a book about his experience in 1914 called Through the Brazilian Wilderness. The piranhas’ legacy as a monstrous force of nature seemed cemented after they were seen devouring a woman in the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. Despite all of this, piranhas aren’t vicious. In fact, if you placed your hand in a pool of piranha-infested water, they would swim away. Why? Because they are scared of most living animals. They normally feed on carcasses. In fact, some piranhas like the red-bellied pacu are vegetarian. 95. Any spider that is big and hairy is a tarantula. Tarantulas are part of the spider-family, Mygalomorphae. Tarantulas have fangs that point down while true spiders have pincer-like teeth. Spiders live for about a year while tarantulas usually live for 20 years. Tarantulas have retractable claws, don’t spin webs, and can regenerate lost legs. Although they are usually hairy and large, some of them are very small and hairless. 96. Scorpions are one of the most dangerous animals on Earth. There are over a thousand types of scorpion. 95% are harmless to humans. Only 23 people die annually from scorpion stings. 97. Chameleons change color to blend into their surroundings. Chameleons change color to look aggressive to predators. So what animal is the best at camouflage? Well, there are two potential contenders. Not only can the Pristimantis mutabilis frog mimic its surroundings and color, it can change its texture to make its skin appear smooth, bumpy, or spiky.

The other contender is the Indonesian mimic octopus. Not only can the mollusc change its color in the blink of an eye, but the octopus can drastically alter its shape so it looks like other animals. It can impersonate at least 15 animals including sea snakes and lion fish. Mimic octopi do this to look like predators so other fish will leave them alone. 98. Tortoises live longer than any other animal. Tortoises can live for over 200 years. But nothing can compare to the Immortal Jellyfish (and its name is barely an exaggeration.) This jellyfish can revert its cells and make itself younger. There are jellyfish alive today that could potentially be ten thousand years old, if not older. 99. A tortoise’s shell is not a part of the reptile’s body. The shell isn’t just body armor. It’s a part of the tortoise. The shell is made up of 61 bones. Since the top of the shell (the carapace) is fused to the reptile’s vertebrae and ribcage, any damage to the shell can cause horrific injuries and pain to the animal. The smallest crack requires binding with adhesive tape to prevent infections or muscle damage. Any intense damage to the shell may require steel sutures, anesthetics, or the intervention of a veterinary surgeon. 100. All polar bears are left-handed. This is one of those myths that sounds so random that you may think it has to be true because no one would make up something this stupid. But they did. 101. Polar bears came from the Arctic Circle. Daniel Bradley and Dr. Ceiridwen Edwards of Oxford University collaborated with Beth Shapiro to analyze the DNA of the polar bear and learned it originated from the extinct Irish brown bear. This means that all polar bears originally came from Ireland. 102. Polar bears and penguins live in the same area. They live on opposite Poles. However, most polar bears reside in Canada, not the North Pole. In fact, there are Canadian towns where there are as many polar bears as there are people.

103. Polar bears are white. Each individual hair is a clear hollow tube called guard hair that looks white because of its reflected light. 104. Falcons are related to hawks and eagles. Although hawks and eagles are in the Accipitridae family, the falcon is more related to the parrot than these birds of prey. 105. Only male lions have manes. Maned lionesses are quite common in the Mombo area of Botswana. 106. A parrot is a bird that can talk. Not all parrots can mimic human speech. The lyrebird is the greatest mimic of all of the bird species but it is not classified as a parrot. It can imitate the sound of human speech, a camera, a car alarm, or a chainsaw. By definition, a parrot is a bird with zygodactylous feet. This means that parrots have their first and fourth toes pointing backwards whereas their second and third toes point forward. 107. The strongest animal proportion to its size is the ant. An ant can lift 49 times its own weight. However, the dung beetle can pull 1,141 times its own body weight. That’s 23 times stronger than an ant. This would be like a human pulling six double-decker buses full of people. 108. If a bear attacks you, play dead. Unless you can control your breathing perfectly while a 2,000lb pound bear is sniffing you, you are going to get ripped to shreds. To survive a bear attack, you need to get naked. Hear me out. Take off your shoe, place it on the ground, and casually walk away. A bear will study everything you drop for several minutes. Once it starts getting bored sniffing your shoe, take off your other shoe, place it down, and walk away. Repeat this process until you are pretty naked. By this point, you should be reasonably far away, which should give you a decent head start to run. The only problems with this strategy are – i) The bear has your scent because you gave it all of your clothes. ii) You’re naked.

Also, you can distract a bear with toothpaste. I am not joking. Bears have been known to tear down cabins to devour some Colgate toothpaste. So maybe promise to give him some if he behaves. But the problem with that is, he’ll assume you have more….and you’re still naked. 109. Bears love honey. Although bears do attack bee hives, they prefer to eat bee larvae, not honey. So, Winnie the Pooh is a liar. 110. Turkeys can’t fly. You would think there’s no way a turkey can fly because it’s too big. However, that’s because turkeys are fattened up for our sake and become too fat to fly. Wild turkeys can fly at phenomenal speed. 111. Sardines are a type of fish. Have you ever seen a sardine in the aquarium or in the sea? Sardines aren’t a type of fish. A tin of sardines is comprised of many types of fish and each tin can vary what types of fish it contains. 112. When you listen to a seashell, you can hear the ocean. That sound is air resonating in a hollowed object. The same effect can be replicated with a cup. 113. Moths eat clothes and are attracted to light. Moths never eat clothes. Their larvae do. If you see this insect on your coat and you scare the moth away, you may think that your coat has been saved. Unfortunately, the moth has probably laid its eggs and so, your coat is doomed. Another misconception about moths is how they are attracted to light. We’ve all seen moths flying around lightbulbs or fire. However, the reason moths act strangely near bright lights is because it makes them dizzy. The moth may go closer to the light out of disorientation rather than curiosity. 114. Flying lemurs are lemurs. The correct term for these animals is colugos. They are only referred to as “flying lemurs” due to their resemblance to true lemurs. Although they

can’t fly, colugos are the best gliding mammals in the world. 115. All owls are nocturnal. The northern hawk-owl and the burrowing owl are diurnal, which means they are only active during the day. 116. You can get warts from a toad. Most toads have protruding glands that resemble warts. However, warts are caused by a viral infection, usually by human papillomavirus (HPV). 117. Ostriches bury their head in the sand when threatened. How would they breathe? 118. People haven’t used leeches for medical purposes for centuries. Leeches are still used for surgery to this day, especially for plastic surgery, osteoarthritis, severe bruising, and third-degree burns. Not only do leeches devour an incredible amount of blood but their saliva has an anesthetic, so it doesn’t hurt. It also has an anticoagulant so leeches can prevent blood from clotting. There is no medical tool as convenient (and cheap) for preventing blood clotting as a leech. 119. Cows have four stomachs. Cows have a four-chambered stomach, much like how humans have a fourchambered heart. The chambers in a cow’s stomach are called the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum. The rumen (also known as the paunch) ferments the food. The reticulum (or the honeycomb) is designed for heavy food or foreign objects. The omasum (or the fardel) absorbs water and fatty acids. The abomasum (or the maw) secretes enzymes, which play a key role in creating cheese. 120. Elephants love peanuts. When elephants were brought into American zoos decades ago, zookeepers showed how flexible the mammal’s trunk was by putting on demonstrations for the public. One of the most common tricks that elephants performed was cracking open a peanut without breaking the seed. Over time, people assumed elephants love peanuts. In reality, elephants prefer to eat tree bark, leaves, twigs, grass, and roots.

121. If you drop a cat from a high building, it’s irrelevant if it lands on its feet because it can’t survive. A cat is more likely to survive if it is thrown from the tenth story of a building than the fifth story of a building because it gives the feline more time to process what’s happening and adapt to it. Please don’t test this. 122. Cats should drink milk. Cats are lactose intolerant. Milk is more damaging to a cat’s digestive system than seawater. 123. LOLcats are a recent fad. LOLcats is an Internet meme of cats doing silly things with a funny caption. The most famous one is Grumpy Cat. Although there has been an explosion in the popularity of LOLcats in the past few years, the idea has been around since the Victorian era. In the 1800s, Walter Potter dressed cats in silly outfits and sold photos of them as humorous postcards. One of the first films ever made was called The Boxing Cats. This 22-second film was made in 1894 and showed two cats wearing boxing gloves fighting each other in a boxing ring. Weirdly, this film was made by Thomas Edison. 124. A cat purrs when it is happy. Cats purr when they are ill, in pain, and even when they are dying. Purring vibrates the cat’s skeleton, which strengthens its bone density. If you stroke a cat, it doesn’t purr because it likes it; it purrs to maintain its posture. This is the reason cats rarely get disorders like arthritis. It also explains why they are so agile and limber. 125. A cat will stroke its owner to show that it likes him or her. Cats don’t see themselves as pets. Cats think that they own their owner. You feed them, stroke them, buy toys for them, and clean out their litter box. A cat strokes you to remind you that you are its property. If a cat nudges you, it’s not the human version of, “Come ooonnn buddddy.” It’s more like, “Obey me, slave!”

If you have a cat, you may have noticed that it can become very affectionate when it comes into the house or just before it goes outside. This may be because there is an animal outside that it’s scared of so it rubs against you so you smell like the cat and the cat smells like you. If you go outside, the predator will know that you are the cat’s “protector.” If the cat smells like you, the predator knows that its “protector” is near. 126. A cat will present its prey to its owner as a gift. At this point, you may be starting to grasp that cats don’t do anything to show that they are nice. This fact will be no different. Cats don’t understand how humans have food. They can’t grasp refrigerators and they have never seen you kill anything (hopefully.) So, when a cat brings you a mouse, it is not a present; it’s showing you how to catch prey. Basically, it thinks you are a terrible hunter. Even big cats in the wild do this. A lionesses will often bring small animals alive to her cubs so they can practice their hunting skills. 127. A cat arches its back upon seeing a predator because it wants to fight. When a cat arches its back, it’s terrified. If the cat wanted to fight, it would just attack. Although cats look fearless when they arch their back, it’s a bluff. 128. One human year is equivalent to seven years for dogs. It’s inaccurate to think that when a dog is two, it is 14 in human terms. Different breeds of dog age at different rates. A small dog is a “toddler” or “teenager” for a different length of time than a large dog. All animals go through different stages of maturity for different lengths of time. 129. A dog wags its tail when it is happy. If the tail is low, curved, and wagging slowly, the dog is happy. If the tail is high and arched, the canine is feeling aggressive. If the tail wags to the left, the dog is anxious. If the tail wags to the right, the dog is curious. 130. When a dog bares its teeth, it’s in a playful mood. Dogs bare their teeth to warn their prey that they will be bitten if they come any closer.

131. Balto was a husky that rescued an entire town. This is how the story goes – When the people of Nome were suffering from diphtheria, a husky called Balto led a team to the town to have the inhabitants inoculated. After the people were injected with an antitoxin, they made a complete recovery and Balto was perceived as a hero. The story of “a dog that saved an entire town” was so inspiring, a film was made about Balto in 1995. However, Balto did not run the longest part nor the most hazardous part of the journey. Of the 20 mushers on this journey, Seppala’s husky, Togo, ran further than any other dog on the expedition, at a staggering 260 miles. The reason why Balto got the credit is because he ran the final 55 miles. Seppala was so angry that his dog didn’t receive credit for the expedition that he didn’t invite Balto or his owner to Togo’s award ceremony in New York. 132. A dog pulls on its leash when it’s excited. If a dog pulls on a leash, that’s not a sign of happiness or eagerness; it’s a sign of confusion. Most people speed up their walk when a dog pulls on its leash but that’s not an effective way to train it. When the dog tugs on the leash, the owner should maintain his or her pace so the dog can understand how the leash works. Also, a dog-owner should never yank the leash as the dog can easily damage its trachea. 133. All apes walk on their hands. Gibbons naturally walk upright like a human being. 134. Wolves howl at the Moon. Wolves howl to communicate with other wolves. They have to howl upwards because it helps project the sound. Howling at the Moon is a cool image but wolves won’t necessarily do it in moonlight. 135. The Moon can turn some animals violent or wild. There are many stories of animals going wild after a full Moon. For the longest time, nobody could figure out why. However, there is a perfectly non-supernatural explanation for it.

If the Moon is full, there is more light. As a result, it’s more likely that prey can see predators coming and the prey have a better chance of escaping. Wild animals go berserk the next day because they are absolutely starving. 136. A blue whale can swallow a car. Although a blue whale’s mouth could easily contain an African elephant, its throat is only big enough to swallow a beach ball. 137. The longest animal is the blue whale. The longest animal is the bootlace worm. The longest one ever found was 180ft feet, which is nearly double the length of the blue whale. 138. Whales can hold their breath longer than any other mammal. Whales only can hold their breath for 30 minutes. Dolphins can last over an hour. However, seals can hold their breath for a whopping two hours, which is longer than any other mammal. 139. The loudest animal underwater is the blue whale. I’ve decided to ruin every record the blue whale supposedly has. Groups of snapping shrimp nipping their claws in unison is the loudest sound produced by an animal. When the shrimp snap their claws simultaneously, they create a sound that is 160 decibels. A motorcycle engine is not even half that loud. 140. Whales blow water out of their blowholes. Whales spew air out of their blowholes, not water. When the whale exhales through its blowhole, the air is very warm because it’s been inside the whale for so long. Once this warm air comes into contact with the cool air outside, it condenses and looks like water. Sometimes, whales spew liquid out of their blowhole, but this is usually mucus, not water. 141. Killer whales are whales. Killer whales are dolphins… You might think, “Impossible! Dolphins are friendly and will save humans in danger.” Well… 142.

Dolphins are friendly and will save humans in danger.

Like humans, dolphins are extremely intelligent. And much like people, dolphins can be nice or nasty. If you were drowning, dolphins might save you. Or they might stab you with their snout, just for fun or to try to impress other dolphins. (Peer pressure is a big deal in the dolphin community). 143. Dolphins drink water. Dolphins can’t drink seawater because they are mammals. Any water that goes into their mouth will be spewed out of their blowhole. A dolphin gets all of the water it needs from the fish it eats. 144. If you see a beached dolphin, help it back into the sea. Dolphins beach themselves when they are sick or injured. If a beached dolphin is tossed back into the sea, it mightn’t be able to swim and could easily drown. 145. Humans are the only animals that experience menopause. Killer whales experience menopause too. Never ask how marine biologists found that out. 146. Dolly the sheep was the first cloned animal. The first cloned animal was a sea urchin in 1885; over a century before Dolly. Dolly wasn’t even the first cloned sheep. The same institute that cloned her cloned five other sheep (two of which survived to adulthood.) The reason Dolly was important was because she was cloned from adult cells. The other sheep were cloned from embryos. 147. The Easter Bunny and Bugs Bunny are rabbits. The Easter Bunny is a hare. Early Christians celebrated the goddess of spring and fertility, Eostre, during Easter. She is often depicted with a hare, who eventually represented the holiday. Bugs Bunny is also a hare. Well, technically he’s a fictional animated character but you know what I mean. He first appeared in the 1940 animated short, The Wild Hare. 148.

Pigs are filthy.

Pigs are among the cleanest animals in the world. They are the only farm animal to make sleeping arrangements. They are very particular with keeping their den tidy. So if pigs are not filthy, why are they always covered in mud? Pigs have very few sweat glands (many sources incorrectly state that pigs don’t have any) so they need to be covered in mud to keep cool or they can die from dehydration. 149. Sharks have to keep moving or they will die. Sharks stop moving when they sleep. The ocean current may move the shark but it is not making a conscious effort to move. 150. The hammerhead’s head shape helps it see its prey. No, and it has nothing to do with maneuverability either. The shape of the shark’s head gives it a better sweeping range that allows it to detect the electromagnetic field given off by its prey. 151. The great white shark has stopped evolving. The idea behind this concept is that the great white shark is such a perfect specimen that it stopped evolving because nature can’t make it any better. Evolution doesn’t work this way. It doesn’t go, “There’s nothing else to do. I’m calling it a day.” All animals are constantly evolving. 152. Sharks kill more humans than any other animal. Of the 400 shark species, only 12 of them are dangerous to humans. Okay, so how many people do sharks kill a year? A hundred? A thousand? Five. Vending machines kill over twice that many. Mosquitoes kill more humans than any other animal by infecting them with malaria. Of the 600 million that are infected with malaria each year, over a million will die. However, mosquitoes kill humans indirectly. The animal that kills the most humans by directly attacking them is the hippopotamus. Hippos clock up almost 3,000 kills per year. Yet there is still not one single Killer Hippo Movie. Yet. 153. Sharks are made of bone. Sharks have no bones in their body. Their skeleton is made of cartilage.

154. Sharks can’t get cancer. Cartilage has antiangiogenic properties which limits the development of blood vessels. Since cancer spreads the most efficiently through the bloodstream, this seems to mean that sharks can’t get cancer. Although it’s true that sharks rarely get cancer, there’s one type they are especially prone to. Cartilage cancer. So that cartilage thing kind of backfired. 155. Sharks will eat anything. Sharks are quite particular about what they eat. They don’t like eating creatures with a lot of bones (including humans) because bones are difficult to digest. Most sharks eat very specific fish. The whale shark only eats plankton. The only shark that isn’t picky about what it eats is the tiger shark, which is why it is nicknamed “The Garbage Can of the Sea.” 156. Sharks have huge, sharp teeth. Only some sharks have sharp teeth, but almost all sharks have tiny teeth. The great white shark’s teeth are razor sharp but are very small. 157. If a shark was about to attack you, you should punch it in the nose. Humans don’t have the strength to punch anything underwater. Next time you are in the swimming pool, try punching someone underwater (with their permission of course.) If you are about to be attacked by a carnivorous shark, you should poke its eyes or grabs its gills. 158. Sharks have no predators. Killer whales kill sharks when they go after the same prey. 159. Roadrunners are faster than coyotes. A roadrunner’s top speed is 20mph. A coyote can run 43mph. You’d think somebody working for Looney Tunes would’ve researched this before making an entire show revolving around a coyote chasing a roadrunner.

160. The most dangerous animal in Australia is a snake or a crocodile. Snakes killed 41 people between 1980-2009. Fewer than 40 people have been killed by crocodiles since 1971. 25% of all animal-related deaths in Australia are caused by horses. But surely the snake is the second most dangerous animal, right? No. That would be the cow. Third? That’s the dog. 161. Vultures circle dying animals and pounce on them the instant they die. Vultures never circle prey and will usually wait for a carcass to be so rotten, that no other animal would touch it. Although vultures prefer to eat fresh meat, they don’t want to risk being attacked during a meal. 162. Vultures are irredeemably disgusting animals. Vultures eat 70% of all dead meat in the African regions where they live. Without vultures, there would be many more carcasses lying around Africa contaminating water. Not only are vultures immune to rabies, anthrax, salmonella, and cholera, but their bodies don’t spread the diseases; they expunge them. Africa would be an ecological catastrophe without vultures. 163. All vultures eat meat. The palm-nut vulture is a vegetarian. 164. A panther is a huge black cat. A panther isn’t a specific animal. A panther is any cat that can roar (tigers, lions, and jaguars). Most people picture Bagheera from The Jungle Book when they think of a panther. Bagheera is a black leopard. Black leopards have spots but they are very hard to distinguish. There is no big cat that is completely black in the way Bagheera is depicted in the film. 165. Peacocks use their tails to impress peahens. The tail’s purpose is to intimidate predators. 166.

Bats are blind.

Most bats have terrible eyesight and rely on echolocation. However, none of the 1,015 species are blind. In fact, some bats have excellent eyesight and several species can see ultraviolet light. 167. Bats are the only animals that use echolocation. Shrews, dolphins, whales, and rats use echolocation to navigate in the dark. 168. Bats are horrible creatures. Bats are the most efficient animals in the world at killing insects. One bat can kill six hundred insects in an hour. That’s one insect dead every six seconds. Do you know how many insects there would be if bats didn’t exist? Probably a lot. There is also a myth that bats get stuck in people’s hair. The most common place to be attacked by a bat is the toe, not the head. Since bats rely on sound waves, walking will make the bat attracted to your feet because your feet make sounds every time you take a step. Now, let’s look at the biggest bat myth. The main reason that society is scared of bats is because they supposedly suck blood. However, the vampire bat is the only bat that drinks blood. But the vampire bat doesn’t suck the blood, it laps it. 169. Locusts and grasshoppers are different species. When you hear the word “grasshopper,” you probably think of a colorful, hopping insect that plays music by rubbing its legs. When you hear the word “locust,” you may think of swarms of insects that destroy crops on a Biblical level. But here’s the rub. Grasshoppers and locusts are the same animal. Although there are different types of grasshoppers, the locust’s official name is the short-horned grasshopper. Also, it is a misconception that grasshoppers hop because they can’t fly. This isn’t true. Grasshoppers have wings. 170. Don’t kill a spider. Put it outside. The reason you find spiders inside your house is because it has adapted to the heat indoors. Once you chuck the arachnid outside, it dies within minutes. If you thought you were a good person because you were putting

spiders outside instead of squashing them, you were killing them anyway, only more slowly. So, that’s a bit awkward. 171. Spider webs are weak. Although you can effortlessly destroy a web with your hand, that’s because the web strands are thin. If steel and spider silk were the same weight and size, the silk would be five times stronger. 172. The black widow is the world’s most venomous spider. Although the black widow is dangerous, the Brazilian wandering spider is the most venomous spider in the world. 173. The daddy longlegs is a venomous spider. There is no such thing as a daddy longlegs. There are lots of spiders that have long legs but there is no definitive spider with this appearance. Some of these arachnids have venom but not enough to harm a human. 174. Spiders kill humans. There are 40,000 types of spider. 12 of them are dangerous. Most spiders aren’t strong enough for their bite to breach human skin. However, the majority of spiders prey on other insects and will never go out of their way to bite a human. Although bites are rare, lethal bites are unheard of nowadays. In 2016, Jayden Burleigh from Sydney died when he was bitten by a redback spider. Although that’s tragic, it was the first time someone died from a spider bite in 37 years. In fact, why do spiders get a bad reputation? Most spiders kill animals we hate like flies, bees, and mosquitoes. One spider can kill 2,000 insects a year. 175. All spiders weave webs. Only half of spider species make webs. If you don’t find that fact particularly interesting, it’s not uncommon for spiders to get trapped in their own webs. Basically, spiders are the Wile E. Coyote of the animal kingdom. 176. Webs always have a spiral pattern. Spiders can use their webbing to form funnels, tubes, sheets, ladders, and even fences.

177. If you come across a crocodile, you are as good as dead. Although a crocodile’s jaw muscles are incredibly strong at clamping down, it takes a lot of effort for the reptile to open its mouth. If a two-year old toddler put his or her fingers around a crocodile’s mouth, the reptile couldn’t open it. A crocodile can be defeated with an elastic band wrapped around its snout. 178. Alligators live in the sewers under New York City. Nature writer, Diana Ackerman, said, “Alligators can only live in temperatures between 78 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s 25-30 Celsius. They couldn’t survive in a sewer, because they can’t live in salmonella, shigella or E. coli.” 179. Alligators kill hundreds of people every year. From 1928-2009, only 24 reported deaths from alligators occurred in the US. However, some of these people may have drowned and been eaten by alligators later. 180. Flies only live for a few hours. Flies live for a month. Mayflies are also accused of living for a day (their Latin name means “short-lived.”) Although mayflies have four stages of life, most people only see the insect in its last stage which lasts 24 hours. However, the mayfly’s life cycle can last up to four years. 181. Chimpanzees have more hair than humans. Chimps have thicker hair but humans have more hair follicles. 182. A Komodo dragon has a powerful bite. Despite the fact that this 10ft reptile is the world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon’s bite is weaker than a cat’s. This creature can break its own skull if it tries to bite down too hard. 183. A rhino’s horn is made of bone. The rhino’s horn is made of keratin, which is the same material that your fingernails and hair are made of. There was a rhino with a horn made of bone called the Brontotheres 45 million years ago. If the animal collided

with a predator, the horn shattered, leaving the Brontotheres in agony. Also, it had to wait months for its horn to heal, leaving it vulnerable. This impracticality led to the Brontotheres’ extinction. If the modern-day rhino’s horn breaks, it doesn’t hurt and it heals much faster than bone. Because the rhino’s “horn” isn’t made of bone, technically it’s not a horn. A horn isn’t just a pointy spike sticking out of an animal’s head. A horn by definition is a natural protruding point that has a bone core. There’s another misconception that the “horn” is used as an aphrodisiac. In reality, it’s used to deter a fever (even though it doesn’t work.) This idea stems from superstition rather than science. 184. The horse inspired the myth of the unicorn. Bizarrely, the unicorn myth originated from the skeleton of a narwhal whale. During the crusades, knights stumbled upon an enormous horned skeleton and thought it was of a gigantic horned horse. This was a common belief until the 17th century. 185. Narwhals have horns. Horns have bone cartilage. The narwhal’s “horn” doesn’t have any. Okay... if it’s not a horn, what is it then? It’s a tooth. It starts in the mammal’s mouth but it keeps growing until it pierces through the poor whale’s head. It is known as an “erupted tooth.” You may be thinking, “How is that practical?” Teeth have millions of nerve-endings, which make them hypersensitive. A narwhal’s erupted tooth is so sensitive, the whale can tell if it is approaching salt water or non-salt water. Narwhals can’t survive in fresh water so this erupted tooth is evolution’s way of keeping it alive. 186. Possums play dead. If a possum sees a predator, it will seize up and become stiff like a board. The predator assumes the possum is dead and will not be interested in eating it. Possums don’t “play dead.” It’s not a conscious decision. It is so terrified, the possum goes into shock.

187. All bees live in hives and make honey. 85% of bees live alone. Only 20% of the bees that live in a hive make the honey. 188. Bees die when they sting you. A bee’s stinger can get stuck in a person’s skin and the bee has to rip itself apart to escape. If the bee is careful, it will be fine. So, when people say, “You got stung, but at least the bee is dead,” just remember that those people are liars. 189. The best thing to use for a bee sting is butter. Butter will numb the pain but it won’t get rid of the bee sting in your skin. The best thing to do is wipe the area with a credit card. Doctors do this in emergencies when people have been stung hundreds of times. 190. The rules of aerodynamics show that bees shouldn’t be able to fly. A bee seems to be too big in comparison with its wings to fly. No one knew how bees flew until 2005. As HD technology advanced, a bee’s wings could be studied in slow motion and high definition while it was flying. It turns out bees flap their wings 230 times per second, which is far more than other insects. Their wings don’t just move up and down. They move with short choppy strokes, followed by a quick rotation of the wing as it spins over and reverses direction, along with a fast wing-beat frequency. If you can’t understand this, the alternative explanation is, “Magic.” 191. A snake dislocates its jaw when it eats. This is not true. Snakes just have incredibly flexible jaws. 192. When the English originally went to Australia, they asked an Aborigine what a kangaroo was called. The Aborigine said, “I don’t know” in his native tongue, which is “kangaroo.” The word “kangaroo” is derived from the Guugu Wimithirr word, “gangurru,” which means “big foot.” 193.

Camels are most common in the Middle East.

Camels are mostly found in Australia. They are so common there that Saudi Arabia imports them. Saudi Arabia also imports sand from Australia. Seriously. 194. A camel can survive without water longer than any mammal because it stores water in its hump. A camel’s hump stores fat. A camel can only live about two weeks without water. The kangaroo rat can live without water for five years, which is longer than any other mammal. 195. People have always known that mosquitoes cause malaria. Less than a hundred years ago, our ancestors believed that malaria was simply “bad air.” It was believed that malaria was something you just “got” like the flu. This erroneous theory was accepted until the 1930s. 196. If you touch a bird’s nest, the mother bird will pick up on your scent and abandon its young. Most birds can barely smell. Even if the mother bird saw you touching its eggs, it would not be enough reason for it to desert its offspring. 197. The animal that has saved the most lives is the Saint Bernard. There is a misconception that Saint Bernards used to carry small barrels of brandy attached to their collar to awaken and warm up people who got lost in snowy mountains. This couldn’t work since the barrel would weigh down the St. Bernard, slowing it down, which is the last thing you need when someone is dying in the cold. This isn’t even hypothetically possible. Brandy freezes quickly. Even if it didn’t, alcohol makes you feel warmer, but your body gets colder so it would be counter-productive. So what animal has saved the most human lives? The horseshoe crab. The horseshoe crab (which is related to the spider) has blood that clots around invading bacteria and viruses. This blood is used to test every single pharmaceutical drug. Every pill, injection, transfusion, and anesthetic you have had is all thanks to the horseshoe crab.

198. If a dangerous animal is about to attack you, you can distract it by pointing at something. Only apes and elephants understand what pointing means. If a bear was about to attack you and you pointed somewhere, the bear would just stare at your pointed finger. A bear might even think you are presenting something, thus encouraging it to come towards you. 199. Don’t throw rice at weddings. If a bird eats it, it will explode. The rice is dangerous to humans since it can easily catch in someone’s eye. Throwing rice onto a flat, slippery surface or on stairs makes it likely that somebody slips. But it would make their wedding more memorable. Hospitals have a tendency to do that. 200. Pandas only eat bamboo. Pandas are slow, clumsy, and lethargic so bamboo is pretty easy prey. Pandas prefer to eat small animals to give them energy. Bamboo barely gives them enough energy to keep going. 201. Wolverines aren’t real. Even Hugh Jackman didn’t know wolverines existed until after he was cast in X-Men as Wolverine. The wolverine is a small Canadian weasel that doesn’t like confrontation. If it is cornered, it becomes vicious and goes for the jugular vein, killing its predator almost instantly. 202. If a venomous snake bites you, you need to suck the venom out. According to the physician, Robert A. Barish, “The evidence suggests that cutting and sucking, or applying a tourniquet or ice does nothing to help the victim. Although these outdated measures are still widely accepted by the general public, they may do more harm than good by delaying prompt medical care, contaminating the wound, or by damaging nerves and blood vessels.” According to the World Health Organization, 80% of venomous bites can be treated with traditional medicine. If you get bitten, go to a hospital as soon as possible. Trying to treat the bite yourself will most certainly make it worse. 203.

Boa constrictors are dangerous.

When people think of a constrictor, boas come to mind. However, boas have never caused a single human death. The only constrictors that have caused human deaths are pythons. 204. The animal that kills the most people in the United States is the grizzly bear. Bears kill 128 people in the US per year. Ironically, the United States’ biggest killer animal is the dreaded white-tailed deer. Just to remind you, that is the same deer as Bambi. This deer kills 130 people in the US per year by wandering onto the road and causing car accidents. 205. Lone wolves attack humans. Wolves are pack animals. If a pack animal sees a human, it will run away. 206. Animals can smell your fear. An animal can’t smell whether you’re afraid, but all animals can smell the fear of the same species (including humans.) 207. Moles can’t see because they have no eyes. Moles can see although very poorly. Their eyes can distinguish light but are incapable of seeing shapes. 208. All ducks quack. Only the female duck quacks. There are some species of duck that can’t quack at all and instead grunt or whistle. 209. A duck’s quack doesn’t echo. If that was true (which it isn’t,) who cares? How does this affect your life? I just had to include this because I have an image of a duck in a laboratory with scientists who spent millions of dollars to see if a duck’s quack echoes. How is this for the good of mankind? 210. Buzzing mosquitoes cause malaria. Only the silent mosquitoes cause malaria. 211. Doves and pigeons are different species. A pigeon is a type of dove known as a rock dove.

212. The elephant is the only mammal that can’t jump. An adult elephant can’t jump but a young one can. The only mammals that can’t jump at all are hippos and sloths. 213. Hippos can swim. In spite of the fact that their name means “river horse,” hippos can’t swim. They can hold their breath longer than any other land mammal so they don’t need to learn to swim to survive. 214. The best place to discover a new species is in a jungle. In 1971, a British biologist named Jennifer Owen found over five hundred types of wasp, 15 of which had never been found in the UK before. Four of these insects were completely new species. She didn’t do this in a jungle or in a subterranean cave or at the bottom of the ocean. She discovered these creatures in her garden. If you want to uncover a new animal, you don’t need to go halfway across the globe. Although you may not be able to notice the subtle differences between species, the average garden can have over 4,000 creatures and 250 plants. 215. The most ferocious animal is the lion. The honey badger is the most ferocious animal on Earth. Honey badgers have no fear. That’s not an embellishment They are literally immune to fear. Honey badgers have killed hyenas, crocodiles, bears, lions, tigers, and even humans. They have killed porcupines in spite of being horrendously stung. They’ve penetrated tortoises’ hard shell through pure force. They even attack bees! What kind of animal is so psychotic that it would attack bees?!?!! Honey badgers can kill and eat venomous snakes in 15 minutes. So what is the honey badger’s greatest advantage? How does it win against animals a hundred times its size? Simple. It goes for one body part. The reproductive organs. A honey badger can instantly tell where these organs are on any animal. Once this area has been attacked (or removed,) it doesn’t matter how big an animal is, the honey badger is going to win. 216.

White horses don’t exist.

They are very rare but there are pure white horses (sometimes called dominant whites) in the world. 217. The lion is the king of the jungle. Lions don’t live in the jungle. They reside in Saharan Africa and Asia. 218. The lion is the strongest big cat, The leopard is the strongest big cat pound for pound. Okay, but surely the lion has the strongest bite, right? Bizarrely, the lion has the weakest bite in the big cat family, measuring 600lbs per square inch. The jaguar has the strongest bite of the big cats, measuring 2,000lbs per square inch. 219. Lions are the most efficient hunters in the animal kingdom. Dragonflies are the best hunters with a 97% success rate at catching and killing their prey. Lions are only successful at catching their prey 20% of the time. 220. The lion on the MGM logo at the beginning of movies killed its trainer. There have been multiple lions used for the MGM logo. None of them killed their trainers. 221. Dodos were stupid, fat birds. Many models and drawings of the dodo depict the bird as looking rather chubby. However, this was based on dodos that were kept in cages. A complete dodo skeleton was only discovered in 2007 and reveals that it would’ve had a very thin frame. Also, the main reason why dodos are perceived as being stupid is because it only took 75 years for the bird to become extinct after settlers landed on its homeland of Mauritius in 1598. But CT scans of their skulls reveal that the dodo was as smart as a pigeon. Pigeons can memorize human faces and have some mathematical abilities. It’s easy to assume that the bird went extinct quickly because it tasted delicious. According to Alexander Gordon Melville, who is best known for his comparative anatomical work on the dodo, the bird didn’t taste very nice. Settlers only ate it because it posed no challenge to catch it.

Dodos had no predators on their homeland so they didn’t have any survival skills. 222. Frogs ribbit. There are 4,800 types of frog. One of them ribbits. 223. If you drop a frog in lukewarm water and then gradually raise the temperature of the water until it’s boiling, the frog will not notice and so, will die. This concept became popular after Al Gore used it in his documentary about climate change, An Inconvenient Truth. Gore used this example to show that human beings will stay in a bad situation no matter how terrible it becomes because they get use to it. The Frog in Boiling Water Concept is simply an analogy; it is not meant to be taken literally. 224. Ants are the most common creatures in the world. No, and it’s not flies, spiders, or bees either. There are 500 trillion Antarctic krill on Earth, making it the world’s most abundant animal. That means there are approximately 65,800 of these creatures for every single human. 225. Ants are hard-working. Ants are extremely lazy. 25% of each colony literally do no work. 72% do a moderate bit of work. Only 3% of each colony never stop working. 226. The anglerfish has the biggest size-difference between the male and female. The female deep-sea anglerfish is the size of a basketball. The male is the size of a human’s pinky finger. A male anglerfish is so small that when it mates with the female it is absorbed into her bloodstream. Because this fact appears in many animal encyclopedias, people assume that anglerfish have the biggest difference in size between the male and female. However, that honor belongs to the 6ft 6 blanket octopus, which is 40,000 times larger than the male. In fact, the male is so small that it wasn’t discovered until 2002. 227.

The animal on the Firefox logo is a fox.

The Firefox logo is of a red panda. I guess Fireredpanda doesn’t sound as catchy. 228. Big cats can’t purr. The leopard is the only big cat that can purr. 229. Mice eat cheese. Dr. David Holmes of Manchester Metropolitan University performed a study that showed that mice don’t like cheese. Mice prefer fruit or grain. 230. Dolphins and humans are the only animals that have sex for pleasure. Bonobo apes have sex for fun and to relieve tension in their group. 231. Penguins have the highest tolerance for cold. Weirdly, most penguin species have a body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. That’s less than one degree warmer than a human. Polar bears are a pretty good contender since they can withstand temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius. In fact, they usually overheat during the summer. But the animal with the greatest resistance to cold is the Arctic fox. It doesn’t even shiver until it’s -70 degrees Celsius. 232. Penguins can only live in the cold. The Galapagos penguin is the only penguin that lives in the tropics. 233. The biggest land animal in Antarctica is the polar bear. Polar bears don’t live in Antarctica. If you were smart enough to know that, you would probably guess the answer is the penguin. That’s wrong too. Penguins spend almost all of their time underwater so are not classified as land animals. The largest land animal in Antarctica is the teeny-weeny midge insect. 234. Hyenas are stupid scavengers. Despite The Lion King’s depiction of hyenas as idiotic scavengers, hyenas are the smartest animal on Earth apart from dolphins and humans. Yes, hyenas are even smarter than apes. A study at Duke University showed that hyenas perform better at problem-solving and social co-

operation than chimpanzees. What’s more interesting is that the hyenas performed these problems in silence, using non-verbal signals to communicate. Another inaccuracy in The Lion King is depicting hyenas as scavengers. Though scavenging is not unusual, the majority of the hyenas food comes from prey they have hunted and killed. On the other hand, lions are one of the biggest scavengers in the wild. 235. Hyenas are related to dogs. Hyenas are members of the feliformia family, which means they are more related to cats and mongooses. 236. Scientists perform experiments on mice because they don’t live long so the scientists can see results much faster than in humans. The most important thing to take into account when experimenting on mice is that they age very similarly to humans. A lot of people believe that one dog year equals seven human years. This isn’t an accurate idea. All animals age in different ways. A human is a teenager for 8% of its life. A tortoise is a teenager for 65% of its life. If a boy was extremely ill and he took an experimental drug, it might make him feel better. But when that child becomes a teenager, his hormones and testosterone will dramatically change which can alter how the drug affects his body. If we used this same experimental drug in the same circumstances with a tortoise, scientists might have to wait decades to see what happens. Mice go through the stages of their life (baby, child, teenager, adult) proportionately the same length of time as a human. 237. All scientific experiments performed on mice can be replicated in humans. Just because a medical experiment works perfectly on a mouse doesn’t mean it will have the same effect on a human. Although both species age similarly, our genetics are simply too different. Only 20% of medical experiments on mice can be replicated for humans. 238.

A leopard never changes its spots.

Despite the fact this is a popular phrase, it’s not true. As a leopard matures, its spots change and become more complex. 239. Animals that look similar are genetically linked. A lot of people find it hard to believe that apes are distant cousins of humans even though we have a lot of similarities to apes. However, there are many animals that are distant cousins of each other but bear almost no resemblance. Horseshoe crabs are more related to spiders than lobsters. Wasps are more related to ants than flies. Slow worms are more related to Komodo dragons than snakes. It’s common knowledge that apes and human share a common ancestor, but did you know humans also share a relation with kangaroos? This was 70 million years ago but it is clear our ancestors were one and the same. Not only are some genes identical in kangaroo DNA to human DNA, but they are sequenced in precisely the same order. It works both ways. Some animals look identical but bare no genetic ancestry. This is known as convergent evolution. Sheep and goats are not genetically linked. The two-toed sloth has very little genetic similarities to a three-toed sloth. Some fish have more genetic similarities to mammals than to each other. 240. “Species” is another word for an animal. “Species” and “animals” aren’t the same thing. A species is a class of animals that can have fertile children. If a female tiger mates with a male lion, she will give birth to a liger. If a female lion mates with a male tiger, she will have to a tigon. Tigons and ligers are animals but they aren’t species because they can’t produce fertile cubs. 241. There has been one mass extinction which was caused by an asteroid. There have been five mass extinctions. i) The Permian Period was the insect era. ii) The Triassic Period was the dawn of the dinosaurs. iii) The Cretaceous Period was the beginning of the better-known dinosaurs like the T-Rex or velociraptor. iv) The Jurassic Period was the age of the gigantic dinosaurs like the Brachiosaurus or Apatosaurus.

v) The Holocene Period is the current era. The Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous animals died out due to environmental changes. The Jurassic animals died because of an asteroid strike. The Holocene Period is when species can become extinct because of one animal – us. It probably started when our ancestors wiped out the mammoth. 242. Cockroaches would survive a nuclear holocaust. It’s true that cockroaches can absorb far more radiation than human beings. Humans will die if they are exposed to 1,000 rads. Cockroaches will die if they are exposed to at least 20,000 rads. But a nuclear explosion would expel 200,000 rads so cockroaches would have no chance. The ultimate survivor of a nuclear holocaust would be a tardigrade. A what? Let me explain. 243. Human beings are the most adaptable animals on Earth. Although we are the most intelligent animals, there are a number of events that could wipe us out. Our vast intellect may not be enough to counter meteors, plagues, weather changes, radiation, etc. One animal has survived all of these – the tardigrade. The tardigrade is a half-millimeter sized microorganism. So, what makes the tardigrade so special? It’s the only animal to survive all five mass extinctions. It existed the same time as trilobites hundreds of millions of years ago and it’s still alive today. So how does it survive? To understand why it’s so strong, you need to understand what makes it weak. A tardigrade needs water. Lots of water. If it stops drinking water for a few minutes, it goes into a coma. When the tardigrade is in a coma, it’s practically indestructible. This creature is so hard, you could smash it with a sledgehammer (and scientists have) and it won’t leave a dent. It can withstand boiling heat, a temperature of one degree above absolute zero, pressure six times stronger than that at the bottom of the ocean, meteor strikes, and radioactive fallout. It can even survive the depths of space. Tardigrades have been documented to survive in this state for at least 70 years.

If given a drop of water, this micro-animal will come out of its coma within seconds and revert back to normal.

BOOKS 244. Most fairytales like Cinderella and Snow White were written by The Brothers Grimm. The Brothers Grimm didn’t devise any of the fairytales in their book, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which was originally known as Children’s and Household Tales. The book is simply a collection of old folk stories that originated from Europe. Some of the stories were written hundreds of years before The Brothers Grimm made their own versions. 245. Cinderella’s glass slipper is a mistranslation. The slipper is made of squirrel fur. There has been a theory circulating the Internet that Cinderella’s “glass” slipper is a mistranslation of the word “squirrel.” This theory sounds plausible since Charles Perrault’s version of the story was written in French where fur (vair) and glass (verre) sound similar. However, Perrault’s version isn’t the original Cinderella story. It is simply the most well-known. But in every version, the slipper is glass. 246. Curious George has a tail. Curious George made his first appearance in the book, Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys, which was written by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey. Although the word “Monkeys” is in the title, George doesn’t have a tail, meaning he’s an ape. Although George is supposed to be a monkey, he doesn’t have a tail in any book, animated depiction, or film adaptation. 247. In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver only went to Lilliput. Lilliput was Gulliver’s first stop on his journey. Then he goes to the land of giants, Brobdingnag. Then he travels to the floating island of Laputa. After that, he ventures to Glubbdubdrib, where he meets the ghosts of historical figures. After that, he heads to some place called Japan. His final destination is the Land of the Houyhnhnms, which is populated by talking horses. After that, Gulliver makes his way back home where he goes completely insane, not to anyone’s surprise.

248. The Little Mermaid marries a prince and lives happily ever after. In Hans Christian Anderson’s original version of The Little Mermaid (sometimes known as Daughters of the Air), the prince marries another and the mermaid turns into foam. 249. The Big Bad Wolf eats Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. In the original story, The False Grandmother, the wolf tricks Red Riding Hood into eating her own grandmother. How do you accidentally eat your own grandmother??? 250. Goldilocks was a young girl with blonde hair. Originally, Goldilocks was an old woman with silver hair. The story ends with her breaking her neck trying to run away from the bears. 251. Pinocchio’s best friend is Jiminy Cricket. First off, the Cricket is not called Jiminy. He is simply known as The Talking Cricket. In the Carolo Collodi’s novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio, the titular character beats The Talking Cricket to death with a hammer. It’s probably best that Disney didn’t put that in the movie. 252. Ratty is a rat character in The Wind in the Willows. Ratty is a vole (which is also known as a water rat.) 253. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Witch dies by falling off a cliff. If you thought the Evil Witch’s death was disturbing in the film, it’s much worse in the novel. In the original story, the Evil Witch is forced to dance to death in boiling hot shoes. For some reason, Walt Disney thought that this story should be adapted into a children’s movie. 254. In Sleeping Beauty, Aurora can only be awoken by true love’s kiss. First off, her name is Briar Rose, not Aurora. The original story never stated that Briar Rose could only be awoken by true love’s kiss. Instead, it said Briar Rose would wake from her hundred-year slumber with her lover standing before her.

255. In the story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde is a 10ft cannibal who kills dozens of people. This idea has become popular thanks to the graphic novel and movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In the Robert Louis Stevenson’s original story, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde is 4ft tall and only kills one person. I don’t think a 4ft “monster” would work in a Hollywood movie. But then again, neither did The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Terrible film. Give it a miss. 256. Alice in Wonderland is an allusion to hallucinogenic drugs. The book’s author, Lewis Carroll, insisted that the book has nothing to do with drugs. The story is meant to show the absurdity of mathematics. Mathematics had stayed pretty much the same for millennia. But it was at this time that mathematicians talked about what Carroll considered “absurd math.” This included lettered math (x + y = z,) imaginary numbers, and fractions larger than a whole (10/6ths.) This is why the most insane character, The Hatter (not The Mad Hatter) has a hat whose price tag reads, “10/6.” So, the story was written to show how weird math is. That’s what kids like. 257. Lewis Carroll created the twin characters, Tweedledee and Tweedledum in his book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This is a triple misconception! In almost every film depiction of the story, Tweedledee and Tweedledum are twins. This is never referenced in Lewis Carroll’s book. Also, Lewis Carroll didn’t create the Tweedles. They are nursery rhyme characters and first appeared in stories in 1805. On top of that, the Tweedles don’t appear in Alice Adventures in Wonderland. They debuted in the sequel. 258. The Cheshire Cat originated from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat was first mentioned in literature in the 1788 book, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. It refers to a person who shows all their teeth and gums when they smile.

259. Winnie the Pooh was originally called Winnie the Pooh. When this character first appeared in AA Milne’s 1924 story, When We Were Very Young, he was called Edward the Bear. His name changed in the 1926 story, Winnie-the-Pooh. 260. The Grinch is green. In most depictions of Dr. Seuss’ character, the Grinch has green fur and yellow eyes. In his debut novel, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, he has white fur and red eyes. 261. Sherlock Holmes is depicted accurately in films and television. Although Sherlock and Holmes are usually depicted as middle-aged men in film and television adaptations of Doyle’s work, the characters are in their 20s in the books. In most early depictions of Sherlock, he wears a deerstalker cap and smokes a calabash pipe. These are not a part of the detective’s outfit in the books. Although many people believe Sherlock’s love interest is Irene Adler, she only said one sentence to him in the story, A Scandal in Bohemia. The author described Sherlock as being incapable of romance. Despite the fact that Moriarty is perceived as Sherlock’s nemesis, he only appeared in two of the original sixty stories that Doyle wrote. Doyle admitted that he only created Moriarty to abruptly kill off Sherlock because the author couldn’t think of any more stories. Although Moriarty is seen as one of the most iconic villains in literature, he was created purely out of laziness. The biggest misconception about Sherlock is how he uses the art of deduction to solve cases. Sherlock never uses deduction. He doesn’t even use deduction in the tv shows, Sherlock and Elementary. He only ever uses abductive reasoning to solve crimes. Abductive reasoning is using observation to make guesses and theories. That is the complete opposite of deduction, which uses solid facts. Abductive reasoning is the least likely method to draw accurate conclusions. 262.

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy has ruby shoes.

In the original novel by L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s shoes are silver. They were changed to ruby for the movie as the color looked better onscreen. 263. In the Wizard of Oz novels, the main villain is the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch of the West is the villain in the first story in the Oz series. The main antagonist for the rest of the series is a rock fairy called Roquat the Red. Also, the Wicked Witch of the West looks nothing like the character from the 1939 film. She is extremely short and wears an eyepatch. Despite how she is often depicted in other media, she does not have green skin in the novel. 264. King Louie and Kaa are villains in The Jungle Book. In the original novel, Kaa is a mentor to Mowgli. King Louie is not in the original novel and was created for the Disney film. 265. In The Jungle Book, Mowgli’s name is pronounced “Moe-glee”. According to the writer, Rudyard Kipling, Mowgli is pronounced “MOWglee”. His daughter never forgave Walt Disney for having the name mispronounced in the movie. Sadly, every adaptation of the story has maintained this inaccurate pronunciation. 266. In the Harry Potter books, the Ravenclaw symbol is a raven. According to the Pottermore company, the bird is an eagle. 267. In the first Harry Potter book, the snake that Harry releases from the zoo is Voldemort’s pet, Nagini. The zoo snake is described as a constrictor, which is not venomous. Nagini, on the other hand, is extremely venomous. 268. There are seven horcruxes containing seven pieces of Voldermort’s soul. There are eight horcruxes. i) Professor Quirrel ii) Tom Riddle’s diary

iii) Marvolo’s Gaunt ring iv) Salazar Slytherin’s locket v) Helga Hufflepuff’s cup vi) Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem vii) Nagini the snake viii) Some guy called Harry Potter 269. JK Rowling told a girl that she would have a role in the Harry Potter films if she beat her anorexia. That’s not how casting decisions work. Also, JK Rowling isn’t the casting director. An anorexic girl called Evanna Lynch wrote to JK Rowling about her passion for Harry Potter and also discussed her illness. However, there was never a mention in the letters about Lynch being cast in the movie. Three years later, she beat her illness and got cast in Harry Potter as Luna Lovegood, unbeknownst to Rowling. 270. JK Rowling told Alan Rickman everything about his character, Severus Snape, when he started filming the first movie. Rickman knew there was more to Snape than meets the eye, but he had no idea of his character’s true role in the story until years later. 271. JK Rowling was a poverty-stricken single parent when she wrote Harry Potter. Rowling’s difficult life has been heavily exaggerated to make it sound more tragic. To quote JK Rowling herself, “I was working full time as I did for my entire adult life, and I was not a single parent. I finished the book under those conditions. But it obviously does make a better story. It sounds more like a rags-to-riches tale.” 272. Classic novels have always been perceived as classics. It won’t surprise you that there are some incredible novels that weren’t liked upon their release. Lolita was considered too taboo, Heart of Darkness was deemed racist due to its ethnic slurs, and Animal Farm couldn’t get published because writers thought the author, George Orwell, was too harsh on Communism and…wait, what? This isn’t an exaggeration. Even renowned poet, TS Eliot, told Orwell to tone down the Communist analogy since it was too harsh on

Joseph Stalin. This didn’t happen early in Orwell’s career. He was already a respected author when his publisher refused to publish this book. This would be like every studio turning down Steven Spielberg while he was in his prime. 273. Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, was loved upon its release. Moby Dick was dismissed as a “catastrophe” according to the London Athenaeum. One Methodist publication said it was “unfit for general circulation.” Moby Dick did even worse in America as the New York United States Magazine and Democratic ripped apart Melville himself, saying “his vanity has destroyed all his chances for immortality, or even of a good name” and “Mr. Melville’s vanity is immeasurable.” Bad reviews led to the book only selling 3,715 copies. His other mostly-forgotten books, Typee and Omoo, sold over 13,000 each. The saddest thing is that when Melville died, only one newspaper mentioned it. He was referred to as a “long-forgotten author” and he was mistakenly called “Henry.” 274. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, was loved in its time. 20 publishers rejected the book due to its “excessive violence and bad language.” It sold under 3,000 copies and went out of print in the 1950s. It took years before it was seen as a classic and assigned for study in classrooms throughout the US. Golding went on to become a Nobel Prize Laureate and a knight. 275. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, was loved by critics when it was released. Critics hated this book so much that The Saturday Review said the author “deserves a good shaking” and the novel “is an absurd story.” It was also called “a bewildering and tawdry performance.” The book sold very poorly during Fitzgerald’s lifetime and didn’t gain its reputation as a classic until after Fitzgerald’s death.

276. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote many great novels, especially The Great Gatsby. F. Scott heavily based characters on his wife, Zelda, in his stories. That may not sound like a big deal. Authors base characters on real people all of the time. However, F. Scott didn’t just incorporate Zelda’s private life into his stories. He took lines from her love letters and diaries word-for-word and put them in his novels without telling her. I am not saying that she should get the credit but her biographer, Kendall Taylor, has reviewed all of F. Scott’s work and concluded that so much of it stems from Zelda that she should at least be considered a coauthor. 277. JRR Tolkien’s novel, The Lord of the Rings, was loved when it was released. Tolkien wrote the children’s story, The Hobbit, in 1937. It was an instant hit with kids and so, readers couldn’t wait for a sequel. But they had no choice to wait since The Lord of the Rings wasn’t released until 1954. When the Hobbit fans and critics read it, they were… very disappointed. The Hobbit was a 300-page story about a group of dwarves who went on a journey to defeat a dragon. Readers found the 1000-page sequel confusing and unnecessarily convoluted. In the third part, The Return of the King, several chapters are not in chronological order… but the book doesn’t tell you that until much later. Readers found this narrative very difficult to follow. The New York Times said the book was the “death of literature itself.” Even Tolkien’s friends hated it and begged him to stop when he read it to them. 278. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf leaves Bilbo’s ring with Frodo for several months before he learns that it is the One Ring. In the film, Gandalf is suspicious of Bilbo’s ring so he leaves the Shire to research it. He returns several months later to inform Frodo that it is the One Ring. In the book, Gandalf doesn’t leave for several months. He leaves for 17 years! 279.

The Lord of the Rings is an allegory to World War II.

It’s easy to draw this conclusion since the author, JRR Tolkien, was a solider and the book came out several years after WWII ended. However, Tolkien started writing The Lord of the Rings in 1936, which was three years before WWII. Also, Tolkien fought in WWI, not WWII. Tolkien was so annoyed by this misconception, he clarified it in a new foreword for the book, stating that the story had nothing to do with World War II. Tolkien further stated that the book is about humanity’s obsession with cheating death. 280. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was an instant classic. Brave New World was universally panned upon its release. Even HG Wells said that Huxley “has no right to betray the future as he did in that book.” It’s strange that Wells found the book so depressing considering he wrote War of the Worlds, in which aliens blow up countless cities. Ironically, it was Wells’ work that inspired Huxley to become an author. 281. HP Lovecraft was an incredibly famous author in his lifetime. Howard Philips Lovecraft is legendary for his dark fantasy stories, especially his Cthulhu Mythos. His work inspired writers like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, William S. Burroughs, Clive Barker, and film directors like John Carpenter and Guillermo Del Toro. Despite his legacy, he died at 46 without a penny to his name. Although he wrote nearly 70 stories, they only appeared in pulp magazines while he was alive. 282. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was an instant classic. During The Great Depression in the 1920s, many down-on-their-luck Average-Joes went to the movie theatre or read a book to forget their troubles. The last thing people wanted was a story that showed just how soul-crushing it was to be poor during the Depression. When The Grapes of Wrath was released in 1929, it was seen as “a pack of lies,” and was censored and banned throughout the US. It was even burned in Steinbeck’s hometown and he was accused of being a Communist. Not only did it become a classic novel but it was also made into an Oscar-winning film in 1940. It is still considered to be one of the greatest movies in history. 283. James Bond is a secret agent who always drinks a vodka martini shaken, not stirred.

A British agent is an informant. Informants don’t get to engage in shooting assassins or fighting sumo wrestlers like Bond. What James Bond does in the books and films would make him an Intelligence Officer. In the novels, Bond consumes whiskey more than any other drink. He drinks triple whiskey 101 times in the novels. 284. The Wooden Horse of Troy is first mentioned in Homer’s epic, The Iliad. The Iliad concludes before the Wooden Horse invades Troy. The Wooden Horse is discussed in hindsight in the sequel, The Odyssey. It is elaborated on in more depth in Virgil’s book, The Aeneid. 285. Tarzan says, “Me Tarzan, you Jane.” in the original novel. Although this is the most popular line from the Tarzan films, he never says it in the original 1912 novel, Tarzan of the Apes. 286. In the Tarzan novels, the titular character was raised by gorillas. Tarzan was raised by a fictional ape species called a mangani. These apes were larger than gorillas and had the ability to speak. 287. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the ship plunges 20,000 leagues. 20,000 leagues is six times wider than the diameter of Earth. The deepest anyone travels in this book is ten miles. Ten Miles Under the Sea didn’t exactly have a good ring to it though. The ship travels 20,000 leagues in distance, not depth. 288. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the crew battle a Giant Squid. In the novel, the crew battle giant octopi. Now you might think – Squid? Octopus? Who cares? I do. I care. 289. Waiting for Godot is about God. Samuel Beckett wrote this play in French when he had been living in France for years. “God” is “dieu” in French and so, Beckett never thought the name “Godot” would be mistaken for “God”.

290. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampires can be killed by sunlight or a stake to the heart. There is no mention of sunlight weakening or killing vampires in the original Dracula novel. In fact, there are eight references to Dracula chilling out during the daytime. There is also no reference to killing a vampire with a stake to the heart. In the novel, Dracula is killed by good old-fashioned decapitation. 291. Dracula is based on Vlad The Impaler Historians assumed Dracula was based on Vlad The Impaler until Stoker’s research notes revealed that he concocted the character after having a nightmare about a blood-sucking creature. These notes can be found in Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum & Library. 292. The film, Frankenstein is faithful to the book it’s based on. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Monster is an 8ft-tall monster with muscles protruding from his yellow skin. Although the Monster is often depicted with a square forehead and bolts on his neck, these were invented for the film. In the film, the Monster can only communicate by grunting. In the novel, he teaches himself to speak by reading Paradise Lost. Over time, he becomes extremely intelligent and talks about myths, religion, and philosophy. Although the Monster is brought to life in the film by being struck by lightning, the novel never explains how the Monster came to be. If you ask anyone to impersonate Frankenstein’s Monster, they will most certainly outstretch their hands. The Monster never does this in the original movie. He only does this in the 1943 sequel, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, after he is rendered blind. The titular character in the film is called Henry Frankenstein instead of Victor Frankenstein. Although Frankenstein is proud of his creation in the film, he rejects the Monster in the novel. Many people believe Frankenstein has a hunchbacked assistant called Igor. This isn’t true in the film… or the book! In the novel, there is no assistant. In the movie, the assistant is a normal looking man called Fritz.

Igor (spelt “Ygor”) appears in the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein. He’s played by Bela Legosi, who is most famous for playing the titular character in the 1931 film, Dracula. 293. Writers can’t maintain an income if they self-publish their books. Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, Beatrix Potter, DH Laurence, James Joyce, and Alexander Pope self-published their books and created incredible works like Peter Rabbit, Ulysses, and Huckleberry Finn. Even the poet, William Blake, made his own ink, hand-printed his own pages, and got his wife to sew on the covers. Thanks to eBooks, self-publishing books is more profitable than ever and it’s easier to maintain an income.

COMICS 294. Superman first appears in Action Comics #1, which was published in June 1938. Even the biggest Superman fans may not know this. Jerry Seigel created Superman in Reign of the Superman in 1933. In this story, Superman was a bald, telekinetic villain with a purple costume and a gold cape. It’s a different character with the same name, but technically it was Superman’s first appearance. 295. The first comic book superhero was Superman. The Phantom debut in a comic strip in 1936, making him the first superhero. Although Superman appeared in 1933, he wasn’t depicted as a hero until 1938. 296. Superman has always been able to fly at the speed of light. In Action Comics #1 in 1938, Superman could jump 1/8th of a mile high. He couldn’t fly until years later. Although Superman can travel at the speed of light, he could only run as fast as a speeding locomotive in his debut. 297. Comic books are always about superheroes. Believing that all comic books are about superheroes is like saying that all movies are about Transformers. Transformers is well-known because it is a billion-dollar franchise but there are countless other films. Comics are exactly the same. Superhero comics are by far the most successful, especially nowadays thanks to the success of comic book movies. However, there are thousands of comics about romance, noir, crime, comedy, horror, etc. Films like Oldboy, The Matrix, A History of Violence, Ghost World, 30 Days of Night, and Road to Perdition are based on comic books. 298. Autographed comic books are worth a fortune. If anyone writes on a comic book, (including the original writer,) its price will drastically go down.

Lou Ferringo (who played the titular character in The Incredible Hulk tv series in the 1970s) met Stan Lee, who created Spiderman, the XMen, the Hulk, and hundreds of other characters. Ferringo asked Lee to sign his issue of The Incredible Hulk #1 which was worth about $125,000. Since Stan Lee wrote on it, it’s not worth much now. Many people ask comic book writers to autograph their comic books not realizing that they might be losing thousands of dollars. 299. Originally, Bruce Banner turned into a green Hulk when he got angry. Bruce Banner used to turn into a grey Hulk at night-time. Grey was a color that aged badly in comics and deteriorated into a smudgy green. To counter this, Marvel Comics made the Hulk turn green several months later. 300. Stan Lee created every iconic Marvel character. Although Stan Lee created over 600 comic book characters, he gets credit for characters he played no part in devising. i) Wolverine was created by Len Wein and John Romita Sr. ii) Captain America was devised by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. iii) Although Stan Lee coined the name “The Punisher,” the character was created by Gerry Conway and John Romita Sr. iv) Deadpool was the brainchild of Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. v) Although Gary Friedrich, Roy Thomas, and Mike Ploog believe they are solely responsible for creating Ghost Rider, we know for certain that Stan Lee played no part. vi) Apocalypse was conceived by Louise Simonson and Jackson Guice. vii) Thanos was made by Jim Starlin. viii) Jessica Jones was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. ix) Elektra was created by Frank Miller. x) Not only did Stan Lee not devise the Guardians of the Galaxy, he barely heard of any of the characters until the film was announced. Rocket was the creation of Bill Mantlo. Drax and Gamora were created by Jim Starlin. Star-Lord was the creation of Steve Englehart and Steve Gan. Although Stan Lee

created Groot, the tree-like alien had none of the characteristics that the character is known for now. Stan Lee’s version was gigantic evil monster who could speak. The barely verbal Groot that we are familiar with today was devised by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in 2006. 301. Batman was created by Bob Kane. For decades, Kane was credited as the sole creator of Batman. Even today, Kane’s name is on Batman films, movies, and comic books. But Kane never created Batman. Kane’s partner, Bill Finger, concocted the legendary superhero. Finger invented Batman’s tragic backstory, his villains, the city of Gotham, the costume, Commissioner Gordon, the Batmobile, Robin, the idea of having a superhero with no powers, his gadgets, and his nickname, The Dark Knight. Kane considered calling the character Birdman (which is weird because Michael Keaton has played both characters). The only part of Batman that Kane created was that the Bat-suit has wings. That’s it. The suit itself was red until Finger made it dark. Because Finger was such a bad businessman, he never profited from his creations and Kane hogged all the credit for decades. Finger died in poverty and most of the world’s biggest Batman fans have never heard of him.

DINOSAURS 302. Dinosaurs looked scaly. Some dinosaurs had feathers over their scales, including the T-Rex and the velociraptor. I have ruined Jurassic Park forever. 303. Dinosaurs appeared 600 million years ago. Dinosaurs aren’t as old as we originally thought. Archeologists used to believe that dinosaurs were 600 million years old but recent studies show that they first appeared 231.4 million years old. 304. Dinosaurs were reptiles. Dinosaurs can’t be classified as reptiles because they weren’t cold-blooded. Weirdly, they were not warm-blooded either. Dinosaurs could adjust their temperature depending on the terrain they were in. 305. Flying dinosaurs were called pterodactyls. “Pterodactyl” is a word people use when they mean “flying dinosaur” but experts never used this term. When you think of the word “Pterodactyl,” the image in your mind is of a pterosaur. There were many species of pterosaurs but the most well-known is the Pteranodon. This reptile appears in Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World, and The Good Dinosaur. Also, pterosaurs were reptiles, not dinosaurs. 306. All dinosaurs lived together at the same time. The stegosaurus existed between 155-150 million years ago. The T-Rex existed between 68-66 million years ago. This means that modern society is closer in time to the T-Rex than it is to the stegosaurus by at least 17 million years. 307. Dinosaurs lived in the sea. All dinosaurs lived on land. The most famous sea beast in the dinosauric era was the plesiosaurus. Although it was a reptile, it was not a dinosaur. 308.

Dinosaurs were savage beasts.

The majority of dinosaurs only ate plants. 309. There is a dinosaur that shot an ink-like substance at its prey. Anyone who has seen Jurassic Park will remember the dilophosaurus; the dinosaur with the sprouting mane that spews an inky goo. The mane and ink were invented for the movie. 310. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was the largest and fiercest dinosaur. The Gigantosaurus and the Acrocanthosaurus were bigger and fiercer versions of the Tyrannosaur. The T-Rex wasn’t even that big. There were 15 dinosaurs larger than the T-Rex. Many sources state that the T-Rex had the strongest bite in the history of the animal kingdom but that is also untrue. That honor belongs to a crocodile-like creature called the Purussaurus. This eight-ton beast was the length of a school bus and had a bite force of seven metric tons. 311. Velociraptors look like how they are depicted in Jurassic Park. The “velociraptors” in the film resemble Utahraptors. Velociraptors were only 1ft tall and covered in feathers so they looked more like an angry chicken. 312. The triceratops was a dinosaur. The triceratops never existed. What we believed to be a triceratops was a teenage torosaurus. Paleontologists thought the triceratops was a different species because the head of a torosaurus looks drastically different before it reaches puberty. 313. The T-Rex could only see its prey when it was moving. “Their vision is based on movement” is a great line in Jurassic Park but it’s untrue. T-Rexes had exceptional eyesight. 314. The T-Rex had small arms. The T-Rex’s 3ft arms seem small compared to its 18ft body but they were strong enough to lift 430lbs. The maximum a human could bicep curl with one hand is 260lbs. Get that T-Rex a gym membership. 315.

There are complete T-Rex fossils in museums.

Despite the fact that the T-Rex is the most famous dinosaur, not a single complete T-Rex skeleton has ever been found. 316. “Dinosaur” means “terrible lizard.” Richard Owen coined the term “dinosaur” in 1842. He said it meant “fearfully great lizard” but people simplified it over time. 317. Dinosaurs had two brains. A sauropod is a long-neck dinosaur. The Apatosaurus and the brachiosaurus are the most famous type of sauropods. Some sauropods were so immense, it was theorized that they couldn’t have only one brain transmitting signals and impulses as it would take too long to travel through the body. It was believed that sauropods might have a second brain in their gut. This theory has never been taken seriously nor has there ever been any evidence to suggest it’s true. Nevertheless, some people believe it. It was even referenced in the movie, Pacific Rim. 318. The most common sauropod was the Apatosaurus. The Apatosaurus is iconic since it is the first dinosaur seen in the film, Jurassic Park. Despite how well-known the Apatosaurus is, archeologists have found more Titanosaurus remains than any other long-necked dinosaur. Historians believes that the Titanosaurus was the most common sauropod during the Jurassic period. 319. Mammals evolved after the dinosaurs died out. Mammals lived before, during, and after the dinosauric ages. 320. The first dinosaur discovered was a T-Rex. Some sources say it was the Iguanodon (which is the dinosaur that Godzilla is based on) but that is also untrue. The first dinosaur discovered was a Megalosaurus. 321. Mankind will eventually clone a dinosaur. DNA has a half-life of 521 years. After that time, 50% of its chemical bonds will have withered away. DNA would be unreadable after 1.5 million years and there would be nothing left of dinosaur DNA after 6.8 million years. With the most recent dinosaurs dying out 65 million years ago, there is no theory as to how dinosaurs could ever come back to life.

322. We know what dinosaurs looked like. A lot of depictions of dinosaurs is guesswork. Gideon Mantell thought the Iguanodon’s thumb was its nose. It took 40 years before this was corrected. There are other factors that complicate this further. If every dinosaur had a trunk like an elephant, we wouldn’t know. There are no bones in a trunk so there would be no evidence in the fossils to tell us this. Only in 2016 did Dr. Jakob Vinther discover that some dinosaurs such as the Psittacosaurus had beaks. What you see in museums is archeologists’ best guess of what dinosaurs may have looked like.

DISNEY 323. Walt Disney’s first animated character was Mickey Mouse. Walt created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Trolley Troubles on September 5th 1927. It was successful at first but he lost the rights to Universal Studios. 324. Walt Disney is cryogenically frozen. Although this is a conspiracy theory but I have to include it because I have heard it so many times over the past decade. Walt was obsessed with the idea of cryogenesis. However, he was cremated when he died in 1966 from lung cancer. 325. The Disney film, Fantasia, concludes with a scene with The Devil. The dark creature at the end of the movie is the Slavic Black God, Czernobog. Remember… this Disney movie was made for children. 326. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in the 1928 short, Steamboat Willie. Mickey Mouse was created by Ub Iwerks. Although he is considered a cocreator, Walt stated Ub created the famous Disney character. Ub even animated Mickey Mouse’s first official cartoon, Steamboat Willie. Ub was forgotten because he was simply too shy to promote himself. I say that Steamboat Willie was Mickey Mouse’s official debut because the character first appeared in Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho several months prior. These animated shorts didn’t do well because Mickey came across as a jerk rather than the lovable character we know him as today. Disney heavily revised the character for Steamboat Willie and Mickey’s legacy was born. 327. The prince in Cinderella is called Charming. There is no Prince Charming in any of the classical Disney films. The prince in the animated Cinderella film is unnamed. 328.

All of Disney’s classic movies were successful.

Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, Sword in the Stone, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and Bambi were flops. All of these movies are successes now because of sales and rentals with videos and DVDs, but it took decades for Disney’s films to become successful. Most of Disney’s films were hit-and-miss. If Walt Disney had two commercial failures in a row, it is likely his career would’ve ended, as he was fighting bankruptcy in his early career. 329. The Disney logo is Walt Disney’s signature. The Disney logo is just that. A logo. It looks pretty though. 330. Walt Disney’s face can be seen in The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. There is a face in The Haunted Mansion that resembles Disney but this was never intended. The face belongs to Thurl Ravenscroft, who voiced the cereal mascot, Tony the Tiger. 331. Disney named Mickey Mouse after the actor, Mickey Rooney. Mickey Rooney started this rumor. However, this is a double misconception since Disney never came up with the name Mickey. His wife did. Originally, Disney wanted to call the character, Mortimer.

DRUGS 332. You can test drugs by tasting them. When police officers in a crime drama find suspicious white powder, they usually taste it. After all, a cop needs to verify if the substance is a drug. Cocaine and heroin can look almost indistinguishable from something as innocuous as baking powder. However, these drugs can also look identical to crushed-up cyanide. If you have a little bit of cyanide, you’ll be dead in seconds. Also, putting potentially lethal powder in your mouth sounds as stupid as putting your hand on a fire. Any suspicious substances at a crime scene will be tested in a forensic lab. 333. Meth can be blue as has been depicted in the television show, Breaking Bad. Meth’s chemical disposition limits its coloring. Changing its color has an adverse effect on its potency. The creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, decided to make the meth blue so it stood out more on posters. 334. You can overdose on weed. You can overdose on marijuana if you smoke 500 joints in a row. It’s more feasible to overdose on coffee. 335. Drug addicts can’t function in real life. There are some addicts who are so consumed by their addiction that they will blow all their money on heroin. There are other addicts who need to maintain their addiction so badly that they find a balance in their lives, because they want to keep feeding their addictions in the long run. This means that they could have consistent jobs, friends, a stable relationship, and children. These people are called functioning addicts. They can keep this up for years, sometimes decades. You would be astonished at who these functioning addicts may be. They could be the last person you would ever suspect.

336. Drug addicts look like they take drugs. Drug addicts and dealers will do everything in their power to avoid looking suspicious. Drug dealers aren’t necessarily sleazy, vicious, alpha-male gangsters. In this day and age, teenagers can become drug dealers. They may not succumb to this lifestyle for obvious reasons like poverty or desperation. It can be for reasons as petty as popularity, peer pressure, boredom, or extra cash. You might think that drug addicts will look scrawny and scabby. This can happen but society tends to believe that this is what all addicts look like because the media uses this image as a scare tactic to show the damage methamphetamines can cause. 337. Crack is a heavily addictive drug. According to neuropsychopharmacologist, Carl Hart, “only 10-20% of crack cocaine users become addicted.” The National Survey on Drug Use and Health stated that only 3% of Americans who have taken crack at some point in their lives had smoked it in the last month. 338. Narcotics only refer to the worst kind of drugs like cocaine and LSD. When police say “narcotics,” they mean “illegal drugs.” In medical terms, a narcotic is an opium derivative which is any drug that relieves pain and is likely to cause unconsciousness. Some narcotics aren’t illegal. Hospitals use narcotics like codeine or morphine to treat their patients. So, if you have ever had major surgery, you have technically taken narcotics. Well done. 339. You can test if someone has taken drugs by examining their urine. In this day and age, urine tests are still not foolproof. Food, allergy medication, medicine, antidepressants, and antibiotics can trigger a positive result in a drug test. Sadly, it works both ways. There are many drugs that don’t come across as a positive in a drug test. Lance Armstrong got away with it for over a decade. 340. If you have taken LSD seven times, you are considered legally insane.

Although this has been speculated since the 1980s, being considered insane due to excessive LSD usage is not legally binding. 341. Cocaine and heroin are the most common drugs in the US to overdose on. More Americans overdose on prescription painkillers than heroin and cocaine combined. 342. Marijuana is legal in Jamaica. Although the nation is known for its ganja, doing drugs has been illegal in Jamaica since 2015. 343. Marijuana is a huge problem in The Netherlands. You are only permitted to sell 5g of pot in The Netherlands. You are legally allowed to possess far more in Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Norway, Peru, France, Italy, America, and Canada. These countries consume far more marijuana than The Netherlands. 344. Drugs can create holes in the brain. Excessive drug addiction can cause irreversible effects to the mind but it can’t create a hole in the brain. 345. Stockbroking is the profession with the most drug users. Nope. It’s not athletes, artists, musicians, or actors either. It’s not even drugdealers. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, the most common drug users are restaurant workers and construction workers.

EXERCISE 346. If you do hundreds of sit-ups every day, you will develop a sixpack. Sit-ups don’t make your abs bigger or make you lose belly fat; they make your abs stronger. There’s no point doing sit-ups unless you already have a six-pack. You would need to do 22,000 crunches to lose one pound of belly fat. 347. Supplements make you muscular twice as fast. To quote bodybuilder, Mike Chang, “People think that supplements give you like a 200% boost in muscles or recovery or strength or energy or whatever but it’s more like 10%.” Supplements do help but they are not as effective as many people assume. 348. When you see a bodybuilder’s veins bulging, it means he’s super strong. At bodybuilding tournaments like Mr. Universe, the contestants are incredibly weak. Before the competition, they will Workout to Failure. This means that they have to lift weights until it is impossible for them to lift any more. This puts so much strain on their muscles that they go into an intense recovery mode that lasts for over a week. Their muscles will tighten so they will look bigger. In this state, bodybuilders wouldn’t be able to do the most basic exercises without experiencing intense pain. During tournaments, the bodybuilding contestants don’t drink water for two days. Dehydration tightens their muscles, making their veins bulge out and gives the muscles more definition. Even though the bodybuilders look super strong in these contests, they are prone to dizziness, disorientation, migraines, fainting, and vomiting. 349. If you want to lose weight, you should eat low-fat food. Documentary maker Michael Moore lost 50lbs by eating food that wasn’t labelled as “100% fat-free.” Almost every diet version of food has less fat

but more sugar than the original product. That sugar will turn into fat once you eat it. Ranch salad dressing has 16g of sugar. Light ranch, which is supposedly the “healthier” version, has 32g of sugar. Less fat, double sugar. Also, a lot of fat-free food remove the good fat. Reduced-fat peanut butter removes monounsaturated fats and replaces them with corn starch and sugar to maintain its texture. If you are going to eat mayonnaise or peanut butter or ketchup, just eat the normal version. Any other version will not taste as nice and will make you put on more weight. 350. The BMI (Body Mass Index) is accurate in telling if a person is overweight. The BMI’s only applicable if the person is incredibly underweight or overweight. You don’t need the BMI for that because your eyes can easily tell if a person is malnourished or not. A mathematician called Adolph Quetelet created the BMI in a social physics class. He was not a doctor or a dietician. Furthermore, are you going to trust a guy called Adolph? 351. If you work out, you can have a body like a professional bodybuilder. There are three body types: i) Ectomorph - prone to skinny ii) Endomorph - prone to fat iii) Mesomorph - prone to muscle If you are mesomorphic, you may never exercise and it’s likely you will be more muscular than someone who’s an endomorph or ectomorph who works out intensely and eats perfectly. Unless you have the right genetics, you can never have the build of a body-builder unless you take anabolic steroids. Although you can get into excellent shape with an intense workout and a healthy diet, your genes are set. You can’t change the structure of your body. 352. Only body-builders take steroids. Dianabol is a popular steroid. If Person A took a hundred Dianabol tablets and Person B took a hundred Valium tablets, Person B would die. This is

because Valium is a more powerful steroid than Dianabol. A steroid by definition is not a pill that makes you pile on muscle. A steroid is a chemical that dramatically accelerates cell growth. Although steroids are used to increase the size of one’s muscles, it has other functions. Nasal sprays and birth control pills are based on steroids. We all take steroids, even if we don’t realize it. 353. To become muscular, you should eat lots of protein and avoid fats and carbohydrates. The daily diet of an average-built person should consist of 20% protein. A body builder’s daily diet should also consist of 20% protein. You can’t neglect the other food groups. You can’t trick your genetics. You have evolved to require a balanced amount of fat and carbs to function. If you want to build muscle, those food groups are just as important in your diet as protein. Also, eating an excessive amount of protein won’t make you pile on muscle. If Person A ate 100g of protein and Person B ate 100g of protein and a reasonable amount of carbohydrates and fat, Person B would have more energy and put on more muscle. Carbs give you energy and fat break down the protein in your body. Protein will help build your muscles more efficiently if you also have a balanced amount of fat and carbs in your daily diet. An average man should eat 45g of protein per day. If you exercise intensely, you can eat double that. You can overdose on protein (although it is difficult.) If you have too much protein, your body will start storing it as fat! 354. You need to burn a few hundred calories to lose weight. You would need to burn 3,490 calories to lose one pound of fat. 355. If you work out all of the time, you will put on muscle much faster than normal. Intense workouts damage your muscles. You need to give them time to recuperate. You also burn a lot of calories while you sleep. If you keep working on the same muscles when they are trying to heal, you will lose muscle.

356. An overweight person has a slow metabolism. The bigger you are, the faster your metabolism is. It is true that a muscular 200-pound weightlifter has a metabolism faster than a 200lb overweight person, but not by much. If you have a red blood cell in your arm and it goes around your entire body, it takes a minute for it to get back to where it started. If you were a much bigger person, do you know how long it would take? A minute. Your body has evolved so that is how long your blood cells take to circulate in order for you to function. If you are overweight, your body has to work harder, burning more calories and speeding up your metabolism. So if an overweight person burns more calories than an average-sized person, why don’t they lose weight? When you burn calories, you get hungry. Overweight people don’t eat more because they are greedy or have no willpower. They eat because their hunger pangs are stronger and more frequent. 357. If you starve yourself, you will lose fat. If you starve, you will lose a little bit of fat and a lot of muscle. If you starve, you’ll lose weight but you will have more fat in your body proportionately. 358. If you stop exercising, your muscles turn to fat. Fat and muscle are made of two different chemical compounds. Saying muscles can turn into fat is like saying a chair can turn into a donkey. Your muscles will shrink if you stop exercising and your fat percentage may increase if you can’t burn it off but one will not switch to the other. 359. A muscular person is the epitome of fitness. Some of the most muscular people I have ever met have never been inside a gym. They may drink, smoke, and eat bad food but they have the physique that most people dream of. Why? The majority of muscular people can thank their genetics for their body rather than working out. When you want to build your muscles, don’t just copy what a muscular person says. What that person does may suit his or her genetics.

You may hurt yourself if you attempt to emulate their techniques. Do research, try different things, and then learn what suits you. 360. If you exercise before you go to bed, you won’t be able to sleep. You will be sleep after a workout because you will be exhausted. Researchers have stated that exercising in the morning is best but no evidence has shown that working out in the evening will damage your sleep pattern. 361. Diets work. A day will never come where we find a Perfect Diet. Your body will adapt to any diet because evolution has made the body exceptionally good at storing fat. You can’t trick your body in the long run with fad diets. Eat 2,000 calories a day. Have a balanced amount of carbs, fats, and proteins. Exercise. Get a good amount of sleep. That’s it. That is the greatest way to stay in shape. Diets are short-term solutions that your body will eventually get used to. Most diets will make you run the risk of injuring yourself or getting ill. Instead of dieting, make life choices. Decide what foods need to be in your daily routine and what foods you need to do without. 362. The more you sweat when you exercise, the more fat you lose. Sweat and fat loss are not connected. If you sweat profusely when you exercise, you will become dehydrated. Make sure you drink plenty of water if you want to lose fat. 363. Muscular people are strong. Big muscles don’t mean strong muscles. Likewise, small muscles don’t mean weak muscles. One of my friends is incredibly muscular but he can’t do two push-ups! A person can naturally have big muscles but that doesn’t necessarily mean he or she will be strong. 364. Cardio burns more calories than weight training. You may burn more calories in cardio than weight training but you continue to burn calories after you finish weight training. This is called the AfterBurn Effect. The AfterBurn technique makes you continue to burn calories 48 hours after you finish your exercise. You can be sitting at work

while your body is burning calories. If you want to desperately burn calories, go for weight training. 365. Calorie counters on exercise machines are accurate. Some cardiovascular machines like treadmills claim to count the calories you’ve burned. So, if you ran on a treadmill for an hour, the machine may say that you have burned 200 calories. How does that work? Depending on your size, age, gender, and genetics, you could burn 2,000 calories per day or 5,000 calories per day. Calorie counters might give you an extra incentive to burn that last ten calories but they’re not very accurate. 366. If you work on one muscle group, that muscle group will grow faster. When you do a bicep curl, you are not just working your bicep. You are working your triceps, your shoulders, your back, and your abs. All of your muscles are connected and linked to one another. If you try to focus on certain muscles you will still be using other muscles throughout your body. If you want a six-pack, you will get better results working on your stomach, your chest, your shoulders, your arms, and your legs rather than working on just your abs every day. 367. Vitamin tablets work. Water-soluble vitamins like B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid can’t be stored in your body’s fat reserve for the same reason that water and oil don’t mix. Once you exceed the daily-required amount, they will be expelled in your urine. 368. You should rest if you pull a muscle. Rest can be the worst thing you can possibly do if you injure a muscle. Each type of injury varies so it’s best to ask a physiotherapist or doctor. For some muscle injuries, you need to rest as much as possible. For other muscle injuries, you will need to stay active to prevent the muscle from seizing up. In this state, your body will scream for you to relax but you can’t. You obviously shouldn’t do anything overly strenuous after you pull a muscle but don’t rest for the whole day. A bit of walking every half an hour can make you heal much faster.

369. Stretching prevents injury. Thank God I was too impatient to stretch before exercising, because it is proven to reduce stamina and strength by 2%. That’s not a lot but it can make a difference in an important match or sports event. A quick warm-up is much more effective than static stretching. 370. Olympic athletes have a perfect diet to keep fit. At the 2012 Olympics, Usain Bolt ate a hundred chicken nuggets per day during his training. Shot putter, Dylan Armstrong, needed up to 9,000 calories per day. Michael Phelps’ swimming partner, Ryan Lochte, ate almost 12,000 calories a day before a race A lot of Olympic swimmers and runners will eat over 10,000 calories a day. These athletes are not necessarily trying to eat healthy food. They just need to consume as many calories as possible to burn off during their training. 371. Creatine is a steroid that makes your muscles bigger. Creatine’s purpose is to help your body retain water. This can stop you sweating which means you won’t get as exhausted when you exercise, which can help you have a better workout and therefore put on more muscle. Creatine doesn’t do anything directly to your muscles. A lot of people who take creatine believe they are getting muscular because they look bigger but that apparent increase in size is excess water, not muscle.

FOOD AND DRINK 372. French fries are from France. French fries were created in Belgium in 1680 back when the country was known as the Spanish-Netherlands. The name is derived from the word “Frenching,” which means “to cut into thin strips.” 373. Croissants are from France. The original croissant, the kipferl, has been documented in Austria in the 13th century. 374. Apples originate from the United States. All of the apples in the world can be traced back to two trees in Kazakhstan. 375. Jack O’ Lanterns were originally carved onto pumpkins. Although this is common practice during Halloween, turnips were originally used for Jack O’ Lanterns, not pumpkins. 376. Bananas grow on trees. Bananas grow on herbs, not trees. Also, real bananas look nothing like modern ones. Did you ever wonder why a banana is such an easy food to peel open? It’s like it was designed just for us. It was. Our hands don’t just happen to peel off a banana skin conveniently. Science has made that convenient. (Although most people open bananas the wrong way. You are meant to hold it upside down, pinch the top, and the banana skin will burst open. Even monkeys do that right.) Papua New Guineans “domesticated” the banana 8,000 years ago, gradually changing its structure and characteristics to make it easy to eat. Some areas never had a chance to change the banana so we can observe what a “wild banana” looks like. Real bananas are three times smaller, straight, and filled with hundreds of seeds making them difficult to eat. Most importantly, they taste awful. Bananas are berries that grow from a banana seed from the ground. Speaking of berries…

377. Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are berries. A berry is a fruit produced from the ovary of a single flower where the wall of the ovary becomes edible. Gooseberries and blueberries are berries. However, a strawberry isn’t. It’s an aggregate accessory fruit, which means it is produced from several ovaries. Raspberries are perennial fruit. Blackberries are bramble fruit. However, watermelons, pineapples, and avocados are berries. 378. Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, coconuts, peanuts, and walnuts are nuts. Brazil nuts are seeds. Cashews are sprouts. Coconuts are drupes. Peanuts are beans. Walnuts are… fruit? Are we even trying to name food anymore!??? Why don’t we just call coffee a fruit!?!?! 379. Coffee is made from beans. Coffee comes from seeds… which means that coffee is technically a fruit. …Huh… 380. You should boil or grill vegetables. Most vegetables have an enzyme called myrosinase which releases sulforaphane compounds when it is steamed. Sulforaphane is a highly effective compound at battling cancer. However, the enzyme is destroyed if it is boiled or grilled. 381. You should chop strawberries. Strawberries are sensitive to oxygen and light. When a strawberry is chopped, the interior is exposed, decreasing its Vitamin C levels. 382. Decaffeinated coffee has no caffeine. Decaf still has 3% caffeine. 383. Caffeine increases the chances of osteoporosis and heart disease. Caffeine degrades calcium in your bones but the effect is so minimal that you should be fine as long as you don’t have 16 cups a day.

There is no evidence to suggest moderate caffeine intake can cause damage to your heart. Caffeine is very healthy in small doses. According to the Mayo clinic, caffeine helps defend the body against Parkinson’s, depression, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and liver cancer. 384. Espresso, Coca Cola, and Red Bull have more caffeine than coffee. Espresso has 20mg of caffeine. Coca Cola has 23-25mgs of caffeine. Red Bull has 75-80mgs of caffeine. A cup of coffee has 95-200mgs of caffeine. 385. You should drink caffeine in the morning to wake you up. Your body has an internal biological clock called the circadian rhythm, which regulates how tired you feel and controls your energy levels with a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol’s purpose is to keep you alert. Between 89am, your cortisol reaches its maximum level. If you interrupt the release of the hormone at this time with tea or coffee, the caffeine won’t wake you up as much as it should. It will also make you build up a resistance to cortisol so you will have more reason to feel tired even if you consume caffeine regularly. It’s best to consume caffeine after your cortisol peaks at 10am. However, caffeine isn’t the best thing to have in the morning to give you energy. The food that wakes you up the most efficiently is an apple. Apples contain fructose which is a natural sugar that keeps you energized for several hours. Once it’s in your system, you should stay awake and will not crash like you do with coffee or other stimulants. 386. Caffeine helps you lose weight. One study looked at 58,000 people over 12 years and it revealed that the more caffeine people consumed, the more weight they put on. Also, how do you follow 58,000 people for 12 years without coming across as creepy? 387. When you open a bottle of red wine, let it breathe for an hour. If you leave a bottle of red wine open for an hour, it will taste better. However, the amount of polyphenols in the wine that fight heart disease will plummet. 388.

Citizens of Japan eat sushi all of the time.

The sushi we eat doesn’t look or taste the same as Japanese sushi. The sushi we eat is a Western concoction attempting to emulate Japanese food. Most Japanese people eat sushi a few times a year. 389. Refried beans are fried multiple times. Refried beans are only fried once. These beans were originally used in a Spanish dish called frijole refritos, which translates into “fried beans.” However, “refritos” looks like it translates into “refried,” which caused this misunderstanding. 390. Don’t freeze vegetables. Most frozen vegetables have higher levels of antioxidants and Vitamin C than fresh veg. 391. Most Brazil nuts come from Brazil. The majority of Brazil nuts come from Bolivia. 392. If you leave a tooth in Coca-Cola overnight, it will dissolve. Coke will not dissolve a tooth in a day. Teeth will dissolve after a long time in Coke but that’s what phosphoric acid and citric acid do. The same thing would happen if you put a tooth in orange juice. 393. Coca-Cola created the modern image of Santa Claus. The first version of Santa goes back to Norse mythology. The most powerful Norse god, Odin, was a white-bearded large man who gave gifts to children and flew around on his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir. But surely Coca-Cola invented the modern depiction of Santa, right? Not at all. Coca-Cola was created in 1886. They started using Santa as a marketing tool in 1931. But the drawings of St. Nick depicted the way we know him have been on magazine covers since 1908. 394. Coca-Cola was originally green. The Coca-Cola website states “Coke has always been brown in color, since its start.” It was the bottles that were green. 395. Only two Coca-Cola executives know Coke’s formula and they only know half of it each.

The idea behind this myth is that Coco-Cola executives take huge precautions to ensure no competitor learns the secret on how to make their famous drink. There’s a problem with this concept. The Coca-Cola ingredients are accessible on the Internet. It’s not a secret. So what’s stopping people from making their own version of Coca-Cola? Well, one of the ingredients is de-cocainized flavored coca leaves. You can’t get this ingredient anywhere except through connections of the highest order at Coca-Cola. Even if you could get the ingredients so you could start your own “brand of Coke,” how would that work? If you rip off Coke, you will be sued. If you create a new brand, everyone will see it as a cheap knock-off. Coca-Cola discovered that when they lost millions trying to sell New Coke. If Coca-Cola couldn’t sell a different Coke, what chance would you have? 396. Don’t drink alcohol or caffeinated drinks when dehydrated because you will lose more water in the long run. If you were stranded in a desert, you need to drink water to hydrate yourself. There are some drinks you are meant to avoid as they supposedly hydrate you a little then dehydrate you a lot like tea, coffee, coke, or alcohol. This isn’t true. Water will hydrate you the most efficiently, but the other drinks will not cause dehydration. Any drink will hydrate you except seawater. 397. India has the hottest curry in the world. Weirdly, the most powerful curry in the world is British. This curry originated in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and its intense heat causes the consumer to hallucinate. The curry is known as the Widower. 398. Natural carrots are orange. 5,000 years ago, carrots came from Afghanistan. These vegetables were purple and the interior was yellow. Over the millennia, carrots took on different colors, flavors, textures, and contain different nutrients. White carrots are crispy, red carrots are starchy, purple carrots are spicy, etc. So how come carrots nowadays always seem to be orange and taste the same? The answer is The Netherlands. During the 17th century, the Dutch tore away from the Spanish politics of the time thanks to the Dutch

royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. To honor the royal family, they turned everything orange – houses, clothes, jam, candles, liqueurs, and carrots. Thanks to international trade, they spread orange carrots to the rest of the world until society barely recognized any other type. 399. Carrots are good for your eyesight. The idea that carrots can improve your eyesight came from RAF pilot, John “Cat Eyes” Cunningham, who got his nicknames because he could spot enemy planes at nighttime with perfect accuracy. In an interview, he mentioned that he loved carrots and marketers saw it as an opportunity to sell them. The two aren’t connected. 400. Oranges are orange. Oranges are naturally green in most countries. Oranges are only orange in certain climates, but most oranges worldwide stay green (but are orange on the inside.) When oranges were originally transported to Europe, the climate changed their color from green to orange. Europeans had never seen oranges before and assumed they were supposed to be orange. The oranges you eat are made orange as most people wouldn’t eat them otherwise, worried that they have gone off. 401. Sugar makes kids hyper. At least 12 studies have confirmed that there is no link that sugar makes children hyperactive. In fact, there isn’t a single verified study confirming the two are linked. The only children that are affected are those who are told they are drinking a sugary drink, even if the kids are consuming a sugar-free. Alternatively, these same children acted normally when they were told they were drinking a health-drink, even thought it was filled with sugar. Sugar doesn’t even make a difference when the kids that were tested had ADHD. The director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research at Indiana University School of Medicine, Aaron Caroll, said, “That’s probably more randomized controlled trials than most drugs go through.” 402.

Airplane food tastes awful.

It’s not the food that tastes bad. If you take your own food onto a plane, it should taste mildly stale. Increased cabin pressure and low humidity reduce your ability to taste salt and sugar by 33%. 403. If you eat nine bananas in a row, you will die from a potassium overdose. Have you ever heard of anyone die this way? It is true that potassium in large doses can be lethal. It is one of the ingredients in the lethal injection. However, the potassium levels of bananas are far too low to be dangerous. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Banana and plantain do not contain significant levels of any toxic principles.” You would need to eat 487 bananas in a row to reach fatal levels. 404. If you drop food, you can still eat it if you pick it up in less than five seconds. Bacteria doesn’t hang around for five seconds to “give you a chance to pick it up.” The food is contaminated the second it touches the germ-infested floor. 405. When toast falls butter-side down, it’s because the universe hates you. Seriously… why does dropped toast always land butter-side down. It’s not 50/50. It’s far more likely that it will land on the side you want to eat. What are the odds? Very likely, actually. It’s simple physics. If you drop toast, it’s about 3-4ft from the ground. This only gives the toast enough time to flip about 180 degrees. 406. In the early 90s, a kid ate Pop Rocks and soda, which caused a chemical reaction that made his stomach explode. This is one of the most famous urban legends ever. This rumor came about because Pop Rocks were falsely accused of having a huge amount of acid/base mixtures, which become explosive when mixed with fizzy drinks. The kid who supposedly died, John Gilchrist, is still alive today. 407.

Food was healthier in the old days.

Until 1966, food didn’t have food labels. Not only would you not know the level of protein or fat in a food, but you didn’t know if a food contained an ingredient that could cause a lethal allergic reaction. I know the preservatives that are put into food aren’t healthy. But do you know what’s less healthy? Rotting food. That’s what you would be eating if your meat didn’t have preservatives in it. 408. Heinz 57 is named after its 57 different products. Although its slogan was “57 varieties,” the founder, Henry Heinz, made this up. He chose 57 because his favorite number was 5 and his wife’s favorite number was 7. Weirdly, when this became the company’s slogan, Heinz produced 60 different products. 409. Chocolate is bad for you. Dark chocolate has a lot of protein, which is good for building muscle. Small amounts of normal chocolate are great for your blood pressure, skin, and heart. It helps your muscle function and heal more efficiently. It also has tryptophan which helps you sleep. This is why hot chocolate is recommended before bed. 410. Popcorn is bad for you. Popcorn in moderation is healthy because it has tons of antioxidants called polyphenols, which heavily decrease the risk of heart disease. One serving of popcorn has more polyphenols than your daily five fruit and veg. 411. MSG in Chinese food is really bad for you. Monosodium glutamate ((or MSG,) isn’t as bad as people suspect. We often believe myths on the basis of one study even if a subsequent study proves the myth to be wrong. In 1969, Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok noticed that several of his patients became ill after a large Chinese meal. Since Chinese food is famous for its MSG, he assumed the two were connected. Kwok had a hunch based on association. He had no evidence. Decades of research has proven that that MSG isn’t dangerous. There is also a growing idea that MSG causes headaches but there is no science to back this up. 412.

Eating turkey makes people sleepy.

Turkey is often eaten at Thanksgiving. On this day, people eat an average of 1,400 calories in one sitting. Excessive calories cause drowsiness, not turkey. 413. KFC doesn’t stand for “Kentucky Fried Chicken” anymore because there is no natural chicken in it. KFC is no longer called “Kentucky Fried Chicken” because the chicken (that is real) is no longer fried. 414. Ketchup is American. Ketchup originally came from China 500 years ago and was made from anchovies. 415. Coconuts are brown. Coconuts have two shells. The outer layer is green. When a coconut falls from a tree, the green exterior is often shattered, revealing the brown shell within. 416. Coconuts contain milk inside of the shell. A coconut contains water, not milk. Only when the coconut is boiled will the liquid turn into a milk-like substance. 417. When a steak is being cooked, blood juice seeps out. Blood has hemoglobin. That bloody liquid that seeps from steak doesn’t have any. That juice is a protein called myoglobin. 418. Twinkies last for ages. This idea has become popular thanks to the movie, Zombieland. It’s not true (Zombies aren’t real either.) Twinkies last for a month. 419. Food that is local, natural, or organic is healthy. The FDA doesn’t regulate the word “local” so there is no telling whether the food came from your local town, China, or Mars. It’s just a word that suppliers slap onto their food to make it sound healthier. In 2014, research published in the British Journal of Nutrition looked at 343 studies of organic and non-organic food and found that most

vegetables had pretty much the same levels of the most significant nutrients (Vitamin C and E) whether they were organic or not. However, these studies did confirm that organic food have more antioxidants than non-organic food. This shows that organic is healthier than non-organic but not as much as you would’ve imagined. The US Food and Drug Administration gives a lot of wiggle room for what “natural food” means. Even if a food has artificial flavors, added color, or synthetic substances, the FDA can still consider the food to be natural. 420. Brown sugar is healthier than white sugar. Brown sugar is white sugar except the molasses dye is removed from its coloring. This dye gives it a bit more calcium and potassium but not enough to make any significant difference to your body. They also have the same amount of calories. 421. White chocolate is chocolate. White chocolate is composed of milk, vanilla, sugar, lecithin, cocoa butter, but above all, no chocolate. 422. Brown eggs are healthier than white eggs. A chicken with red ear lobes will produce brown eggs. A chicken with white ear lobes will produce white eggs. In terms of nutrition or taste, there is no difference between the eggs. 423. Margarine is healthier than butter. Margarine is considered to be healthier than butter because it lowers cholesterol. However, that tends to only apply to tubs of margarine. Stick margarine has trans-fat, which can lower HDL, (also known as good cholesterol.) That’s right, not all cholesterol is bad. 424. Vitamin Water is healthy. Vitamin water has so much sugar, that it’s basically Coke. No consumer should be misled into thinking that Vitamin Water is healthy. 425.

Genetically modified food is a recent concept.

GMOs (genetically modified organisms) have been around since 12000 BC. This was done with basic selective breeding and the domestication of plants and animals. By cultivating organisms with certain desired traits, generations of farmers have been able to selectively breed superior products for millennia. 426. Artificial sweeteners are a good substitute for sugar. Sugar has 16 calories per teaspoon. Sweeteners have no calories. But studies have shown that sweeteners cause people to put on weight. It is still unclear why but two separate studies validated this. The San Antonio Heart Study observed 3,500 adults for eight years during the 1980s and noticed that the majority of their BMIs rose. The American Cancer society did a similar test with 80,000 women over a year. The study showed that those who had artificial sweeteners instead of sugar tended to put on weight. 427. The sugar that you eat is natural. 90% of the sugar in America (and most countries) comes from sugar beets with GMOs. 428. Potatoes are a natural food. Most potatoes worldwide are genetically modified to decrease the amount of acrylamide, which is a chemical that can cause cancer. This GM will make the potatoes resistant to bruising so they will last longer. This shows that GMOs can be beneficial to our food. 429. Honey pots contain honey. Most industries get their honey from China. A lot of Chinese honey has its pollen filtered out and replaced with corn syrup and sweeteners. You might think, “Okay, it’s diluted honey but it’s still technically honey, right?” According to the FDA, honey must contain pollen. Over 75% of the honey they tested from America didn’t have a trace of pollen. So, you have probably consumed a quarter of the honey you think you have. The only way to guarantee you’re eating pure honey is to stick your hand in a beehive. Good luck with that. 430.

“Chicken soup cures a cold” is an old wives’ tale.

This remedy sounds so simple, you’d think it can’t be true. Surely medication would be better. But chicken soup is overloaded with amino acids and antiinflammatory enzymes. It’s very easy to eat if you have a sore throat and it’s effortlessly digestible. The acids in chicken soup are incredibly effective against respiratory infections, chest infections, and bronchial infections. 431. Honey is an extremely primitive way to cure a cough. This is another old wives’ tale that turns out to be true. Honey is more effective at curing a cough than dextromethorphan, which is the ingredient that’s in every over-the-counter cold and cough medicine. 432. You have eaten soy sauce. Soy sauce takes ages to make and it is too easy to concoct a soy substitute that lasts much longer. Most soy sauce you have eaten is a concoction of caramel coloring, salt, corn syrup, and hydrolyzed vegetable proteins. 433. Dark bread is healthier than white bread. Most dark bread is made of the same white flour as white bread. The color comes from a molasses or caramel dye. If you want healthy bread, you need to buy 100% whole wheat or whole-grain wheat for extra fiber. 434. You have used olive oil. Most olive oil is either heavily diluted or a complete forgery. Diluted oil is usually composed of 80% sunflower oil and 20% olive. Fake olive oil is a vast business for the mob. The real stuff is too hard to make and too easy to fake. Fake olive farms were found in south Italy in 2008. There wasn’t just one fake farm. There were 90. If you think that’s bad, that’s just one country in one year. There were two Spanish people arrested for selling hundreds of thousands of liters of “olive oil” in 2016. There is so much business in fake olive oil that it’s impossible to tell how much real oil we are consuming but it is a lot less than society believes.

435. The McDonalds’ ketchup cups are too small. A lot of consumers don’t know that the ketchup cups at McDonalds can be stretched open so you can put at least five times more ketchup in it. If you don’t eat fast food, you will find this fact trivial. If you do eat fast food, this information will change your life. 436. The salmon that you buy in stores is naturally pink. The pinkness comes from a dye. Salmons are only pink when they are in their natural environment. 95% of the salmon we eat is harvested in salmon farms so they lose their pink color and turn grey. 437. Cheddar cheese is bright orange. Cheddar has no defining color. It can be white, yellow, brown, orange, and even green. To simplify it, a dye is added to it so consumers can easily identify which cheeses are cheddar. 438. France has the highest consumption of cheese. Despite the fact that this food is often associated with France, Greece has the highest cheese consumption. 439. Sausages can be naturally red. Red sausages seem more appetizing than brown sausages but that redness comes from a dye called E128, which is also known as Red 2G. But who cares if it’s dyed? It’s not like the dye gives you cancer, right? Oh, wait. It does. Test mice have been injected with this dye and they contracted cancer. Remember, the red dye doesn’t affect the taste, just the color. There is no advantage in eating these types of sausages. 440. Table salt increases blood pressure. Not having enough salt in your body is more dangerous than having too much salt. The human body needs 1.5g of salt per day to function. It’s a requirement just like protein, carbs, and fats. It’s true that salt will increase your blood pressure if you have over 6g per day. However, an average salt intake in the United States is 3.4g so it’s quite difficult to consume too much salt daily. If you have less than the

required 1.5g per day, it is more likely that your blood pressure will increase. 441. Crusts don’t have any nutrients. Many parents have told their children to eat the crust of their sandwich because “it’s the best part.” This can’t be right because the crust comes from the same dough as the rest of the bread, right? In reality, crust has far more antioxidants than the rest of the bread. This is because bread undergoes the Maillard reaction when it is baked, which shoves 88% of the enzymes into the crust. What kind of enzymes? Pronyl-lysine. You know what that does? Beats the hell out of cancer. Seriously. It skyrockets your body’s Cancer Prevention Points. 442. Spinach doesn’t have as much iron as we originally thought. Okay, this is a double misconception. The idea that spinach has tons of iron has been popularized by the character, Popeye the Sailor Man. However, a recent idea has been circulating the Internet stating that the ingredients on a can of spinach erroneously read that there is ten times more iron in the vegetable than there actually is because a decimal point was misplaced. This was intended as a joke by the British Medical Journal in 1981 but was taken seriously. 443. Fish oil prevents heart disease because it is full of Omega-3. This idea comes from the Inuit tribes who mostly eat fish and rarely succumb to heart disease. However, the reason that Inuits don’t die from heart disease is because they usually die from the cold. Outside of badly researched Eskimo diets, there’s little evidence to support this theory. Although fish oil isn’t bad for you, it’s not going to affect your heart, for better or for worse. 444. The egg white contains protein; the yolk has all of the fat. The protein and fat are not divided evenly in an egg. If you want a lot of protein in your diet, you should eat the whole egg. 445. The food that you see advertised in fast-food commercials is natural.

To make fries look more tantalizing, fast food companies make special “chemical chips” that create steam. Each fry is held up by a toothpick. Sesame seeds are literally glued onto burgers. The crew that work on the commercial put cardboard and six toothpicks in the burgers to make them look more filling. 446. Milk makes your bones strong. Milk makes your bones strong verrrrrrry indirectly. Despite what you were taught in school, your bones can’t absorb calcium through the milk that you drink. If you don’t drink milk, your body will use the calcium in your bones instead. Drinking a lot of milk will slow down bone deterioration but it cannot make them stronger. 447. Granola is healthy. An average serving of granola contains 24g of sugar. By comparison, the same serving of chocolate contains 26g of sugar. Sadly, many “healthy” foods are smothered in sugar, making their healthy label redundant. 448. Taco Bell’s meat is only 35% beef. This rumor originates from a 2012 lawsuit that claimed lab tests proved that Taco Bell’s meat was only 35% beef. However, there’s a big difference between “claim” and “proof.” The lawsuit was dropped when it was proven that the meat was 88% beef, which is pretty much the same as other fast food restaurants. The other 12% is made up of ingredients like soy, sugar, and yeast. 449. A tomato is a fruit. Botanists state that tomatoes are classified as a fruit and a vegetable. No other food has this distinction. 450. At fast-food restaurants, salads are the healthier choice. Salads are covered with artificial sweeteners and sugar. In most restaurants, salads have more calories and fat than a normal burger. At Wendy’s, a Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad has more calories (780 calories) and more fat (51 grams) than a Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger (680 calories and 36 grams of fat).

So how do you avoid this dilemma? It’s simple. Don’t eat at a fast food restaurant. 451. Microwaves cook food from the inside out. Microwaves do the total opposite. Also, the more water that the food has, the quicker it will heat up. 452. Vodka is made from potatoes. 99% of vodka is distilled from grain like wheat, rye, or corn. There is even a vodka made from cow’s milk called Pure Milk Vodka. 453. Italian dressing, garlic bread, and spaghetti and meatballs are Italian. Italian dressing was created in Kansas in 1948. Spaghetti and meatballs originated from New York in the 1920s. Garlic bread was manufactured in Michigan in the 1970s. 454. Fajitas and chimichangas are Mexican. Fajitas came from Texas in the 1930s. Chimichangas are also American. Basically, if any food seems to be Mexican or Italian, assume it’s American. 455. Apple pie is American. The one food you’d swear is American originated in England in 1381. 456. Sauerkraut is German. Even though sauerkraut sounds German, it has been available in China for two millennia. 457. French dip is French. French dip was invented in LA in 1918. Why do we even name things anymore?? 458. Tempura is Japanese. Tempura was made in Portugal 700 years ago. 459.

There are no pesticides in organic food.

Non-synthetic pesticides are allowed on organic produce, including abamectin, pyrethrum and rotenone. All these pesticides are more toxic than glyphosate pesticides that are found on non-organic food. 460. If a food is described as “light,” it has less calories. Imagine you regularly consume a fizzy drink. For simplicity sake, let’s call this drink, Soda. One day, you decide to go on a diet so you drink Soda Light instead of Soda. However, you don’t seem to lose any weight. How is this possible? It has less calories, right? Sometimes, the “light” in a product’s name applies to the food’s color, not the calories. Manufacturers intentionally state that food is “light” to mislead the consumer to buy “healthy food.” Although this is a very deceptive tactic, it’s completely legal. 461. Dark beer is bad for you. Dark beer is only bad for you in excess. Dark beer is full of fiber, iron, silicon, flavonoids, and antioxidants. All of these compounds are good for your heart and can help prevent osteoporosis and blood clots. 462. Light beer will help you lose weight. The difference between the “healthy” versions of beer is legible. A Guinness Draught has 125 calories. A light Guinness has 110 calories. 15 calories is almost nothing. People tend to drink more of the “healthy” version of beer (or anything for that matter.) Having eight pints of light beer instead of five pints of normal beer is going to help you gain weight, not lose it. 463. Drinking with a meal will stop a hangover. This works but only with red meat like a burger or steak. Red meat has a high concentration of amino acids and Vitamin B, which will soak up some of the alcohol and limit the risk of a hangover. However, there is a much simpler technique to recover from a hangover. Bacon. Bacon has enough protein and fat to break down the amino acids necessary to boost your metabolism to help eradicate the hangover rapidly. Basically, bacon solves everything, as we always assumed. 464.

Time makes beer go bad.

Light makes beer go bad, not time. That’s why most beer is in green or brown bottles, not clear ones. 465. There is no beer in non-alcoholic beer. There is 0.5% alcohol in an ordinary bottle of non-alcoholic beer. It’s false advertising but 0.5% beer doesn’t have the same ring to it. However, this amount of alcohol is so small, it’s impossible to get drunk if you consume it. 466. Alcohol kills brain cells. Alcohol makes new brain cells grow slower. If you drink excessively for years, it can cause interruptions in the neurons but it won’t kill them. 467. Sucking a penny will fool an alcohol Breathalyzer. This sounds so stupid, it might be true. But it isn’t. 468. Eating lots of fruit is healthy. Fruit has a lot of sugar called fructose. Although it is fruit sugar, it’s still sugar and an excessive amount is bad, no matter what food it comes from. It’s common for older people to have a health scare so they decide to be super healthy and replace all of their old vices and addictions with fruit. This sounds like a good idea. Instead of a beer, have a smoothie. But if you introduce a huge quantity of sugar into your body suddenly, it can spike your insulin levels. People may have a health scare, start eating fruit, and ironically give themselves pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is common in the elderly but it’s not because they are getting old, it’s because they are eating too much sugar. That sounds a bit farfetched but Steve Jobs ate nothing but fruit at the end of his life and he died of pancreatic cancer. Ashton Kutcher played Steve Jobs in the movie, Jobs, and replicated his fruit diet for the role. A few weeks later, Kutcher was hospitalized after nearly giving himself pancreatic cancer (which the doctors found baffling considering how young the actor was.) Many people believe famed comedian, Bill Hicks, died from lung cancer or liver cancer because he smoked, drank, and did drugs excessively.

But Hicks quit these vices near the end of his life, started eating healthily, then died a year later from pancreatic cancer. Nowadays, fruit smoothies have become a popular trend. However, liquidating fruit causes your body to process it differently, which spikes your blood sugar. Dried fruit isn’t much better since it has high levels of sulfur dioxide, sugar, and salt. On top of that, they can cause respiratory problems if the consumer has asthma or sulfite sensitivity. Fruit should be in your daily diet but don’t overload your body with it.

GAMES 469. If you are caught in a casino counting cards, you will have your winnings taken from you and you will be thrown in jail for up to 15 years. Counting cards isn’t illegal. If you are caught counting cards in a casino you will be asked to leave, but you can keep your winnings. However, the casino can use facial recognition to memorize your face and store it into a computer. They can use this technology, not only to bar you from the casino, but send it to other casinos so you can’t gamble anywhere else. 470. Swimming less than an hour after eating will give you horrific cramps. This was first published in Scouting for Boys in 1908. It was considered a potentially lethal danger. This notion was dismissed in 1961 by exercise physiologist, Arthur Steinhaus, and it hasn’t been taken seriously since. 471. American football always had female cheerleaders. Not only were the cheerleaders primarily male before World War II, but some universities, like Yale, banned women entirely from cheerleading. 472. The mascot of the Monopoly board game wears a monocle. The Monopoly mascot, Milburn Pennybags, has never worn a monocle in any iteration of the game since its launch in 1935. If you don’t believe me, get your monopoly board out and see for yourself. 473. Ouija boards communicate with the dead. You may be wondering what Ouija boards are doing in the “Games” section of my book. Ouija boards were made as a game by Elijah Bond in 1890. They were never intended to speak to the dead. So how does the counter move on the board by itself, then? Simple. The counter moves through the ideomotor effect. If you try to keep your hand completely still, it’s impossible. Your hands will eventually move. If you are holding a counter, and someone says, “Left,” over and over, your

brain will unconsciously take it as a command. You might only move it less than a millimeter, but after ten minutes of the same command, your hands can move the counter anywhere on the board. You can try this yourself with any thin object that can stand upright like a candle. The brand owners advertised it by saying your subconscious would guide you around the board. As the ideomotor effect shows, it’s your unconscious mind being stimulated, not your subconscious. 474. Cheerleading is a fun sport. Cheerleading causes more broken bones, paralyzing injuries, and deaths than the ten most dangerous female sports… combined. What’s more depressing is that cheerleading isn’t a dangerous sport because… it is not a classified sport. Cheerleaders have been fighting for years to be considered a sport, but no such luck yet. 475. The first modern Olympics Games was in Athens. The first modern Olympics was in Shropshire in England. 476. An Olympic Gold Medal is made of gold. At least 92.5% of all Gold Medals are made of silver. An extremely small amount is made of gold. 477. The first Olympics Games used the discus. The original Olympics only had one event – running. 478. In Ancient Greece, the Olympic winners won medals. The winners of the Olympics in Ancient Greece were given wreaths. 479. The Olympic torch relay has been around since the beginning of the Olympics. In Ancient Greece, the torch burned during the Olympic Games. However, the torch relay has only existed since 1936. It was devised by… the Nazis. How awkward. 480. “Paralympics” is an abbreviation for “Paraplegic Olympics.” “Paralympics” is short for “Parallel Olympics”.

481. Baseball originated in America. Baseball came from England. It is not known exactly when but baseball is first described in a 1744 book called A Little Pretty Pocket Book. 482. An American football is oval-shaped. The exact term to describe a football’s shape is prolate spheroid. 483. The most well-paid sportsman in history was Tiger Woods. Diocles of Ancient Rome was the richest sportsman ever. This charioteer won 1,500 races, allowing him to accumulate a fortune that is the equivalent of $15 billion. 484. You need to get 21 points to win a game of table tennis. The rules have been changed recently. The game is now up to 11. 485. Ping-Pong is a game. Originally, Ping-Pong was not the name of the game. The game was called whiff-whaff. Ping-Pong was the name of a brand of whiff-whaff equipment. When the game was popularized, people assumed the brand name was the game’s title. This would be like seeing a person with Nike shoes and thinking that all shoes were called Nikes, whether they were boots, wellies, or clogs.

HISTORY 486. Ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death. Ancient Egyptians seemed to be obsessed with death because WE are obsessed with how they perceived death. They would probably think our culture is obsessed with funny cat videos. A lot of Ancient Egyptian culture revolved around farming, hunting, and fishing. They didn’t think and talk about death 24/7. Death is a big part of every culture. Their concept of it seems so fascinating because it is so different from ours. 487. The Egyptian Pyramids look the same now as they did when they were built. When the Pyramids were built, they were covered in white limestone that glowed at night. This covered the interior that we see today. The Pyramids were smooth, not blocky. Weather and thieves have eradicated all of the white limestone over the millennia. The apex capstone at the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza is still barely intact so you can see how the pyramids should’ve looked back in their day. 488. Ancient Egyptians saw pharaohs as gods. The Romans assumed the Egyptians saw the pharaohs as gods because they bowed to their leader, Khufu. Romans found it disrespectful to bow to kings because they believed the only person worth bowing to was a god. 489. When Tutankhamen’s tomb was unearthed, The Mummy’s Curse killed all of the archeologists. The inscription, “They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by wings of death” never existed. That was in the movie. The mummy didn’t come back to life either. But the archeologists died, right? Yes. Caranarvon did die shortly after the tomb was opened but he was very ill before he went to Egypt. You may have heard of a security guard who guarded King Tut in the museum that died. That is true. He did die….50 years later. So either the

curse is nonsense or that mummy is taking his sweet time exacting his revenge. 490. Tutankhamen was an important pharaoh. King Tut didn’t do anything of significance in his time compared to other pharaohs like Ramses and Khufu. So why is he remembered? For decades, historians hoped to discover rooms full of historical wonders in Ancient Egypt. Instead, they kept finding abandoned tombs. Thieves had stolen money, gold, jewels, and documents that would give modern man a look into how the Ancient Egyptians lived. King Tut is the only Pharaonic tomb that was untouched by thieves. When humanity’s ancestor, Australopithecus (aka Lucy), was found in 2008, it was significant because it helped geneticists understand the evolution of homo sapiens. But that doesn’t mean Lucy was significant in her time. She didn’t win the Super Bowl or anything. King Tut is significant out of circumstance, not achievement. That is why he’s the most famous Egyptian apart from Cleopatra. Oh wait… 491. Cleopatra was Egyptian. Cleopatra VII was Greek. Cleopatra was a direct ancestor of Alexander the Great’s tutor, Ptolemy. 492. Cleopatra was beautiful. Cleopatra wasn’t beautiful (even by the standards back then). Cleopatra’s image is on Roman currency. The word “flattering” doesn’t spring to mind. She had a big nose, a thick chin, and thin lips. She must’ve had a good marketing team. 493. Cleopatra witnessed the construction of the pyramids. The pyramids were finished in 2540 BC. Cleopatra died over two millennia later in 30 BC. This means that Cleopatra is closer to our time than the construction of the pyramids. 494. Slaves built the pyramids. A pharaoh would never trust slaves to build a tomb in his honor. Highly skilled craftsmen built the pyramids.

495. In Ancient Egypt, slaves were buried with the pharaohs. Of the 300 pharaohs known, only two pharaohs had their slaves buried with them. 496. Hieroglyphs were created by Egyptians and were used for spells and curses. The Mummy movies have popularized the idea that hieroglyphics were used for enchantments but there is no evidence to back this up. Also, hieroglyphics didn’t originate from Egypt. It is unknown which country invented hieroglyphics but they made their way to Egypt from West Asia. If you are intending to see the Ancient Egyptian pyramids, you might be surprised to learn that hieroglyphics are quite rare. Almost every single room within the pyramids is undecorated. 497. Archeologists have uncovered all of Egypt’s ancient relics. Archeologists are still finding artifacts from Ancient Egypt. Everybody knows about pyramids and mummies and tombs. But did you know that a solar boat was found in the Great Pyramid a few years ago? It was designed to allow deceased pharaohs to help the sun god, Ra, fight demons. 498. Napoleon had his men shoot the nose off the Sphinx. Napoleon didn’t invade Egypt until 1798. We know the Sphinx’s nose has been missing since at least 1738 when Danish explorer, Frederic Louis Norden, drew the noseless Sphinx when he passed by it. The missing nose was caused by weather erosion. 499. Ancient Egypt enslaved millions of Israelites. Outside of the Bible, there has never been a single document to suggest that Ancient Egypt enslaved the Jewish populace. 500. All Ancient Egyptians shaved their entire bodies. Only the nobles shaved themselves. 501. Ancient Egyptians were dark-skinned. When Ridley Scott released his film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, viewers criticized how the Ancient Egyptians were played by Caucasians.

The problem with this argument is that nobody knows what Ancient Egyptians looked like. Artistic depictions of Egyptians used color to signify status rather than literal skin color; men were brown, women were white, some were painted red or black depending on which god they worshipped, etc. So, were Ancient Egyptians dark-skinned or light-skinned? Forensic artist, Frank Domingo, confirmed that the Sphinx is based on a black woman. However, DNA tests have shown that the pharaoh, Ramses II, was red-headed. This suggests a mixed culture but the truth is we just don’t know for sure.

502. The Ancient Romans regularly wore togas. Togas were too posh for casual wear in Ancient Rome. They were only worn during ceremonial times. Only the emperor and his generals wore togas at all times. 503. A vomitorium was a room that Romans used to vomit so they could eat at banquets for hours. I read this “fact” in my history book in school. My history book read, “Ancient Romans made themselves vomit with an ostrich feather.” This is a total fabrication. A vomitorium was a passage below or behind a tier of seats in an Amphitheatre or stadium. They are still common in theatres nowadays. 504. Ancient Rome had epic banquets. Many depictions of Roman banquets on television will show a room filled with an immeasurable amount of food and wine. However, Roman laws were tight about banquet budgets. If there was too much food, it was likely some of it rotted. The empire couldn’t risk their soldiers suffering from food poisoning and so, never wasted food. Julius Caesar was the strongest proponent of these laws and stopped banquets that he believed were overindulgent. 505. Gladiators in the Coliseum were very muscular. Gladiators were fat. Really fat. Let me explain. Popular gladiators made customers buy tickets. You can’t be popular if you’re dead. If the audience liked certain gladiators and the fighters put up a good fight, neither fighter was put to death. Okay, but why were the gladiators fat? Customers paid for the Coliseum to see one thing – blood. The bigger a person is, the more blood they can spill. Wrestlers in the entertainment business use a technique called “blading.” Gladiators knew how to spill a lot of blood without hitting vital organs. Once enough blood was spilt, the audience was content, even without a death. 506.

All gladiators were men.

Female gladiators (called gladiatrixes) fought in the Coliseum. 507. In the Coliseum, a thumbs-down from the emperor meant the gladiator was sentenced to death. A thumbs-up symbolized a death sentence. If the emperor made a fist, it meant that the fighter was spared. The emperor abided by the Latin expression “police compresso favor iudicabatur,” which means “goodwill is decided by the thumb being kept in.” 508. Christians were thrown to the lions in the Coliseum. Emperor Nero persecuted Christians before the Coliseum was even built. By the time it was constructed, the majority of Romans were Christians. 509. Caesar Salad is named after Julius Caesar. A restaurant worker from Tijuana called Caesar Cardini created the Caesar salad by accident. On a busy Independence Day, his restaurant had little food left and so, he cobbled together what ingredients he had to form the first Caesar salad. 510. Julius Caesar is so-named because his mother gave birth to him through a Cesarean section. Caesar was born naturally. At the time of Caesar, C-sections did happen, but the mother always died. It has been recorded that Caesar’s mother, Aurelia, lived on years after he was born. However, the month of July is derived from his name. 511. Roman emperors were called Caesar and wore wreaths on their head. Caesar was incredibly vain and wore wreaths to hide his baldness. He also invented the comb over. That is not a joke. But surely emperors were called Caesar, weren’t they? Yes, but it was a title of heritage. The first four Roman emperors were called Caesar because they were related to Julius Caesar. The fifth emperor, Galba, took on the title of Caesar because he believed it would make him feel more regal. It didn’t work since he was assassinated after only ruling Rome for seven months. 512.

Julius Caesar was the first emperor of Rome.

Augustus was the first Roman emperor. He ruled from 27 BC-14 AD. Caesar couldn’t be emperor because there was no Roman Empire during his lifetime. He was the dictator of the Roman Republic from 49 BC – 44 BC. His death led to the rise of the Roman Empire. 513. The Ancient Romans spoke Latin. Ancient Romans originally spoke Greek. They started to speak Latin near the end of the Roman Empire. 514. People believed the world was flat before Columbus discovered America. An Ancient Greek mathematician called Eratosthenes deduced that the Earth was round in 500 BC. He calculated the circumference of the Earth with 99.99% accuracy without leaving his hometown a millennium before it was confirmed by anyone else. Also, he had some spare time one weekend and invented geography. That’s not an exaggeration. Eratosthenes is considered to be the first geographer in recorded history. Although a round-shaped Earth was a common idea in Columbus’ time, he was certain the world was pear-shaped. 515. Columbus discovered America. Okay, it’s common knowledge that Leif Erikson the Viking actually discovered America 500 years before Columbus… except he didn’t. Bjarni Herjolfsson of Iceland was the first person to find America. In fact, Columbus never set foot in the land that became the United States. He landed in the Bahamas and ventured from Dominica all the way southward. 516. Native Americans thought the Columbus and his settlers were gods and the settlers thought the Americans were barbarians. When missionaries greeted the Americans, they thought the Europeans were “physically weak, sexually untrustworthy, atrociously ugly” and “possessed little intelligence in comparison to themselves.” You would assume Europeans thought little of the Americans with their tribal dances and primitive weapons, right? Wrong. A sailor called Verazzano described one native as “beautiful in stature and build as I can possibly describe.” And he wasn’t just checking out the women. He was

talking about a male. At the time, it was inappropriate for a male to speak of another man in such a fashion but the sailors couldn’t help themselves since they had never seen men with perfect physiques before. British fisherman, William Wood, described the natives as “more amiable to behold, thought dressed only in Adam’s finery, than… an English dandy in the newest fashion.” 517. Wigwams were pointy tents. When you picture a Native American’s tent, the structure you are probably thinking of is a teepee. A wigwam looks like shaggy, round house. Some Native American tribes lived in teepees while others lived in wigwams. However, they also lived in homes far more complex than that. European settlers found many cities with thousands of homes that date back to 1300 BC. The city of Cahokia was larger than modern London. Cahokia was filled with thatched-roof houses lining the central plazas and trade routes from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The Native Americans also built a soil-made pyramid called Monk’s Mound that dwarves the Great Pyramid of Giza in size and complexity. Native Americans brought soil hundreds of miles to build this 1.08-millionton structure. 518. Native Americans were killed when settlers gave them quilts infected with smallpox. Up to a hundred million Native Americans died just before the settlers arrived from a plague that dwarfs the Black Death. The Black Death killed 60% of Europe. This plague killed 96% of the inhabitants of North and South America. Settlers said they visited towns that didn’t have a single person alive because of the plague. 519. In medieval times, people banged goblets of wine together before they drank from them just in case they were poisoned. Let’s create a scenario – I’m drinking from a goblet of wine with a friend (typical Friday night) and he poisons my wine. If we bang our goblets together, droplets of wine would pour into both goblets meaning that the poison will be in both drinks. If you trusted the person you were having a drink with, you would clink your drinks together because you knew the other person would never poison you.

This is a fantastic idea but the truth is far less interesting. The clinking of glasses is meant to symbolize the “unity of senses.” We have five official senses – sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing. Smelling the wine is using one sense. Tasting it is using another sense. Looking at your friend with whom you are having the drink is using your sight. And the clinking of the glasses is using the sense of touch and hearing. If anyone asks me where clinking comes from, I just tell them the goblet story. It’s more interesting. 520. An iron maiden was a torture device. An iron maiden looks like a coffin with spikes on the lid’s interior. The idea is that the spikes impaled the person inside once the coffin is sealed. These devices have appeared in many films including Batman Returns and Sleepy Hollow. According to Wolfgang Schild of the University of Bielefeld, these sarcophagus-like structures were used for exhibitions. There is no evidence that they were used for torture. 521. Human life expectancy was very low until the last century. It is true that we are living longer than ever before. However, society has an idea that people rarely lived to old age until recently. This misconception arises because we know that until a century ago, infant mortality rates were much higher than they are now. So, if one person died at the age of one and another person died at the age of 80, the average age of death for these two people is 40. Since the infant mortality rate is dramatically lower nowadays, it appears that life expectancy has drastically increased. The mortality rate in medieval times wasn’t great but it was nowhere near as bad as is often depicted in films. 50% of people lived to 21. But once a person got to the age of 30, about 70% of them lived to their 70s. Living to 80 or 90 hasn’t been that uncommon for millennia. The Athenian philosopher, Plato, the Greek playwright, Sophocles, and the pharaoh, Ramses II, all died at 80. 522. During medieval times the “rule of thumb” meant a man could legally beat his wife with a stick if it had less girth than his thumb. James Gillray created a satirical cartoon in 1782 called Judge Thumb, in which the titular character legalized the “rule of thumb.” However, this

cartoon was never supposed to be taken literally. There’s no evidence from historical law or legal research to support this claim. 523. “Ye” is a medieval word that was the plural for “you.” Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press had a marking for each letter; A for A, B for B, etc. There were a few extra symbols for certain sounds like of “ch,” “sh,” and “th.” The “th” symbol looked like a fancy “y.” As a result, the symbol for “the” would look like “ye.” Although phrases like “ye people” meant “the people,” readers assumed “ye” was a plural word. 524. Alexander the Great’s empire lasted for decades. Alexander the Great conquered 80% of the known world when he was only 26. It is an achievement that has never been equaled. However, since Alexander had no contingency upon his death, his empire fell into disarray when he succumbed to fever. His generals couldn’t cooperate on how to secure their new borders and declared war on each other. The empire lasted from 325-319 BC; a measly six years. 525. The Qin Dynasty lasted for centuries. Qin is responsible for building the Great Wall, unifying China’s warring parts into one state, and burying all of the terra-cotta warriors. It is the most powerful dynasty in Chinese history. However, it only existed for 15 years. Since Qin believed he was immortal, he, like Alexander, had no contingency upon his death. Four years after Qin died, the dynasty completely collapsed. 526. Herbal medicine has existed for 3,000 years. 3,000 years sounds like a long time but herbal medicine is mind-bogglingly ancient. Herbal medicine goes back 50,000 years. This is insane because homo sapiens have only existed for approximately 60,000 years. What is more bizarre is that our ancestors were not the first to use herbal medicine. Herbs were used by our distant cousins – the Neanderthals. Now I don’t want you to think that Neanderthals ate herbs because they were stupid enough to think that herbs were food. The chamomile and yarrow that they ate had no nutritional value and tasted awful.

Archeologists have found microscopic particles of these herbs in the skeletons of those Neanderthals that lived long lives. These particular Neanderthals knew that the herbs were keeping them alive (or more specifically, creating anti-inflammatory agents.) It was like prehistoric ibuprofen. 527. Our ancestors, the Neanderthals, were stupid ape-like creatures. Neanderthals are cousins to our species. They lived alongside our ancestors until the Neanderthals died out 30,000 years ago. People tend to picture Neanderthals as giant apes. However, Neanderthals didn’t hunch like an ape. Nor did they have an ape-like face or excess body hair. Their facial structure was mildly different to our own. Their body was similar to us but stockier. Neanderthals looked so human that if one wore modern clothes, you probably couldn’t tell the difference. Scientists have found hyoid bones in Neanderthal remains. The hyoid bone is part of the vocal chords. After studying the hyoid, scientists said it was identical to how the human bones are structured, meaning that Neanderthals were capable of speech. Neanderthals were at least as intelligent as us. It is debated that they were probably smarter. They were physically superior as well. They were stronger, taller, had better stamina, and handcrafted better tools. So why did they die out? Ironically, Neanderthals died out because they were more mature than us. They reached full maturity at 16. So when our ancestors invaded their homes and attacked them, Neanderthals were too civilized to fight back. They were focusing on running away or protecting their families rather than killing. Sadly, this was their undoing. 528. Stonehenge is the oldest human construction. Gobekli Tepe in Turkey is 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. It dates back to 9000 BC and is thought to be the oldest human construction. It predates agriculture. 529. Our ancestors only ate meat. Our ancestors’ diet was known as the Paleo Diet. This diet mainly consisted of meat. However, our ancestors also ate bread, seeds, nuts, berries, roots, grass, eggs, fruit, and fruit oils 30,000 years ago.

530. Cavemen lived in caves. Our Stone Age ancestors were excellent at building homes quickly and efficiently. Their homes were simple but sturdy and fitted their needs. Living in caves was uncommon and tended to happen as a result of desperate circumstances like if there was a sudden change of weather, or to hide from predators. Although some of our ancestors lived in caves long-term, more people live in caves nowadays in poverty-stricken countries. China has 40 million cave dwellers today. 531. Vikings are depicted accurately in films. Vikings never wore horned helmets since they would prove impractical in battle. Despite what the movie, Thor: The Dark World, depicted, Vikings didn’t place their dead onto rafts and set them on fire. Vikings had normal funerals. Who would have ever thought that a Thor movie would be inaccurate? Vikings are perceived as wild savages who raided Europe between th the 8 -11th centuries. Although that’s true, history books tend to leave out a lot of details about the Vikings. They were so particular about their appearance, each Viking had a delicate grooming kit with tiny scissors, razors, ear spoons, and tweezers to keep their beard and hair perfectly groomed. You might think, “Nonsense! Where would they keep this kit when they were invading towns?” In their purse. That’s right. Vikings. Wore. Purses. During battle. On purpose. Most Vikings bleached their hair with soap to make it blond. Also, Viking women had far more power than men. It was the women who chose who to marry and when to divorce. 532. The Dark Ages was the worst time in mankind’s history, especially in science and technology. People believe that the Dark Ages ended as soon as the Renaissance began. Although this era was devastating for Europe, it was when Islam spread astronomy, physics, literature, architecture, medicine, philosophy, and mathematics. Muslims spread their advancements in schools and libraries,

and created the most detailed social welfare at the time. This was considered The Middle East Golden Age. If this had spread to Europe, the Renaissance might never have happened nor needed to. 533. Women weren’t able to vote until the 1920s. Lily Maxwell was the first woman to vote back in 1867. She was able to vote because there was no law preventing her from doing so. It would be like if a cat was elected to be mayor - there is no law against it. (That’s not a stupid example. There was a cat mayor called Stubbs in Alaska for 20 years. Please research it to prove I’m not making that up.) So why was Lily Maxwell the first woman voter? How come there wasn’t hundreds or thousands of women voters prior? Back then, women weren’t expected to have experience in diplomacy, construction, military, shipping, banking, etc. However, Maxwell was a shop owner with her own property and she had an excellent understanding of business. This got the attention of other businesswomen who also voted. When this got the attention of men in power, only then did they make it illegal for women to vote. It was this incident that kick-started the Suffragettes movement which had to fight for decades to get back women’s right to vote. Oh men! Why did they stop women from voting? Well, that’s the thing. They didn’t. History books have simplified the Suffragettes story so it sounds like Women Vs Men. No legal or political debate is that black and white. Many men supported the Suffragettes and many women were against them. Women believed that the Suffragettes might tarnish how society viewed their gender and that they should “know their place.” 20,000 men were involved in the National Men’s League in 1912 which heavily supported the Suffragettes. Former slave turned politician, Frederick Douglas, fought for women to be given the same rights he was often denied. 534. Everyone on the Hindenburg blimp died after it exploded. Many believe that the Hindenburg exploded because a spark combusted the helium within the blimp. However, the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen, not helium. 97 passengers were on the Hindenburg blimp when it exploded. Only 35 of them were killed in the crash (and one more died when the Hindenburg fell on him).

535. There are more people alive today than ever before in history. Calculations show that there have been approximately 106 billion people since 50,000 BC. There are around eight billion people alive today. 536. Judo and black belts have existed for thousands of years. Kano Jigoro created Judo in the 1880s. Shortly after, he created the concept of black belts. Before black belts, martial artists were rewarded with scrolls for their hard work. Kano’s belt concept became popular because it showed the rank of each fighter as they fought. 537. A black belt fighter is a martial artist expert. If you obtain a black belt, that means you have completed the first step of your training. This rank is known as Shodan. This takes an average of 4.5 years to obtain. However, that is the first level. There are nine more. It would take literally a lifetime to reach level 10 for you to be considered an “expert.” But by then, you’ll be about 70 so who’s going to fight you? 538. The Founding Fathers of America were fundamentally Christian. The US now has a mix of Christians, Muslims, and Hindus. You would imagine things were different back in George Washington’s time when everybody was Christian. Not so. The Founding Fathers greatly admired the Muslim faith. John Adams and Benjamin Rush regularly hailed the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Thomas Jefferson taught himself Arabic with his own Quran. Benjamin Franklin wanted every child to know the teachings of Confucius and Muhammad. George Washington had Muslims work for him because he found them friendly, intelligent, and passionate. 539. During the 1960s, everyone was a stoner. According to a poll performed by Gallup in 1969, 4% of American adults had tried marijuana. 34% of the people asked didn’t even know what marijuana did. 540. Financial bank collapses have only happened in the past century.

We have suffered many bank crashes in the last 100 years - The Great Depression of the beginning of the 20th century, The Wall Street crash in the 1980s, and The Financial Crisis of 2008. Throughout history, there have obviously been many financial crises caused by war and natural disasters but never by banks. Oh wait. There has been. The Florentine banking collapse of 1345 was the earliest mass financial crisis on record. It was catalyzed not by war or flooding but from something as mundane as bad loans and underregulation (just like the modern financial crises.) This bankrupted most farmers in Europe leading to a continental famine which killed millions of people. So, if you lost your job during the 2008 crisis, it could’ve been worse. 541. Feminists protested in the 1960s by burning bras. There was a protest of the Miss America contest in 1968 where many feminists threw bras, girdles, nylons, and other constricting clothing into a trash can. One reporter called Jon Katz wrote that this trash can was set on fire by protestors. This seems dubious since not one single report confirms this and Katz didn’t write this until years after it supposedly happened. The New York Times quoted Robin Morgan saying that “bras would be burned.” However, she stated in another interview on September 8th 1968 that this was never to be taken literally and was considered “just a symbolic bra-burning.” 542. The Mona Lisa background was brown. The background has turned brown from old age. When it was originally painted, the background behind the Mona Lisa was bright blue. 543. Only white people had black slaves. Between the 16th-18th century, Africans enslaved 1.5 million white Europeans in the Barbary slave trade. In fact, white people were the first to stop slavery in modern times. Slavery still continues in Africa to this day. 544.

The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves.

The Proclamation was only for the states that were rebelling against the Union. It didn’t affect the States that were loyal to President Lincoln. 545. The Queen of England says, “Arise sir_________.” No queen of England has been known to do this. 546. A cow caused the Great Chicago Fire. After the fire in 1871, the Chicago tribune publicized the “fact” that the fire was caused by a cow that knocked a lit lantern while it was being milked. Michael Ahern admitted decades later that he fabricated the story. 547. The Spanish Inquisition caused millions of deaths. It is assumed that the Inquisition killed everyone who was accused of heresy. However, most people who were accused were acquitted or had their sentences suspended. According to historian Thomas Madden, “the Inquisition was widely hailed as the best-run, most humane court in Europe.” Some prisoners intentionally blasphemed to get out of the state jails and be put into the Inquisition prisons. Over time, English Protestants heavily exaggerated the brutality of the Inquisition. The Inquisition led to approximately 1,250 deaths in total. That is still horrific but a thousand times lower than historians originally believed. 548. Martin Luther nailed his thesis to a church door. This is such a popular misconception that it was referenced on The Simpsons. (And we all know how The Simpsons is a reliable source of history.) Martin Luther was frustrated at how the Catholic Church was becoming corrupt so he formed the 95 Theses which inspired the Protestant Reformation. Or so the legend goes. In reality, Luther pestered the Vatican so often that the Pope had no choice but to act on it. When the public got wind of a struggle within the church, they followed Luther’s teachings and helped set up the Protestant church. Luther never nailed a thesis to a door nor did he ever want to form his own church. Luther was so modest, he wanted to keep his grumblings about the church to himself and he was embarrassed that it became a spectacle as well as its own religion.

549. Lady Godiva rode naked on a horse to stop the local taxes from being raised. If you’re not familiar with the story, Godiva was a noble woman whose husband, Leofric, had raised the taxes of Coventry too high. Leofric said he wouldn’t raise the taxes if she rode through the town naked on horseback. Godiva agreed, but she insisted that everybody in the town stay indoors with their windows shut. One person called Tom bore a hole in his window and saw Godiva on the horse. This is where the term “Peeping Tom” comes from. Or so people believe. Godiva died in 1067 and there are no records from her lifetime that reference this story at all. The earliest record of this story comes from the 13th century and even then, it was seen more as an urban legend rather than historic fact. 550. The American National Anthem was written by an American. Although the American-born, Francis Scott Key, gets the credit for writing the Anthem, he took the lyrics from a poem written by a Brit called John Stafford Smith. The poem was originally called Anacreon in Heaven. 551. Thanksgiving is a holiday that celebrates when the Pilgrims ate turkey with the Native Americans. Although this meal did take place in 1621, Thanksgiving wasn’t celebrated until two centuries later. Although President Abraham Lincoln turned Thanksgiving into a national holiday, he didn’t decide how Thanksgiving was to be celebrated. The way we celebrate Thanksgiving was concocted in Sarah Hale’s Women’s Magazine. Hale was the editor of her magazine and she “set” the foods that people should eat on Thanksgiving and are now traditional like turkey and pumpkin pie (even though neither were eaten in the original meal.) 552. Puritans wore large black hats and long cloaks. Puritans wore the same clothing as everyone else. The image of a puritan in long black robes was used for satire or scare tactics.

553. There was a Spanish king that lisped so badly, the people began lisping to make him feeling less self-conscious. This story is told to explain to tourists in Spain why the locals lisp. This can’t be true since Latinos only lisp certain sounds. If this story was true, the Spanish would lisp every “s” sound. 554. The middle finger insult originated during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 when English captives had their middle fingers chopped off by the French to prevent them from firing a bow. To intimidate their enemies, archers showed their middle finger to prove they were still a threat. The middle finger insult goes back to Ancient Greece. This digit represented the God of Wine and Ecstasy, Dionysus. People who embraced Dionysus enjoyed life and cared little of what people thought of them and showed this with their middle finger. The Greeks even called the middle digit the “digitus impudicus” which means “impudent finger.” 555. Gigantic, muscular Amazonian women existed. Amazons were a Greek myth that became a popular idea when Francisco de Orellana stumbled upon their supposed lost tribe. It is unknown whom Orellana encountered but it is suggested it was the Icamiabas in South Africa. He couldn’t have mistaken them for the legendary Amazonians because the Icamiabas weren’t an all-female tribe. 556. Macbeth was a tyrannical Scottish king. You may be surprised to learn that Macbeth wasn’t a creation of Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth murdered the beloved King Duncan and became a maniacal tyrant. In reality, Macbeth probably did kill Duncan, but only in a desperate attempt to undo the damage that Duncan caused as a corrupt and incompetent ruler. Macbeth rebuilt Scotland and reformed its relationships with other nations. 557. A barbarian originally meant “wild savage.” “Barbarian” was a word used by the Ancient Greeks to describe anyone who wasn’t Greek. They claimed that non-Greeks all sounded the same and made noises like, “Bar-bar-bar-bar.”

558. In ancient times, surgeons drilled holes in people’s skulls to cure certain disorders. Modern surgeons no longer perform this procedure. This practice is called trepanation and it is still practiced today. I don’t mean it’s practiced in uncivilized society. Highly qualified doctors in America carry out this procedure today and it is surprisingly effective against depression and schizophrenia. It has been debated whether it works like a placebo effect, but we know so little about the human brain, that doctors can’t be certain. 559. The All-Seeing Eye on the dollar bill symbolizes the Freemasons. This is an understandable misconception. After all, George Washington was a Freemason. Freemasons didn’t use this eye as a symbol until after it was used on the dollar bill. The eye originally represented an all-seeing providence. 560. Ring around the rosie is a song that was inspired by the Black Death. Let’s break this song down “Ring-around the rosie” – ringed sores appeared on the infected. “A pocketful of posies” – victims carried flowers to hide the putrid smell. “A tissue a tissue” – victims would cough up blood. “We all fall down” – because they died. At a glance, this seems to make sense. However, this song was never heard of until 200 years after the Black Death. The plague occurred in 1665. The first written version was in 1883. To this day, nobody knows where these lyrics come from or their meaning. 561. The Declaration of Independence was a big deal. The Declaration was presented on the Fourth of July but nobody signed it for almost another month. John Hancock was the first to sign it on the second of August. There are paintings depicting all 56 signers lining up and signing the document one by one. The final signature wasn’t performed until November.

562. King Arthur’s sword was called Excalibur. Many things have changed about the original myth of Arthur, including his sword’s name, which was Caliburn. 563. The Mayans prophesized that the world would end in December 2012. The Mayans never suggested this. Just in case you were wondering, neither did the Aztecs. 564. Modern civilizations don’t commit human sacrifices to appease their gods. The United Press Trust of India (UPI) stated that over 800 people per year are sacrificed in India to the goddess of destruction, Kali. 565. Ninjas wore all-black suits. The “ninja outfit” that you see in movies is a Kabuki costume. In Japanese theatre, Kabukis are stagehands, which means that they changed the set inbetween scenes. They wore a black outfit covering them from head-to-toe so the audience didn’t see them as it would ruin the illusion of theatre. “Kabuki” translates into “we are not here.” Such outfits were never used by ninjas. This outfit is the worst disguise ever (especially in the day time). You would stick out like… a Kabuki in a crowd. Ninjas looked like normal people, usually under the guise of an underling job like a farmer so they didn’t stand out. Many of them were female since women were underestimated or discounted. Also, women were more than happy to become ninjas since they were not allowed to be samurais. If a ninja had to commit a stealthy job at night, they would wear a stealth outfit. However, the outfit was blue, not black. 566. King Henry VIII was a fat king. Many people find Henry VIII’s depiction in the television show, The Tudors, a typical example of studios romanticizing history, by making the king a handsome, well-built cuckold instead of a grossly obese monarch.

When he was young, King Henry VIII was known for being incredibly muscular and athletic. He took horse-riding and sports very seriously. Sadly, this was his undoing. A horrific horse-riding accident left him in so much agony, he was practically bed-ridden for the last ten years of his life, which made him balloon up to 400lbs. In fact, Henry was so fat, that his corpse literally exploded as it was being lowered into a lead-lined coffin. That must’ve been memorable. 567. King Henry VIII had six wives. Henry himself said his first marriage “didn’t count.” His authority on this decision was accepted because he was the head of the Church of England. Henry’s second marriage was considered illegal according to the Pope because he was still married to his first wife. Henry’s fourth and fifth marriages were annulled, which means that they legally never happened. So only his third and sixth marriages are considered “real marriages”. 568. People jumped from skyscrapers during the Wall Street crash. The comedian, Will Rogers, said this as a joke. A total of two people committed suicide by jumping out of buildings in the Wall Street crash of 1929. Neither of them were bankers. 569. During the Bronze Age, people mostly used bronze. In this time, nearly all people used stone. Bronze was extremely rare. It would be like calling modern times The AntiMatter Age. Antimatter exists but it’s so rare, you’re never going to see it in your entire life. The “Bronze” Age was between 2300 BC-600 BC. Bronze became common in 1200 BC-400 AD… which is confusing because this was right smack in the middle of the Iron Age (where people actually used iron.) 570. The Yin-Yang symbol originated from China. The Taoist yin/yang symbol (which many people incorrectly believe is called the mandala) is probably the most iconic Chinese symbol even though it originated in Ancient Rome. The symbol first appeared in a Roman book from the 5th century called the Notitia Dignitatum. It has also been spotted on ancient Roman shields. The symbol was supposed to represent the first Roman emperor, Augustus. The symbol didn’t appear in China for another seven centuries.

571. Selfies are a recent fad. If you hate the “selfies” fad, guess what? Selfies existed shortly after the camera was invented. There are pictures of selfies that date back to 1839. I don’t know if this is reassuring or more depressing. 572. Ancient Greek statues looked the same as they do now. All marble statues (and many buildings and structures) were extremely colorful in Ancient Greece. All of the purple, red, blue, green, and yellow have faded due to rain and time. 573. Those who were accused of witchcraft during Puritan times were burned at the stake. You might think you are clever and think they were hanged or drowned. But most women accused of being witches were acquitted. If a person was accused of being a witch in Puritan times, they could avoid death either by admitting to witchcraft or by accusing someone else. Some people refused to admit to witchcraft, worried that it would disgrace their family name. Those few were punished by being hanged, not burned. 574. The Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago. The last Ice Age hasn’t ended yet. People worry that climate change may cause another Ice Age, not realizing that we are in one. By definition, an Ice Age ends when the polar ice caps melt. The next full-blown Ice Age isn’t expected to happen for 12,000 years. 575. After the Taj Mahal was built, the emperor chopped off the hands of all of the workers so they could never build anything to surpass it. The building of the Taj Mahal was overseen by Emperor Shah Jahan. He dedicated the building to the memory of his third and favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction on the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and it took at least 17 years for 22,000 construction workers to build it. Despite the fact that the Taj Mahal’s tour guide says that Jahan had the workers’ hands chopped off, there is no evidence to support this. I mean, how would that work? Did Jahan believe that 22,000 people were

going to spend 17 years building something else? How would they organize that? Did they have a union? 576. Chastity belts existed. Chastity belts are a fictional concoction. There are some belts in museums that are completely fake. A chastity belt would be pretty impractical if the wearer needed to use the toilet. 577. “Saved by the bell” is a phrase that came from the idea that people were buried alive in Victorian times. Victorian society was so scared of being buried alive, people had strings in coffins attached to a bell above ground. If a person woke up in a coffin buried alive, they could tug the string, which would ring the bell, alerting anyone nearby that the buried person wasn’t dead. This “saved by the bell” story is said to have inspired the novel, Dracula. The bell idea was seriously considered but there isn’t a single example of someone ever being “saved by the bell.” So where does the expression come from? The phrase was originally used in boxing when the bell rang just before a boxer was about to be knocked out. 578. The bubonic plague originated in Europe. The Black Death originated in Europe but the bubonic plague has been around for millennia. It’s still around today. The earliest record of this plague was in China 2,600 years ago. 579. Rap battles have been around for a few decades. Vikings challenged each other to rap battles as early as the 5th century. Two people took turns churning out insults in iambic tetrameter. It was called flyting but it was the same format as has been seen in Eminem’s movie, 8 Mile. 580. Cowboys were Americans who wore cowboy hats and rode horses. The first cowboys were Mexican. They coined a lot of cowboy slang like “bronco,” “stampede,” and “lariat.” This is why a three-man duel was called a Mexican standoff.

The hats that cowboys wore never looked like “cowboy hats” at any point. They either looked like a flat hat, bowlers, or a slanted top hat. Also, a cowboy was more likely to ride on a camel than a horse. 581. Tumbleweeds filled the wild western landscape. Contrary to what you’ve seen in every western ever, tumbleweeds (or Russian thistles as they are officially known) were not a part of the western landscape. 582. American cowboys called a cow-catching rope a “lasso.” Mexicans called a looped rope a “lasso.” American cowboys called them ropes. How creative.

THE HUMAN BODY 583. Human beings have five senses. It’s debatable how many senses we have but it’s at least ten. There are the five obvious ones – taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing. Then we get to the more obscure ones i) Equlibrioception – sense of balance ii) Thermoception – sense of temperature iii) Proprioception – body awareness iv) Nociception – sense of pain v) Chronoception – sense of time There are a lot more “mini-senses” but for the sake of keeping it simple, we say there are five “official” senses. 584. The appendix is the only part of the body that’s useless. There are at least nine useless body parts. i) Wisdom teeth. ii) Auricular muscles allowed our ancestors to swivel their ears. iii) The third eyelid by our tear duct helped our ancestors see underwater. iv) The coccyx is what’s left from when our ancestors had tails. v) Male nipples are useless. vi) Darwin’s point is a flap of skin in our ear that does sod all. vii) The vomeronasal organ let our ancestors smell pheromones. viii) Erector pili give us goosebumps, which kept our ancestors warm when they had thicker body hair… speaking of which… ix) Body hair. You may notice that the appendix isn’t on the list. That’s because the appendix isn’t useless. It creates antibodies and stores helpful bacteria. Anyone who has had their appendix removed is more prone to sickness. 585. If you get burnt, apply butter to the burn to ease the pain. Butter will make the burn worse as it will trap the heat in. Instead, use cold water and do not cover the burn.

586. Universal anesthetic exists. You’ve seen these anesthetics in countless movies. Someone gets shot with a dart and they get knocked out. However, biology dictates that there is no single anesthetic that will work on everybody because of biology; the bigger the person, the bigger the dosage needed. The best movie to use as an example is X-Men 2. In the film, a black ops team breaks into a mansion and fires an anesthetic dart at a ten-year-old kid, knocking him out. They then try to shoot the same anesthetic dart into a 6ft 6 tall body-builder called Colossus. If the dart was designed to knock out a kid, it would have no effect on a huge, muscular man. If the dart was designed for a man of immense size, the anesthetic could kill a child. It gets more complicated. In surgery, doctors have to put you under anesthetic. If you have an average build, they know the recommended level of anesthetic to give you to avoid endangering your health. If you are smaller or bigger, then it can get tricky. If doctors know the dosage to give to a 150lb man, they can’t just give a 300lb man double the dosage. He could overdose and die. The surgeons have to regulate the anesthetic and monitor the dosage throughout all surgery when the patient is bigger or smaller than average. 587. Doctors know how anesthetic works. This is what modern society believe – you receive an anesthetic, which paralyses, impairs, or deactivates the section of the brain that receives stimulus to indicate pain. But there is no single section of the brain that alerts us to pain. Our ancestors knew long ago that certain painkillers like morphine relieve us of pain, but they didn’t know how. You’d think doctors of today would have a biological understanding but it still remains a mystery. The brain is far from being understood. 588. The strongest muscle is the tongue. The tongue is several muscles so it can’t be considered the strongest “muscle.” That honor belongs to the jaw muscle, the masseter. 589.

The human body has 600 muscles.

We don’t know how many muscles the human body has. Different experts give different answers. There are three types of muscles – striated (skeletal muscles that you can control), smooth muscles (which are involuntarily controlled by nerves,) and cardiac muscles (like the heart,) Striated muscle experts would say there are 650 muscles in the human body. If you include all of your cardiac muscles, it’s more like 850. If you include your involuntary muscles, that number would be in the millions. The reason that number is so high is because every hair on your body (not just those on your head) is attached to a teeny-weeny muscle. 590. You should wipe away your sweat when you are hot. Sweat is your body’s way of releasing heat. Sweat cools you down when it evaporates. Wiping the fluid away before it has a chance to evaporate keeps you warm and produces more sweat. 591. You see with your eyes. How do you see dreams? Blind people have images in their head. How? If you picture an apple now, how does that work? Your eyes weren’t looking at one, so how is it possible? You see through the visual cortex. Your eyes assemble images by absorbing light and sending it to your brain to register in your cortex. This takes 80 milliseconds so the delay is virtually unnoticeable. 592. Receiving an organ transplant is a second chance at life. Your body doesn’t intellectually understand that a new organ has replaced an old organ to save your life. If you get a new liver, you’re not out of the woods yet. Your immune system sees this new organ as an “alien.” Your antibodies treat it exactly like a virus invading the body and attack it. Since the organ is supposed to stay in your body forever, your antibodies will attack it until the day you die. Sadly, your death will be sped up thanks to your antibodies preventing your transplanted organ performing its job. Nowadays, people have to take immune-suppressants after they receive an organ transplant in order to reduce the attack of a new organ. Unfortunately, it is not a perfected science.

593. Human beings have a tongue map where certain sections react to sour, bitter, sweet, etc. You have a tongue map but it’s not as straightforward as what is taught in biology class. A doctor couldn’t point to a part of the tongue and tell you which taste it experiences. This is a very easy myth to disprove. If you place salt anywhere on your tongue, you can taste it. Yet, this century-old misconception wasn’t challenged by the scientific community until 1974. 594. If a finger or toe gets chopped off, put it on ice so it can be reattached later. Ice deadens the nerves which prevents any chance of re-attaching the digit. Ideally, an unattached digit should be put in a reasonably cool and germfree container but not in anything freezing. 595. You need eight glasses of water a day. You need the equivalent of eight glasses of water a day. If you have this much water a day and then eat a watermelon, you are going to feel bloated. The “eight glasses” includes the water in the food you eat. 596. It’s easy to tell when someone is lying. Avoiding eye contact is the most common stereotype for liars, which means it is the first characteristic a person tries to identify when accusing someone of lying. However, since this concept is quite well-known, it is more likely that a liar will maintain eye contact to give the impression that he or she is telling the truth. People are often accused of lying because they can’t remember a specific detail. But look at it this way - If you were asked what movie you saw at the cinema three months ago, you would need a moment to recall (and you mightn’t be able to.) If you pretended you went to the movie theatre three months ago because you were doing something illegal, you would have your lie prepared in an attempt to cover your tracks. Truth-tellers don’t remember trivial information like a specific day you went to see a movie. Liars can call upon their lies instantly because they don’t want to get caught. A person is often accused of lying if they get angry. However, A liar wants to come across that as if they are telling the truth and so, is more

likely to stay calm. Getting angry will make it harder for a liar to maintain their lies and keep their story straight. Nobody likes being accused of something they haven’t done so it’s more likely that someone telling the truth will react to an accusation with anger. Another stereotype is that people touch their face when they are lying. This is an unreliable rule since some people are prone to scratching themselves or over gesticulating. If you think somebody is lying to you, you shouldn’t focus on what they do but what they say. You can fake a lot of facial expressions to seem genuine but it’s incredibly tough for your voice to sound sincere when you aren’t. It’s far easier to tell if someone is lying on the phone than in person because you may focus on the wrong things. A liar hopes to be believed. A person telling the truth expects to be believed. So liars will try harder to convince a person they are telling a truth than someone who actually is. 597. Hand sanitizers kill germs. Hand sanitizers are less effective than soap (which also doesn’t kill germs.) Using sanitizers regularly makes germs build up a resistance to it. 598. Anti-aging cream works. Anti-aging cream moistens your skin but it doesn’t slow down your cells from aging in any way. 599. Blood glows under UV light. Milk, saliva, and urine glow under UV light but blood looks black. It doesn’t even look like blood. It looks like tar and is very easy to miss under a UV light because it can be mistaken for a shadow. If detectives want to find blood in a crime scene, they use luminol, which makes blood glow blue. 600. In crime scenes, it’s easy to find blood. Despite what shows like Dexter will tell you, the human has ten pints of blood, not a hundred. Even if someone was attacked and stabbed repeatedly, their blood would not fly everywhere as is depicted in horror movies. Blood only spurts when an artery is severed but that is very rare. Head injuries will also cause a lot of blood. But if a person is attacked,

stabbed or shot anywhere else, forensic teams can search in vain for hours trying to find a single drop of blood from a victim. 601. Detectives find DNA tests useful. DNA tests can be used to solve a crime but nowhere near as often as you’d think. If a criminal touched the front door as he robbed a bank, you would assume that crime detectives could get a DNA sample. And they would. But they’d also find the DNA from every other person that touched the door. DNA can help solve crimes but it is not a perfected science. 602. Detectives find fingerprints useful for solving crimes. Perfect fingerprints are rare. Most fingerprints are partial. 90% of the time, partial prints are useless. A full fingerprint will only appear if a person pressed their finger or thumb hard on certain surfaces. Even if a person fired a gun, fingerprints rarely appear on the handle or the trigger. 603. We use 10% of our brains. Everyone has seen a diagram of the brain with arrows that point at sections that say “Sight,” “Taste,” “Smell,” and so on. Have you ever seen a diagram where all of these captions were pointing at 10% of the brain and the rest of it was blank? We can only use 10% of our brain at one time. We know this because the more we multi-task, the more our attention to each individual task starts to fade. Your brain can do many things but it can’t do them simultaneously. Weirdly, Albert Einstein believed this myth. 604. The brain is pink and brain-shaped. The brain’s pinkness comes from the blood cells. However, sections of it are white and black. When you die, the brain’s color turns to grey. The brain is shaped the way it is because it is in the head. Once it is taken out of the body it will become a shapeless, gooey blob unless it is preserved. 605. The bigger your brain is, the smarter you are. Albert Einstein had a very small brain and he is considered to be arguably the most influential scientist of all time.

Experts believe that the quantity of neurons and synapses are the biggest factor in defining a person’s intelligence. After all, intelligence can’t just be about size. The sperm whale has the biggest brain in the animal kingdom. It weighs 18lbs, which is six times heavier than a human’s. Many people believe the reason that humans are the smartest beings is because we have the largest brain proportion to body size. But that’s not true either. The ant’s brain makes up 6% of its entire weight. That’s triple the proportion of a human brain. So how come ants aren’t flying around in space and writing theses? You see, insects can’t have complex neurons the way we do. Humans have 40,000 times as many neurons as ants. This allows us to develop intellect and self-awareness. Ants are excellent at surviving and have been on Earth 26 million times longer than humans. But they probably couldn’t split an atom or unlock an iPhone. 606. Women have a higher resistance to pain than men. Women have half the pain tolerance of men because they have twice as many pain receptors. When our male ancestors were hunting, the men had to fight predators, prey, and rivals. If men registered the same amount of pain as a woman does during battle, a male’s body would tell them to quit or run. Women need to have more pain receptors so they can sense if anything is wrong when they are pregnant. This is where the idea of women’s intuition comes from. A man will not be able to register the level of pain or feeling as delicately as a woman. Women live longer than men. It’s not because they are less likely to get cancer. They’re just better at detecting if something is wrong because their sensors are more receptive than men’s. 607. If you are creative, you mainly use the left side of your brain. The University of Utah studied over a thousand brains and found no evidence that people preferentially use one side more than the other. Creativity can be divided into many categories and all of these sections are distributed randomly around your brain. 608. The inside of the body looks like the diagrams you have seen in biology.

That picture has been simplified so you can see every body part. In most diagrams, every organ seems to fit together like a jigsaw. You can’t show an accurate depiction of your organs on a flat 2D picture. In diagrams, the lungs look like they take up the top half of the upper body. In reality, the lungs fill most of the upper body. The lungs start at the collarbone and end below the belly button. Diagrams make the liver look like it’s the size of a grapefruit when it is nearly the width of the person’s waist. If you want to have a good understanding of what the inside of the body looks like, look at 3D videos online, not 2D pictures. 609. If you swallow gum, it will take seven years to digest. If this was true, it would block the rest of your food (unless the gum traffics other food and that’s just silly). 610. You need to be super strong to rip a phone book in half. Get a good grip on the spine of a book and bend it sharply so it breaks. Immediately pull the two pieces in different directions. It has nothing to do with strength. Even a child can do it. 611. You won’t get sunburnt if you are underwater. Sunrays can penetrate water up to 30 meters. People are more likely to be sunburnt in water because it absorbs sunlight. 612. Sunburn occurs because your skin is damaged after being exposed to too much Sun. The cause of sunburn is much scarier than you would imagine. The reason our skin starts to peel and becomes painful to touch when we are in the Sun is because the skin cells commit suicide to stop the body from developing cancer. Although many people see sunburn as a minor inconvenience, your cells are keeping cancer at bay every moment you expose yourself to intense heat. 613. A human will drown in water after four minutes. It depends on the type of water. Drowning to death in fresh water takes two or three minutes. Bizarrely, a person can live under seawater for up to ten minutes. This is because salt thickens the blood, letting less water into the lungs.

614. Drowning means dying from not being able to breathe underwater. Drowning means “water in the lungs.” You can drown but still survive. 615. Drowners thrash the water with their arms. Drowning in real life doesn’t resemble how it is depicted in movies. Once a person starts to drown, they often go into Instinctive Drowning Response mode. The person will not kick or scream. Drowning is so undramatic that people have drowned to death even with lifeguards nearby who didn’t notice. 616. Facemasks will stop the wearer from getting ill. Facemasks stop certain illnesses from entering the body but they won’t stop the wearer from expelling the germs that are already present inside of them. Facemasks can be beneficial since they stop other people from getting sick because they can’t absorb the germs. The person who wears the facemask will be far more prone to illness as their immune system won’t be developed enough to combat other illnesses. 617. If you cut yourself, suck the wound. If you cut your finger, the mouth is one of the worst places to put it. Your mouth is filled with bacteria so it is more likely you will get an infection. 618. The most common metal in the human body is iron. The most plentiful metal in the human body is calcium. A metal by definition is simply an element that conducts electricity and heat. Calcium does both since it controls nerve transmissions and strengthens bones. Calcium in its purest form is as shiny as aluminum. 619. If a person is sprayed by tear gas, it only hurts the eyes. If tear gas touches the eyes, the gas has a chemical reaction, which tells the brain to turn on all of the pain receptors in the body. If you were tear gassed, your whole body will feel like it is on fire. The pain can be so intense, it can cause permanent damage to abdominals and reproductive organs. In rare occurrences, it has caused death.

620. Without a tissue, you should sneeze in your hand. Your hand is the most illogical place to sneeze into. You are sneezing into the part of the body that is most prone to touching anything! Your hand isn’t a great tool to holding back a sneeze and it’s quite likely you will spray germs more than if you just sneezed into the air. The best place to sneeze in the absence of a tissue is your sleeve. The germs will be in one single area that you are unlikely to touch. 621. You can get a sexually transmitted disease from a toilet seat. Health expert, Basil Donovan, says the virus from an STD dies within minutes of being exposed to air so there is zero chance of catching one from a toilet seat. This myth has been around since the late 19th century. People who contracted STDs were too embarrassed to go to a physician Doctors decided to make a campaign stating that you could get an STD from a toilet seat. Surely enough, countless patients came forward immediately. 622. A contact lens can get stuck behind your eye. This is impossible since there’s no cavity behind the eye for the lens to go into. 623. You should whiten your teeth. Although healthy teeth are white, they eventually turn yellow. Every procedure to whiten teeth damages enamel in the long run. If you have your teeth whitened, they will look better but will sustain long-term damage. Despite what every advertisement tells you, toothpaste will not turn your yellow teeth white. Toothpaste simply removes stains. 624. If you have a nosebleed, lean your head back. Leaning back can make the blood go into your throat, which can make you ill. Leaning forward lessens the bleeding and clears your nose. Obviously, ice and holding your nose helps but leaning forward is a pretty easy and effective remedy. 625. Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. That crack sound is an air bubble escaping from the joints. Donald Unger cracked the knuckles on his left hand every day for 50 years! He never did

it to his right hand. And guess what? He didn’t develop arthritis in either hand. When this was confirmed, he looked up to the heavens and shouted, “YOU WERE WRONG, MOTHER!!!” What a guy. 626. If you cross your legs too often, you can develop varicose veins. According to Kate Griesmann of the Duke University Health System, varicose veins are mainly caused by genetics but can also form due to menopause, obesity, or pregnancy. 627. There are muscles in your fingers. There are no muscles in your fingers. In fact, there are very few muscles in your hand. Muscles in the forearm and palm create finger movements. 628. Women don’t have Adam’s apples. Remember that Friends episode where the characters made fun of Joey for not knowing that women are lacking an Adams’ apple? Turns out Joey was right. Every woman has an Adam’s apple. Adam apples are usually not as pronounced as a man’s but all women have one. 629. You can inject someone directly in the heart. This idea is popular thanks to the movie, Pulp Fiction. However, doctors never inject directly to the heart, not even for a heart attack. 630. You can’t get chickenpox twice. My friend, Keren, who got chickenpox twice, disagrees. It would be weird if he didn’t. Chickenpox can come back. If you develop chickenpox as an adult, you can get shingles. Even if your child has already had chickenpox, you should still vaccinate them from the illness. 631. Humans have two nostrils. Humans have four nostrils; two external ones that we can see and two internal ones (called choannae) connected to the inside of your throat. The choannae allow you to breathe without using your mouth. 632. Most of your body heat is lost through your head. When the US Army originally performed these tests in 1951, the test subjects were in freezing cold and they were wearing warm clothes.

However, they weren’t wearing hats! The heat could only escape from their head. Heat does not have a favorite place to escape the body. Heat escapes the body evenly from every body part. 633. You are born with 200 bones. You are born with over 300 bones. As you grow older, the bones ossify to form 206 bones, usually at the age of six. 634. Hot water kills germs. Hot water won’t kill germs unless it is at least 80 degrees Celsius. Intensely scrubbing your hands under water gets rid of germs but it doesn’t kill them. 635. There are four tastes – bitter, sweet, sour, and salt. There are five tastes. The fifth taste is Umami (which means “delicious” in Japanese.) It’s the taste of MSG in Asian food, mushrooms, celery, soy sauce, and Marmite. 636. If you are lost in the snow with no water, you should eat snow to hydrate yourself. If you were freezing, why would eating freezing snow be a good idea? Eating snow will make you feel colder. If you are desperate and need water, let the snow melt, and then drink just enough to get by. 637. The funny bone is a bone. The reason the funny bone hurts so much when it gets hit is a nerve called the ulnar nerve. It’s nicknamed the “funny bone” because it’s near the humerus bone. 638. People develop blood clots on planes because of the decompressed air. Decompression by itself can’t lead to blood clots. You may think it has to do with sitting still for a long period of time. However, you have sat still for hours at school or when you watched television. Decompressed air or sitting still are not harmful by themselves. It’s the combination of the two that can cause a blood clot.

639. If you are about to have a heart attack, you will have a sharp paralyzing pain in your left arm and chest. A lot of heart attacks give no warning. Half of the people who have heart attacks suffer silently. This gives you less time to get to a doctor and these types of heart attacks are considered more lethal. The type of pain can vary. Before a heart attack, women tend to feel dizzy, anxious, fatigued, or bloated. A man might feel a toothache, a tightness in the chest, a pain in the shoulder or jaw, or a cold sweat. The common symptom for both genders is pressure in the chest, shoulder, and arm. 640. The large intestine is larger than the small intestine. The large intestine looks bigger because it surrounds the small intestine. If you spread the organs out, the small intestine measures 20ft in length while the large intestine measures 5ft. 641. If you have a high IQ, you are really smart. To quote Stephen Hawking, who’s probably the smartest person in recent memory, “I have no idea what my IQ is. People who boast about their IQ are losers.” IQ tests can help you understand certain strengths and weaknesses, like spatial awareness and the ability to assess three-dimensional patterns. When we think of intelligence, most people think of academic intelligence. But what about experiential intelligence? Or creative intelligence? What about practical, contextual, componential, analytical, interpersonal, verballinguistic, logical-mathematical, intrapersonal, musical, emotional, or social intelligence? There is no single test you can do that encapsulates your overall intelligence. Whatever you’re good at, you will always be bad at something else. People tend to balance out so having a supposedly high IQ doesn’t signify anything about your ability or your intelligence over anybody else. 642. You look the same as you see yourself in the mirror. Did you ever look at a photo of yourself with a group of friends and wonder why you look weird? It’s not the camera. Everybody else looks normal. There’s something wrong with your face but you can’t place it. The reason people don’t like themselves in photographs is because they are used to seeing their reversed image in a mirror. When you stare

into a mirror, you see your left features on your right side and vice versa. Pictures show you how you really look, but these images jar with our mind because we usually see a reversed image of ourselves. How you appear in a photograph is how everyone sees you and how you appear in a mirror is how you see yourself. 643. Your voice sounds the same way as you hear it. Your mouth and ears are close to each other, so when you speak,your ears hear your voice differently to how everybody else hears it. Let’s do an experiment - Put your hands in-between your ears and your cheekbones with your thumbs sticking outward. If you speak now, you will hear yourself the way other people do. 644. If you covered someone in gold paint from head to toe, they will die from suffocation. This idea became popular thanks to the movie, Goldfinger. There has been an archaic theory that we breathe through our skin as well as our mouth and nose. This idea is unfounded. I wouldn’t recommend being covered in gold paint, but you can obviously breathe through your nose and mouth. 645. You can’t tickle yourself. You can tickle yourself in one spot – the roof of your mouth. 646. Reading in dim light damages your eyesight. In dim light, the muscles around the pupils contract to let in more light. It can strain your eyes but it won’t impair them in the long run. 647. If you are cold, you will catch a cold. If you are cold, you will catch pneumonia before you catch a cold. A cold is a virus that you catch from people. It is more likely you will catch a cold in freezing weather because you spend more time indoors with other people. 648. Your nerves are hundreds of feet long. If you stretched your nerves out, they would reach nearly 45 miles. 649.

The dirtiest part of the human body is the underwear area.

This is the cleanest area because it’s tightly sealed twofold by trousers and underwear. The dirtiest parts of the body are the most exposed body parts – the hands. Your face gets a lot of bacteria and germs too, but your hands are especially prone to getting dirty because they touch surfaces, open doors, etc. 650. You should wash your hands after you use the toilet. Now that you know the hands are the dirtiest part of the human body, you will understand that the most logical time to wash your hands is before you use the toilet. 651. It takes more muscles to frown than to smile. There are 53 facial muscles. It takes 12 to smile. It takes 11 to frown. Look at it this way, if you smile, you burn slightly more calories. 652. Latinos and black people can’t have blond or ginger hair. Modern Family star, Sofia Vergara, is a blonde actress from Colombia who regularly gets asked by casting directors why she dyes her hair. Many people don’t realize that Vergara is naturally blonde. Latinos can have red or blond hair. It is just rarer in their genes. A black person can have red hair or blonde hair if both of the parents carry a certain gene. Melanesian natives of New Guinea and some Pacific islands are populated by black people with blond, curly hair. 653. You should clean your ears with cotton buds. Earwax naturally cleans your ears. Pushing a cotton bud into your ear will push the earwax further down your ear, making you far more prone to infections. Your ears are self-cleaning. It’s okay to use a cotton bud a couple of times a year but doctors recommend you don’t use them routinely. 654. You need to wash your hair every day. I did that. I went bald at 22. That kind of backfired. Your hair produces natural oils that will preserve your hair for longer. Shampooing it every day doesn’t allow your hair a chance to do this. 655.

The more you shave, the thicker the hair grows back.

If that were true, I would still have hair. 656. If you fall from a great height and land in water, you should be fine. A person falling 60 meters would fall at 120mph. Falling at 80mph would be fatal, so hitting water at 120mph would have the same effect on your body as landing on concrete. 657. Your hair and nails grow for three days after death. When you die, your body becomes completely dehydrated which causes your skin to shrink back, making your nails and hair look longer. No cells can grow without a source of glucose, which stops being produced after death. 658. Glaucoma and cataracts can be corrected. Although there are surgical procedures to correct eye damage, once glaucoma sets in, it cannot be reversed. There’s also this myth that cataracts can be removed with a laser because cataracts form on the outside of the eye. The idea that a cataract is on the outside of the eye is also a misconception (That’s right, it’s a misconception within a misconception). Cataracts form within the lens of the eye and cannot be removed with a laser. The lens can be removed with a physical tool and be replaced with an artificial one but it is expensive, painful, and dangerous. 659. Eye transplants are possible. Now that blindness can be corrected, many people are under the impression that eye transplants exist. At this moment in time, only corneal transplants are possible. 660. You are allergic to something. Few people have genuine allergies. You may think, “But I can’t eat wheat or pasta or citric acid, etc.” Those are intolerances, not allergies. An intolerance causes mild side effects e.g. bloating, headaches, rash, drowsiness, ulcers, and so on. An allergy is a dangerous reaction. An allergy to medication or peanuts can cause paralysis, brain damage, impotence, or death.

661. When you are hot, drink a cold drink to cool down and vice versa. External heat will affect your body temperature, but not as much as internal heat. If you drink a cold soda when you are too hot, your body temperature will react to the cold drink by making you feel warmer. So attempting to stay cool will make you hotter. When hot, drink hot drinks. When cold, drink cold drinks. 662. Men think of sex every seven seconds. How would men drive? Or eat? Or do anything? Experts estimate that 30% of men don’t think about sex during the day at all. 663. Viruses stay alive on hard surfaces for ages. Most viruses die within 2-8 hours. A cold is the only common virus that lives for 24 hours. 664. A human baby is weak. Considering how small a newborn baby is, it can find its way to its mother by crawling with one hand. That’s a newborn basically performing a onearmed push up. If a baby grabbed onto a horizontal pole one-handed, it would be able to keep up its entire body weight. Most adults can’t do this. Pound for pound, a baby is stronger than a fully-grown ox. 665. You are likely to survive if your hand gets cut off. Characters on television and movies often survive after having a limb cut off. In reality, You would only survive if you immediately applied pressure to the wound and didn’t move at all (which is really hard when you’re in agony and your body is going into shock.) You have 60 seconds at most to seal the wound before you will lose consciousness. If you do all of this perfectly, your odds of survival are still not great. 666. If you don’t wash your hair, you will get lice. Washing your hair will not stop lice from taking up residence in your head. All you need to do to catch lice is to be near someone else with lice. 667.

You can tell if someone is dead by feeling his or her pulse.

Doctors usually don’t check the pulse to verify if a patient is dead. Using a stethoscope to verify a heartbeat is the most sensible technique. 668. If you get knocked out, you’ll wake up a few hours later with a headache. If you are knocked out for longer than five minutes, it’s likely you will have a concussion. If that is the case, you need to see a doctor urgently or you may suffer a life-threatening brain injury. 669. You should brush your teeth after you eat. Brushing your teeth immediately after eating can cause extreme damage to tooth enamel. Acidity in food causes enamel to soften so you shouldn’t expose your teeth to brushing. You should brush before you eat and focus on the gums rather than the teeth. 670. The heart will stop pumping once it is disconnected from the body. The heart has its own electrical impulse so it can keep pumping blood as long as it’s receiving oxygen. A human heart can pump for as long as 25 minutes after it has been removed from the body. 671. Ebola spreads through contact with human skin. Ebola can only spread through mucus membrane, broken skin, or bodily fluid. Unless you come into contact with an Ebola sufferer’s blood, sweat, or urine, you can’t catch it. 672. If someone is suffering from hypothermia, he or she must be made warm as soon as possible. If a person was suffering from hypothermia, you’d think you should give them a hot water bottle or put them in a warm bath. Ironically, this might kill them. Warming up someone with hypothermia too quickly will cause blood to rush to the newly opened vessels in the arms and legs, and away from the brain and vital organs. The first thing you should do when someone develops hypothermia is to ring an ambulance. While you wait, make sure the person is wrapped in dry blankets or towels. Warm drinks and high-energy food will help but only if they can swallow.

673. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience. Although the idea that acupuncture helps your life energy is considered an old-fashioned idea, this practice is still effective. When the needles are inserted into the skin, the body naturally activates a chemical called adenosine which is similar to an anesthetic. Acupuncture is especially effective with migraines. 674. If a patient flat-lines, a doctor uses defibrillator paddles to restart the person’s heart. The defibrillator paddle is the device you see in movies when a doctor shouts, “Clear!” before using them to shock a person with an unresponsive heart. However, you need to perform CPR chest compressions on an unresponsive heart. Defibrillators only work on a person with an irregular heartbeat. You can’t accidentally shock yourself with a defibrillator as is often seen in comedies. The device doesn’t work on a person whose heart beats regularly. 675. You can only get appendicitis once. An Englishman called David Beminster suffered from appendicitis twice. He had his appendix removed in a hospital in Surrey in 2007. In 2008, David started suffering intense pains in his abdomen. When David described the symptoms to doctors, they said it sounded like appendicitis. When David assured them it had been removed, they dismissed his pain and assumed he had a stomach ache. Eventually, David went to hospital and learned that a small amount of his appendix was still in his abdomen and it had become inflamed. He learned that during appendix removal, it is common for surgeons to leave a tiny part of the organ within the abdomen since it is very painful and dangerous to remove. It should only be removed when absolutely necessary. 676. You can only have your tonsils removed once. Tonsil surgery has the same paradox as appendix surgery. When a patient has his tonsils removed, only 80% of the tonsils are eliminated. Removing them in their entirety is more difficult and can be excruciating for the

patient. The chance of the tonsils growing back is very slim but it is possible, which means that they can become inflamed once more and have to be removed again. 677. A person with an unresponsive heart should recover if they receive CPR. There’s a 3% chance a person will completely recover from CPR treatment after three months. 678. Amnesia is accurately portrayed in movies. Nearly everything you know about amnesia is a lie thanks to movies. Almost every amnesiac character in films suffers from retrograde amnesia, which causes them to forget specific events. In reality, this sort of amnesiac would have great difficulty creating new memories (like in the movie Memento, and yes, that is a real disorder called anterograde amnesia.) You can have one type or the other or both. Amnesia in movies seems to always involve forgetting a specific time. But amnesia can involve forgetting many things. An amnesiac could look at a banana and know how to peel it and eat it but they may not remember what it is called. On the other hand, they may remember the banana’s name but not know that they are supposed to peel it or that it is a food. You might forget names, days of the week, how to tell a story, etc. A friend of mine suffers a type of amnesia where his brain can’t remember how to perceive time. If he were to see me today, he wouldn’t be able to remember if he saw me last week or last year. In movies, amnesia can occur with a bump on the head, and memories can be returned with another bump on the head. Sadly, an amnesiac’s memory doesn’t return that conveniently. The memories may never return. If they do, it can take years. 679. Leprosy makes your flesh rot and drop off. Leprosy doesn’t exist. There is no disease that makes body parts fall off. Hansen’s disease has been misunderstood as leprosy for centuries. Hansen’s disease damages a person’s skin and nerve endings in their hands and feet. This can make “lepers” immune to pain in their fingers and toes. Sufferers of this disease repeatedly injure their hands and feet without realizing it,

which leads to horrific infections. This can lead to amputations but the fingers or toes could never fall off from the disease directly. 680. When you are in a coma, you are unconscious for weeks or months. In movies and television, comas are simplified like this – you are either unconscious and unaware of your surroundings or you’re awake and you are aware of your surroundings. Real comas are not that simple. It is possible for a comatose person to speak, interact, recognize their surroundings, and walk around. But because the patient is still in a “coma,” they can get back into bed, fall into a deep unconsciousness and have no memory of any of the events they experienced. Doctors use the Glasgow Coma Scale to gauge coma progress from a score of three (which is the rating for deep unconsciousness) to 15 (full consciousness) based on eye, verbal, and motor responses. 681. A person who was born blind would experience the greatest joy if they could see. People born blind who have corrective surgery to let them see become terrified, physically ill, depressed, and even suicidal. Some people in these circumstances wished they were still blind. This is called the Molyneux’s Problem. Of our five main senses, the sense that absorbs the most information by far is sight. A blind person’s brain never needed to absorb visual data. If a blind person gained the ability to see, they will suddenly be bombarded with objects, people, facial recognition, emotional recognition, color, shades, the difference between 2D objects and 3D objects, depth perception, objects increasing and decreasing in size due to distance, and of course, words. This confusion is called agnosia. Sadly, an agnosiac’s brain may never be able to fully process sight the same way as we do, which means they can never see the same way as us. 682. During a kidney transplant, surgeons remove the old kidneys. When a patient’s get new kidneys, the old kidneys are usually left in the body because removing them is more dangerous. They don’t get removed

unless they become infected. This means that a person who receives a new kidney will have three or four kidneys in their body. 683. Twins that are attached to each other are called Siamese Twins. Twins that are attached to each other are called conjoined twins. The first conjoined twins on record were from Siam. They were known in the newspapers as Siamese Twins so readers assumed that’s what conjoined twins were called. 684. Lifting heavy objects can cause a hernia. Lifting heavy objects is the easiest way to find out that a person has a hernia. A hernia is when an organ has become misplaced. Hernias occur when the body doesn’t have enough collagen. Collagen is the protein that makes the skin and muscles flexible. Collagen can break down due to genetics, age, or smoking. 685. The most common illness doctors deal with in the US is the common cold. It seems that the common cold isn’t so common. Depression is the most common diagnosis in America. It’s also the fourth most common diagnosis worldwide behind pneumonia, diarrhea, and AIDS. About 3% of men suffer worldwide from depression while 6-9% of women suffer from it. 686. Tourniquets should be applied to heavily bleeding wounds. Tourniquets are banned in most countries since cutting off circulation in any area of the body will make a bleeding wound worse. 687. Scurvy is an extinct disease that pirates suffered. You can develop scurvy if you lack Vitamin C. This is rare because food is so accessible in modern society but scurvy is not uncommon in newborn babies or the elderly who are ill and malnourished. 688. Giants are super strong. One of the most famous giants was Andre Roussimoff, who was betterknown as the wrestler, Andre the Giant.

Andre starred in the movie, The Princess Bride. There’s a scene where he catches a young girl. When he’s holding her, she looks like a toddler in his enormous arms. But the filmmakers had to make a support under Andre’s arms because he couldn’t hold her without experiencing excruciating pain. Andre was so weak in his later life, he could be knocked off his feet with a push from a child. Most giants’ bones grow so fast, they don’t have a chance to calcify and harden. This makes their bones brittle, so they experience daily agony. 689. People who suffer from gigantism are always tall. There are two main types of gigantism. Both forms originate from a tumor in the pituitary gland in the brain. This tumor produces an excess of growth hormone, which causes the person’s size to rapidly increase. If a person develops the tumor before they reach the end of puberty, they become extremely tall. This is called acromegalic gigantism. If a person develops the tumor after puberty, they tend to grow outwardly and have a very wide appearance. They may only be a bit tall (6ft 3) but they may an overly large head and they may have a size 20 shoe. This type of gigantism is called acromegaly. 690. Measles is a virus that is similar chickenpox. Although measles appears similar to chickenpox, the virus can be lethal. Although measles usually clears after eight days, there’s a 0.1% chance of the disorder spreading to the brain. Sadly, when this happens, doctors can’t do anything to reverse it. The few sufferers who survive will almost certainly go deaf or blind. 691. Stomach ulcers are caused by stress. Until 1984, it was believed that ulcers were caused by stress. A gastroenterologist called Barry Marshall proved that ulcers are caused by bacteria. Antibiotics are the best treatment for ulcers. 692. All deaf people read lips. Less than a third of deaf people read lips. Even the best lip readers don’t pick up on every word. Their brain just can’t process that much information that quickly. Also, the person they are speaking with may be mumbling, mispronouncing words, or have a heavy accent.

My deaf friend, Nathan, lip-reads and he says it’s like when you have to speak to someone on the phone with a bad signal. You can’t hear everything, but you can make out most of the words to understand what they are saying. 693. All deaf people use sign language. Only 10% of deaf people use sign language since it is not as practical as you may assume. There is no definitive sign language. The American version of sign language is completely different to the English version. A friend of mine has a deaf mother called Sarah who knows sign language. Sarah’s friend Maggie lost her hearing and her hand years ago, which means Maggie can only sign with one hand. So Sarah uses a different type of sign language when talking to Maggie with one hand than when she talks to her other deaf friends. She basically had to learn a different language just to talk to one person! She can’t speak to a deaf person who’s foreign because their sign language is different to hers. 694. You should put hydrogen peroxide on an infected wound. Most houses have a bottle of hydrogen peroxide lying around somewhere, which is supposed to be used on wounds to prevent the spread of infection. When you pour hydrogen peroxide on a wound, it reacts by foaming up. It looks cool but it doesn’t help the wound at all. Antibiotic creams like Neosporin are effective on wounds. If you are out of antibiotics, Vaseline is a good substitute. 695. Sweat out a cold. Putting a blanket on top of your head over a bowl of hot water feels nice but is utterly ineffective against a cold. Although you may have little impulse to eat, food will make your body strong enough to fight off the cold. 696. Starve a fever. Why would starving yourself work when you are ill? Food = fuel. Food = energy. Food = strength. You need strength to combat a fever. The more you eat, the stronger your immune system will be to fight the fever. 697.

You can catch a cold by kissing someone with a cold.

The cold virus is in the nasal mucus, not the lips or tongue. Unless you kiss the inside of a person’s nose, you should be fine. 698. You can get the flu from a flu-shot. The flu-shot doesn’t contain a weakened version of flu, as many people believe. It is impossible to catch the flu from this shot. 699. AIDS is a death sentence. Thanks to advances in medicine, the average person infected with AIDS will live to 69 years. 700. Gay men are the most likely people to carry the AIDS virus. The most common carriers of AIDS are heterosexual women between the ages of 18-25. 701. All blind people read braille. 18% of blind people read through braille. In this day and age, audiotapes are way easier. 702. Blind people can’t see anything. Only 10-15% of blind people see absolutely nothing. Many of them can see shapes and colors. There are many types of blindness, all showing variances in limited sight. Legally blind is classified as having 10% eyesight or less. Or to put it another way, a person is legally blind if they can’t read any letter on the optician’s sight board. 703. Halitosis exists. Listerine is the company who invented the mouthwash you use for halitosis. However, Listerine invented something else – halitosis. The mouthwash was used as an antiseptic but it didn’t sell well. Then it was used as a floor cleaner but it didn’t make a profit. Then it was used as mouthwash for a disorder they made up. The mouthwash is identical now to when it was used as an anti-septic. Some people have bad breath but it’s not a condition or a disorder. It’s like saying having an itchy head is a disorder. It’s not. You just have an itchy head.

704. If you get infected with rabies, there’s a very low chance of survival. Rabies causes at least 26,000 deaths per year (but some reports state that it could be as high as 55,000.) That might sound very high until you compare it to the 56 million people who die every year from cardiovascular disease. In 2010, only two people in the US were diagnosed with rabies. Vaccines in the western world are incredibly effective against this disease. Over 95% of all rabies-related deaths are in Third World Countries where medication is inaccessible. 705. Allergies are for life. Almost all children have allergies (especially with food) but most allergies are outgrown by the time children are ten years old. 706. You may be allergic to penicillin. Many people believe they are allergic to penicillin because they had a reaction to it when they were young. However, a lot of allergies wear off when children grow up. If you had an allergy to penicillin as a child, there is a 90% chance that it has faded. I’m not saying it is impossible for adults not to be allergic to penicillin. If you’re not sure, you should check. It could be the difference between life and death. 707. You can’t get a CT scan if you are allergic to shellfish. Before a CT scan, a patient needs to absorb an iodonic dye. Shellfish also have iodine, which is where the idea comes from that people with this allergy can’t have CT scans. However, people who are allergic to shellfish aren’t allergic to iodine. They are allergic to shellfish protein. 708. HIV is the only lethal STI. Human papillomavirus is a STI that produces a skin infection that can lead to terminal cancer. Hepatitis B and syphilis are potentially lethal STIs, although they kill very few people in the Western world. 709. Smoking in America is on the rise. Smoking has halved since the 1950s. In 1954, 45% of Americans smoked cigarettes. In 2014, that number was 21%. 35% of people smoked a pack a

day in 1954. 20% of people smoked a pack a day in 2014. 710. If you are poisoned, you need to vomit up the toxin as soon as possible. If you are poisoned, forcing yourself to vomit won’t help because the poison is already in your system. If you don’t know what to do, call an emergency service or a poison control center and explain your symptoms and they will tell you what to do. 711. You are mostly made of human cells. You are made up of one trillion human cells but you have ten times more bacteria. You are basically a petri dish in shoes. 712. Only women catch breast cancer. Women are a hundred times more likely to catch breast cancer but men do get it from time to time. 713. The first sign of breast cancer is a lump in the breast. Most women wouldn’t go to a doctor for suspected breast cancer unless they found a lump. However, a swelling or irritation under the armpit tends to happen in breast cancer before a lump is visible. If this happens to your armpit, consult with a doctor as you can get it treated sooner if it turns out to be cancerous. However, you can never be too safe with your health. A mammogram can detect breast cancer even if there are no symptoms. If you want a doctor to examine it for your own peace of mind, go for it. 714. Cancer is rising. Cancer has been level for a century. More people are getting cancer as a result of obesity and smoking but people are living far longer thanks to better knowledge and accessibility to food and medication. Cancer seems like it’s rising because of the population explosion in the last century and the fact that we are constantly bombarded by cancerrelated stories in the news, television, newspapers, articles, websites, commercials, documentaries, etc. Cancer seems to linger in society more than it did a century ago because medicine is so advanced that we can battle

it for much longer. Decades ago, a person was as good as dead if they got cancer. Also, people didn’t die as often from cancer until recently because something else would get them first like famine, war, cholera, tuberculosis, smallpox, or something as simple as poor sanitation. 715. Chemotherapy makes patients lose weight and hair. It depends on what type of cancer you get. If you get cancer in your stomach, liver, or pancreas, eating food will be painful and damaging. If you get cancer in your breast, womb, or ovaries, you might put on a lot of weight. If you develop cancer, you will be extremely weak. You will be so tired, your body will crave carbohydrates to give you energy. You will not have the strength to do any intense exercise, so you won’t be able to burn off the calories you ate. This is why some chemo patients put on weight. Also, a chemo patient will only lose their hair if they are given a specific chemical. Chemo patients tend to be given between one to four types of chemical compounds in their treatment. Each of these drugs has different side effects like nausea, vomiting, constipation, etc. Only one drug makes the patient’s hair fall out. Some patients only get one drug or they may get a combination of two or three or even all four drugs. If you don’t get that specific drug, you will keep your hair. The doctor will tell you if you will lose it or not. Seeing someone lose their hair and a lot of weight is a shocking image, which is why it is often portrayed in shows like Breaking Bad, but it is not universal. 716. Chemotherapy is only for people with cancer. Chemotherapy is effective against people who suffer from psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease. 717. Nicotine causes cancer. Nicotine creates the addiction to smoking. The tar in a cigarette causes cancer. 718.

Too much red meat gives you cancer.

Inuits eat almost nothing but red meat but they stay in great health. The Masai are an African tribe that mostly eat red meat and yet, they rarely succumb to cancer or heart diseases. Red meat isn’t bad. Processed red meat is what’s dangerous. To preserve meat, it is filled with additives and salts that are linked to many diseases. Eating red meat is totally fine as long as it’s unprocessed and fresh. 719. Eating tomatoes combats cancer. The cancer-fighting chemicals in tomatoes cannot be absorbed if they are eaten raw. They need to be grilled or roasted. You would absorb more cancer-fighting chemicals from tomato sauce than a tomato. 720. Skin moles become cancerous when you are in your 50s or 60s. If you have a mole on your body that starts to change in size, color, or shape, it can become dangerous. It doesn’t matter if you are 12 years old or 50 years old. Once a mole starts changing, go see a doctor. 721. If you get cancer when you are young, you have a better chance of surviving. There is no ideal fighting-age for cancer. Cancer isn’t a disease. It’s your own cells attacking you. The younger you are, the faster your cells form. As a result, cancer spreads much faster in children. Children or teenagers can be ravaged with cancer within a few weeks. It’s far slower for the elderly. Prolific actor, Ian McKellen, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. Since McKellen was in his 70s when the cancer developed, the cells developed too slowly to cause major damage. 722. Cellphone radiation can cause cancer. The radiation emitted from cellphones spreads so wide and thin, that it is harmless to humans. 723. Cancer hurts. Cancer rarely hurts. When it does hurt, it’s usually too late to do anything about it. Most of the pain a cancer sufferer will experience will be from the treatment and medication rather than the cancer itself.

INVENTIONS 724. Fidget spinners were invented in 2017. Although these toys hit the height of their popularity in 2017, fidget spinners were invented in 1993 and patented in 1997. If you think that’s incredible, you will be pretty desensitized by the end of this chapter when you realize just how old all of our “recent inventions” are. 725. The multi-tool pocket knife was invented in Switzerland in the th 19 century. Although the Swiss Army knife was invented in 1891, the Romans invented multi-bladed device 2,000 years ago. The device contained a knife, a spoon, a fork, a toothpick, spatula, and a spike. 726. The calculator was invented a few decades ago. Blaise Pascal invented his Pascaline calculator in 1640. 727. The engine was invented by James Watt in the 18th century. Hero of Alexandria invented the first steam engine in 331 BC. It was used to rotate a globe on its axis. 728. The vending machine and the automatic door are recent inventions. Hero also invented the first vending machine. (He had a lot of free time.) It could only supply holy water. Hero’s only hobby must’ve been inventing things because he invented automatic doors as well. 729. Henry Ford devised the assembly line concept. Ford popularized the idea of one person being responsible for one simple job. With this technique, his workers could build cars much faster than building them from scratch. However, the assembly line concept was devised by the Chinese to create the Terracotta Army in 600 AD. 730.

Henry Ford invented the automobile.

Ford can’t be credited for inventing the automobile since Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot developed the horseless carriage in 1771; over a century before Ford’s Quadricycle. Sadly, Cugnot’s automobile crashed after one drive. Ford’s Model T automobile became popular once the assembly line strategy helped mass produce them. 731. The railway was invented about two centuries ago. An unknown inventor invented the railway in 600 BC in Greece in Corinth. But so what? There were no steam engines back then so it was useless. Oh wait. You just read that Hero invented steam engines 300 years after the railway. Nobody thought of putting the two together. If they had, we could have had trains nearly 2,500 years early! 732. The guillotine was invented in France in the 1700s. Although the guillotine was popularized in France at the end of the 18th century, it was invented in Ireland in 1307. 733. Celluloid was invented for photography. Celluloid was invented to replace ivory for making billiard balls. 734. Play-doh was invented for children to play with. Play-doh was invented to remove coal residue from wallpaper. 735. Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, the x-ray radiograph, the electric chair, the sound recorder, and the microphone. Humphrey Davy was the inventor of the light bulb. Frederick de Moleyn patented it. Many inventions go through a lot of prototypes that rarely resemble the finished product. So you’d assume that Edison must’ve invented the light bulb that we know of today. However, Joseph Swan invented the modernized bulb. Wilhelm Rontgen discovered the x-ray in 1895. He was also the first person to take an X-ray radiograph. Alfred Southwick invented the electric chair in 1890. He intended to use it to numb pain in his dentistry. Edouard Martinville invented the sound recorder in 1860, which was 17 years before Edison concocted his version.

Emile Berliner invented the microphone in 1879. So why does Edison get the credit? The answer is simple. Edison was a bully. He didn’t even know how to use electricity efficiently for his “light bulb.” His competitor, Nikola Tesla, used alternating currents (AC.) AC is far more efficient than Edison’s direct current (DC.) Edison only succeeded because he threatened and mocked his competitors. If we had used AC from the beginning instead of DC, our technology would be at least 50 years more advanced than it is now. 736. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Antonio Meucci was the first person to create a working telephone while Bell was still tweaking his version. Once he realized that Meucci was going to beat him to it, Bell ran to the patent office and got a patent for his “invention” hours before Meucci. 737. Edward Jenner invented inoculations in 1798 when he created a vaccine against smallpox. 3,000 years ago, a dharmi physician called Dhanwantari infected his patients with small traces of a disease to prove they could build a tolerance to the real one. Okay, Dhanwantari may have invented the inoculation before Jenner. But Jenner created a vaccine against smallpox, right? So what prehistoric disease did Dhanwantari vaccinate against? Smallpox. Dhanwantari’s vaccines weren’t as good as Jenner’s, but he made patients with pox 30 times more likely to live. So how come nobody adopted Dhanwantari’s techniques? Because it was disgusting. If you had smallpox now (somehow) and the doctor said the only cure was pouring cow pus into your blood, would you do it? I wouldn’t blame you if you said no. You would probably die, but I still wouldn’t blame you. 738. Bill Gates invented the Internet and the World Wide Web. The Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same thing. The Internet is a network connecting all computers globally. The World Wide Web is a means to access that network and the information it contains. Bill Gates invented neither. Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the World Wide Web in 1990. No single person invented the Internet. Many

developers between 1961-1983 helped forge the Net. If I had to credit one man, Larry Roberts created the first functioning long-distance computer in 1965. 739. Chinese Checkers originated from China. Chinese Checkers was invented in Germany in 1892. 740. Chinese fortune cookies originated from China. Chinese fortune cookies come from California, USA. 741. The Wright Brothers were the first people to fly a plane. Gustav Whitehead was the first pilot. He flew two separate flights before Orville and Wilbur Wright. There are claims of earlier flights by other aviators but there is no irrefutable proof. Reporters saw Gustav’s flight in 1902 so there is no question he beat the Wright Brothers to it. So how come the Wright Brothers became famous instead? Because they took photos. 742. Thomas Crapper invented the toilet. Oh, come on! He must have invented it! His name is Crapper for crying out loud! Crapper modified the toilet but it was invented over a thousand years ago in China. Toilet paper was invented a few decades later. Not sure why nobody got on that sooner. The first modern toilet was created by John Harrington in 1596. By a complete coincidence, he is directly related to Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. 743. Landmines were invented during World War I. Astoundingly, landmines are about 900 years old. During wars in 12th century China, the people buried boxes of gunpowder, oil, and iron pellets that detonated when their enemies set foot on them. The device was primitive compared to today’s landmines but it worked the same in essence. 744. Crossbows were invented in medieval times. The Chinese invented crossbows in 400 BC (At this point, just assume the answer is always the Chinese.)

As you can tell in this chapter, a lot of the “actual first” inventions were a more simplified version of what we know today. But Chinese crossbows were better in some ways than crossbows of today. They could fire ten bolts in 15 seconds. Every shot was a guaranteed kill because each bolt was dipped in poison. Crossbows also have the world record for being the longest commonly used mechanical device in history. 745. Shopping malls are a recent invention. The Ancient Romans had shopping malls over 2,000 years ago. One was called Trajan’s market and was in the center of Ancient Rome. What is most bizarre is that it is still standing today. 746. Robots were invented a few decades ago. The first robot was created in 400 BC. If that blows your mind, relax. It wasn’t exactly the Terminator. Archytas of Ancient Greece devised a pigeon-styled automaton that compressed steam inside itself to fly. It didn’t just fly a few feet. It flew 300 meters before it ran out of steam (literally.) He did this to understand how animals fly and accidentally created the first functioning robot. 747. Alarm clocks were invented about a century ago. Alarm clocks were also invented in Ancient Greece in 400 BC. The “clock” looked like four hourglasses attached to each other. The top one was filled with water and slowly filtered to the one below. When the water reached the third vessel, the forced air could produce a whistling noise, waking the person up. The final vessel collected the water so it could be used again. 748. Flamethrowers were invented during World War I. Flamethrowers were invented in Ancient Greece. Again. For the third time in a row. An unknown Greek engineer invented it in 672 AD. It was called Greek Fire and was used to burn down rival ships at sea. 749. Central heating is a recent invention. Central heating was invented by… the Greeks??? Seriously? Is there an invention those guys didn’t make? Greek central heating consisted of pipes

tunneled under the floors of homes that pumped warm water during the winter. 750. Plumbing has existed for a few centuries. Plumbing existed in 2700 BC in Greek, Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations. It wasn’t until the 19th century that plumbing standards dramatically improved. They used lead for the pipes hence the name plumbing. This is where the word comes from since “plumb” is Latin for “lead.” 751. The self-driving car is a recent invention. S. Tsugawa invented the VaMoRs self-driving car in 1987. It could drive at 55mph for 12 miles. That doesn’t sound impressive but Tsugawa just wanted to see if it could work conceptually before drastically boosting its abilities. In 1994, his new VaMP could detect other vehicles, know what lane it was in, and recognize road signs and change lanes accordingly. Unfortunately, Tsugawa didn’t have 82 bajillion dollars so the self-driving car wasn’t mass-produced until recently by Google. 752. Sunglasses have existed for a century. Sunglasses were invented by Inuits two thousand years ago. The glasses were made of walrus ivory. The main difference with these glasses is the narrow slits that allow the wearer to see were designed to reduce the sun’s exposure, not it’s intensity. 753. High heels are a recent trend. Persians invented high heels a thousand years ago… for men. Horseback archers wore high heels to help them secure themselves in stirrups while firing their weapon. As high-heeled archers became feared, Persian men wore the shoes to show off authority. For this reason, high heels stopped being used to gain the advantage in battle but instead, became a social requirement to demand respect. The taller the heels, the more authority the wearer had. The heels became so tall, the wearers walked effeminately, which turned high heels into a female trend. 754.

Drones are a recent invention.

Archibald Low built the first drone in 1916 to help in World War I. The drone was mostly made out of wood and tin and could be controlled by a radio. The drone wasn’t successful as its own engine interfered with its radio. 755. Head-mounted computer displays like Google Glass are a recent invention. The first computer glasses were invented in 1961. Although these were very rudimentary, Steve Mann built computer glasses called WearCamp in 1980 that could wirelessly communicate with other computers and were able to share videos. 756. Apple invented the tablet. The first tablet was the Gridpad. GRiD systems invented it in 1989. It didn’t sell well because it cost $3,000. 757. Rockets were invented in the last century. The Chinese Navy used multi-stage rockets in the 14th century. And when I say “rocket,” I don’t mean a firecracker. It had booster rockets that propelled it into the air. It was very basic and could fly less than 200 meters but it’s pretty impressive since this was a century before Columbus came to America. 758. Newspapers didn’t exist until 1440. The Chinese created their newspapers on sheets called Dibao between 713734 AD. Workers made a Dibao and copy it by hand enough times so there was one for each imperial officer. Citizens flocked to these officers to hear the latest news. There obviously couldn’t be enough so most people had to share the newspapers or learn from word-of-mouth. 759. The seismograph (earthquake measurer) has only existed for a century. The first seismograph dates back to 132 AD in China. It was a large bronze cauldron with eight dragonheads with balls in their mouths. The dragonheads were attached to a column within, which wobbled at the slightest tremor.

Depending on where the tremor was coming from, one of the dragonheads dropped its ball, which showed seismographers which direction the earthquake was coming from. 760. Selfie sticks are a recent invention. Hiroshi Ueda invented the selfie stick in 1983. It didn’t sell well and has only become popular recently (even though it looks ridiculous.) 761. James Dyson invented bladeless fans in 2009. Tokyo Shiba’s Electric company invented this fan in 1981 but it couldn’t get the funding to mass-produce it. 762. E-cigarettes are a recent invention. Herbert Gilbert invented the e-cigarette in 1963. It was considered healthier than the e-cigarettes of today because it used a battery to generate heat rather than a chemical. Sadly, all chemical, tobacco, and pharmaceutical companies turned him down for the same reason – money. These companies were already making billions and didn’t need to change it up or risk turning Gilbert into a competitor. 763. The first invention to break the sound barrier was the fighter jet. If you’re clever, you may think the answer is the whip. But that’s wrong too. The answer is… crunchy food. The snap you hear from biting into a carrot, a crunchy bar, or a peanut is a sonic boom. 764. Post offices are a recent invention. The Persians invented postal offices in 500 BC. 765. Fast food is a recent invention. Fast food began in Ancient Rome in 113 AD. Romans weren’t able to afford decent cooking equipment so they relied on quick, cheap meals. 766. “Twerking” was invented recently. Miley Cyrus did not invent this ridiculous dance. “Twerk” has been in the Oxford English Dictionary since 1820.

767. Roller skates were invented in the 1960s. A Belgian inventor called John Joseph Merlin invented skates in the 1760s. 768. Air conditioning is a recent invention. 2,500 years ago, Persians built complex irrigation systems called qanats that transported water underground. 1,000 years ago, Persians built wind towers over their buildings. The wind flowed into the qanats, which circled the cool air back. 769. Chewing gum is a recent invention. Chewing gum has existed for 5,000 years. People were chewing gum during the Neolithic age. The oldest gum ever discovered was in Finland and was made out of birch bark tar. This gum was antiseptic so it was probably used to eradicate gum infections. 770. Doorknobs have existed for centuries. You can see in this chapter that many inventions were created millennia earlier than you assumed. But what about inventions that are more recent than you expected? There are countless historical movies that show characters using doorknobs. But Osbourn Dorsey invented the doorknob as recently as 1878. That was after Abraham Lincoln was president. Yet if you watch the movie, Lincoln, you will see deceitful doorknobs all over the place. 771. Crosswords have existed for centuries. Crosswords are such simple puzzles that you would imagine someone invented them hundreds of years ago. But no. Arthur Wynne invented the crossword in 1913. 772. CPR has been used to revive people for centuries. CPR was invented in 1960 by Dr. James Elam and Peter Safar. 773. Bubble wrap was invented to protect transported goods. Many inventions are used for a purpose beside the original intentions of the inventor. Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes invented bubble wrap because they thought it could be used as insulated wallpaper. The idea failed miserably.

774. The chainsaw was invented to chop down trees. Scottish doctors invented this device to help during childbirth. No other details necessary. 775. TNT was invented as an explosive. Julius Wilbrand invented trinitrotoluene in 1863 as a yellow dye. The fact that TNT was highly explosive was a very unfortunate side effect. 776. Pillows were invented to be comfortable for a person’s head while they slept. Pillows were invented 9,000 years ago in Iraq to prevent bugs from crawling on people’s faces while they rested. 777. Slinkys were intended to be toys. Engineer, Richard James, invented the slinky in 1943 to stabilize naval instruments. When several Slinkys fell, he noticed that they kept flipping over. He thought it looked cool and so, turned the Slinky into a toy. 778. Coca Cola was invented as a tasty drink. Coca Cola was originally created to treat morphine addiction, especially among army veterans. The first version of Coca Cola was called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca but it had alcohol (and a smidge of cocaine) in it. The creators of Coca Cola toyed with the drink over time before it became the Coke that we all know. 779. The Jacuzzi was invented to help people relax. Candido Jacuzzi invented the Jacuzzi in the 1940s for one incredibly specific reason – to help toddlers with rheumatoid arthritis. The fact that Jacuzzis feel really, really, really relaxing was an accident. 780. Ties were invented to look smart. If you thought ties were invented as a handkerchief or to keep warm, that’s wrong too. Croatian soldiers wore ties in the Thirty Years War to identify each other on the battlefield. Basically, ties were invented so soldiers wouldn’t kill the wrong guy.

781. Treadmills were invented to help people exercise. An Englishman called William Cubitt invented the treadmill in 1818 to punish criminals. Every person who has ever used a treadmill will not be surprised by this fact. 782. Black clothes were created for stylistic reasons. It’s common knowledge that widows and widowers wear black when they are grieving. Before the 1920s, black clothing in most cultures was only worn to show that a person was in mourning. And they didn’t wear black just for the day. They wore it every day for two years. Some cultures still maintain this tradition. Queen Victoria wore black garments for 40 years to mourn her husband’s death. 783. Eyeliner was invented for fashion. Ancient Egyptians wore eyeliner to prevent bacterial infections. 784. Auto-tune’s technology was invented to help people sing. Okay, this one is a bit nuts. Andy Hildebrand invented this technology… to find oil. He studied sound waves so he could pinpoint locations to drill for oil. Over time, he realized he could manipulate the technology to alter any sound, including a person’s voice. 785. Jetpacks only exist in sci-fi. Now let’s look at some inventions that people believe are fictional. Although jetpacks seem like something that would exist in the future, they are working jetpacks today. In fact, jetpacks have existed since 1919. You can see a fully operational jetpack in the James Bond movie, Thunderball, which came out in 1965. The problem with jetpacks is that they run out of fuel within a few minutes. The idea of police officers chasing criminals with jetpacks like in the movie, Minority Report, is far from being a practical idea. 786. Hover cars only exist in sci-fi. Urban Aeronautics in Israel is testing hover cars designed to evacuate people in war zones. 787.

Mentally-controlled prosthetic limbs are science-fictional.

Thought-controlled prosthetics are currently being tested by the Pentagon and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.) The brain controls the prosthetic through an implanted chip. 788. In the future, teleportation will exist. Not only is teleportation possible, it already exists. Scientists have transported a photon particle 88 miles between the two Canary Islands. Perhaps you thought I meant human teleportation will exist in the future. Well, here’s the problem. In the movie, The Fly, Brundle creates a teleportation pod. When Brundle transports from one pod to another, he doesn’t know that a fly was in the pod with him. As a result, their DNA fuses to form a monstrous Brundlefly. This is a genuine concern with the idea of teleporting human beings. Why? Because the human stomach alone has over 100,000 types of bacteria. Not 100,000 bacteria. 100,000 types of bacteria! The idea of teleporting a human being with all of that bacteria without lethal consequences is unfeasible. 789. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century. Bi Sheng created the printing press in China in 751 AD. 790. E-readers like Kindles are a recent invention. A teacher called Angela Ruiz invented the e-reader in 1949. She came up with the idea to stop her pupils from carrying heavy books. Her creation was surprisingly advanced. In Ruiz’s version, the reader could zoom in on sections and the screen lit up so it could be read at night. This sounds basic now, but this was back in the 40s when televisions were too expensive for the common man. Sadly, she could never find the funding to make a single prototype. 791. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the helicopter and the parachute. Da Vinci drew sketches of guns, tanks, submarines, and helicopters long before they were invented. The helicopter gets special credit because if it were built according to his designs, it would’ve worked. Or so they say. Not only is this not true, but the Chinese invented a helicopter in the th 4 century. It was a small toy called a bamboo dragon.

People may debate this because the bamboo dragon was only a few inches tall and a “real helicopter” is one that can fit a person inside it. However, that’s not the definition. A helicopter is simply a device that can hover with a rapid moving propeller. The Chinese also get the credit for inventing the parachute. 4,000 years ago, a Chinese emperor called Shun ran from his murderous father by climbing to the top of a building. With nowhere to go, he grabbed a bunch of bamboo hats, leapt off the building, and glided downward to safety. 792. The cuckoo clock comes from Switzerland. Orson Welles said this “fact” in one of the most famous monologues in movie history in the film The Third Man. Fantastic movie. Totally not true though. The cuckoo clock was invented in Germany. 793. Smartphones are a recent invention. The first smartphone was made in 1994 by IBM. You may assume it was very rudimentary but it could send emails, use predictive text, and had some basic apps. You might think it was a commercial failure but IBM still get royalties from it today and make billions from the smartphone market. 794. Ice skates were invented in the last few hundred years. The Finnish made ice skates out of bones 5,000 years ago. They relied on ice skates to travel vast distances and conserve heat and energy in freezing weather. 795. Galileo invented the telescope. Hans Lippershey invented the telescope in 1608. Galileo heard of the invention and made a drastically better version a few years later. 796. The CIA invented house arrest tracers. No, and it wasn’t the FBI, NSA, or the police. It was Spider-Man. I don’t mean a guy called Bill Spider-Man. I mean the superhero, Spider-Man. In a Spider-Man story written in 1979, the Kingpin placed a tracer on Spidey so he would always know where the superhero was. At the same time, Judge Jack Love realized that prisons were becoming overcrowded. When Jack Love read this comic strip, he

discussed the idea with a computer salesman called Michael Goss to build a device that tagged criminals. The electronic bracelet was invented in 1983. 797. Batteries were invented in the last two centuries. The Baghdad Battery is the oldest recorded battery, dating back to 200 BC. It is not known what the Baghdad Battery’s purpose was but it has all the makings of a battery – rod, cylinder, electrolyte, and negative terminal. 798. The odometer was invented at the same time as the car. The odometer measures how far your car has traveled. Although the car is a recent invention, Vitruvius invented the odometer in 25 BC. Some historians debate that Archimedes invented it even earlier than that, but the point is that it was invented millennia ago, not centuries. So how did Vitruvius invent the odometer thousands of years before the car? He worked out that a chariot wheel turned 400 times every time the chariot traveled a mile. He built an axle within the chariot that dropped a stone into a box every time the wheel turned 400 times. So, if Vitruvius counted ten stones in the box after a long journey, he knew he had traveled ten miles. 799. Dentistry has existed for centuries. Dentistry has been practiced for over 9,000 years in Pakistan. Sadly, this was before anesthetics. The best painkiller they had on offer at the time was good old-fashioned alcohol. And speaking of teeth… 800. Dentures have existed for centuries. Like dentistry, dentures have existed for millennia. The earliest examples were found in Etruria (ancient Italy) and date back to 700 BC. 801. The arrest warrant is a recent concept. The Vikings used arrest warrants over a thousand years ago. If you think that’s bizarre, the Vikings had a surprisingly complex legal system. They had regular public law gatherings to catalog the crimes committed and had them rectified with fines or settlements. 802.

Child support is a recent concept.

The Vikings also performed child support. A 12th century Icelandic legal code called the Gragas stipulated a system to support a child after a divorce. The system was surprisingly thorough for its time and both spouses were expected to contribute to the children’s upbringing according to their wealth and/or ability to work. 803. Welfare are recent concepts. The Viking’s Gragas also outlined a tax system that guaranteed care of the poor if their families couldn’t provide for them if the recipient didn’t live in Iceland. 804. Spray tan has existed for about 20 years. Fake tan has existed since the 1960s. It was available at gas stations where customers sprayed themselves with a tanning hose.

LAW 805. Prohibition made it illegal to drink alcohol. During Prohibition, alcohol could be consumed but it couldn’t be transported or sold. 806. Slavery is at an all-time low in the world. Despite slavery being illegal in every country, slavery is at an all-time high. There are 27 million slaves in the world. That’s more than every African shipped to the New World in the history of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. China has the most slaves with nearly three million. 807. The US Constitution mentions God, democracy, and how “everyone is innocent until proven guilty.” The Constitution doesn’t mention any of those things. But it doesn’t end there. Many Americans believe the US Constitution has the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, it is the Declaration of Independence that makes that statement. Contrary to popular belief, the Constitution doesn’t state that “marriage is between a man and a woman,” or “Everyone has the right to vote.” Also, it doesn’t mention a “separation of church and state.” Article VI states that, “No religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The phrase “separation of church and state” comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson, not the Constitution. 808. Using fingerprints to identify criminals has been practiced for about a century. This practice originated in Babylon 4,000 years ago. 809. You are only allowed one phone call after you get arrested. This concept was invented for television. Standard prison cells should be equipped with a phone. Prisoners can make as many calls as they want as long as they are prepaid or collect calls. The phones are only usable at

specific times (normally 6am-10pm.) A prisoner can lose their call rights if you misbehave. 810. If a cop doesn’t say the Miranda Rights (“You have the right to remain silent, etc.”) while arresting someone, the arrested can’t go to jail. The film, 21 Jump Street, has popularized this idea. I’m pretty sure that if a person shot a cop at point blank range in front of 50 witnesses and was on live television and admitted he did it, Miranda Rights or not, that guy is going to jail. 811. A criminal can plead insanity to avoid jail. This tactic is rarely tried and almost never works. Being in a psychiatric ward can be more terrifying than prison. Three US states have completely banned the insanity defense. 812. You need to wait 24 hours before filing a missing person’s report. This is often used as a plot device to build tension in a movie. You can file a report after any length of time if there is sufficient evidence that a person is missing. 813. Medicinal marijuana has only been legal recently. Marijuana has been used for medicinal purposes in China since 4000 BC. It was legal throughout most of the world until 1937 when media publisher, William Randolph Hearst, condemned marijuana in his newspapers, which inevitably led to its criminalization. If you recognize his name, it’s because he inspired the main character in the film, Citizen Kane. He controlled the media so he destroyed that movie, forcing it to lose millions. That’s right. Hearst ruined what is considered to be the greatest film ever made and criminalized marijuana. He was clearly a supervillain. 814. Smoking bans are a new concept. The European Catholic Church created smoking bans in the 1600s. If you were caught smoking near a church during this time, you would be barred from going to Heaven. Depending on your beliefs, this punishment was either too extreme or non-existent.

The ban was a tad more severe in China. In 1639, Emperor Chongzhen sentenced any smoker to death. If you think that’s extreme, the following emperor changed the law so that anyone possessing tobacco was killed. And people complain that smoking bans are too strict nowadays. 815. Drawing on a dollar bill is against the law. It is illegal to cut or burn dollar bills but you are permitted to draw on them. 816. There is one detective heading every crime investigation. In cop shows, it always seems like there are one or two detectives in charge of nearly every investigation. In the show, Dexter, the main character collects DNA for the Miami police force and analyses it. In reality, two different people carry out these two duties. Crime scenes are extremely complex and require as many people working on them as possible, rather than shoving most of the information onto one person. 817. You can’t get convicted twice for the same crime. This idea became famous from the movie, Double Jeopardy. In the film, a man fakes his murder and frames his wife. She goes to jail and gets out a few years later. She tracks down her husband, intending to kill him, knowing that she can’t be convicted since she already completed her sentence in prison. However, the Supreme Court of the United States has said that the person would still go to jail since the criminal would be blatantly taking advantage of a loophole in the system. 818. Driving barefoot is illegal. It’s not. It’s stupid but it’s not illegal. 819. If you were sentenced to death and you managed to survive, you will be set free. There is this Internet rumor suggesting that if you survived the electric chair, being hanged, or being shot by a firing squad, you would be set free. How would this work? If you killed someone and you managed to survive your “execution,” the person you killed is still dead. This idea is utter nonsense.

820. Police interrogations are reliable at making criminals confess to crimes. According to studies carried out by Kassin and Kiechel Williams, innocent people will confess to a crime they didn’t commit 43% of the time if they are antagonized enough. One of the most famous examples of this is Gerry Conlon in the Guildford Four Bombings. Even though Conlon was innocent, he and his friends confessed to killing five people with a bomb after being tortured by the police. This has been depicted in the film, In the Name of the Father. 821. You need someone’s permission to legally film him or her in public. In documentaries, you will see some people have their faces blurred out. This is because they have asked to remain anonymous. If they don’t ask, then they can be filmed if they are in public surroundings. 822. Freedom of speech exempts you from the law. In the US, people can say offensive things that are slanderous, homophobic, sexist, or racist but cannot be held accountable for these comments, no matter how offensive they are, because of free speech. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. You can’t yell things like “Fire” or “Bomb” in public as it would produce mass panic. If you do so, you will be held accountable and the “free speech” argument will not help you. Unsurprisingly, schools and corporations have their own rules about what can and cannot be discussed for ethical reasons or to protect the establishment. 823. Jurors are well-prepared before a trial. Studies have been done on jurors to see if they understood what they needed to look out for in the trial. 40% understood. Only 50% of jurors understood that the defendant doesn’t need to prove himself or herself innocent and 86% of them didn’t know what constitutes proof of guilt. 824. Police interrogations are depicted accurately in films and television.

Television shows like Breaking Bad and The Shield have police interrogation scenes which use the clichéd techniques of intimidation, manipulation, physical threats, good cop/bad cop, reverse psychology, etc. In reality, it’s very simple. If a suspect demands to have an attorney present, the interrogation must stop. If a suspect invokes his or her right to be silent, the police can’t coax the suspect to speak. If a suspect doesn’t know his or her rights, the police will do everything in their power to help them understand. It wouldn’t make for a very interesting scene in a movie, but it would be portrayed accurately. 825. Same-sex marriages have only existed recently. Same-sex marriage was normal until the 14th century when Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos outlawed it in 1302. In the 19th century, a Nigerian woman called Ifeyinwa Olinke had nine wives. I am not singling out Ifeyinwa as if her circumstance was exceptional. It is just well documented and irrefutable. But there were many examples of same-sex marriages in Africa and they were very common in Sudan (especially among women). 826. Doctors are not permitted to breach doctor-patient confidentiality. You’ve seen this misconception a million times on television. A police officer is looking for a patient in a hospital who happens to be a suspect in a crime. The cop asks doctors if they have seen the suspect. The doctor tells the officer that they are not at liberty to say because of doctor-patient confidentiality. This is a simple tool in television dramas to add tension. If someone’s life is in danger, or if a criminal activity is suspected, a doctor will give as much information as possible to help the police or it would be considered an obstruction of justice. This applies to counsellor/client confidentiality as well. 827. Teachers in the US are no longer allowed to hit disobedient children. You may have heard your parents or grandparents say, “You think school is tough? In my day, teachers whacked us with a cane if we misbehaved!”

Sadly, flogging students still occurs today. In 19 US states, a teacher can hit a child with a wooden paddle for talking out of turn or if their shirt is untucked. In 2012, nearly 40,000 children were flogged in Mississippi. 828. Undercover police officers must identify themselves if they are asked if they are cops or they could be held accountable for entrapment. Entrapment is when a police officer encourages or forces someone to break the law. It is not entrapment if the cop is dealing with a person who has been identified as carrying out criminal activities. An undercover cop must keep his identity secret to carry out his job. 829. A will determines who receives a person’s money after he or she dies. Although the concept of a will seems simple, there are many ways to derail a person’s potential inheritance. A beneficiary can override a will. This means that a person who shares a bank account, saving bond, retirement account, or joint account with the deceased can nullify a will. If you had a joint account with your spouse, you would inherit his or her account money even if the deceased person’s will stipulated otherwise. 830. You have to be bankrupt to declare bankruptcy. You can legally declare bankruptcy if you can’t pay your bills. In some countries, a person can declare bankruptcy but keep some property and money.

MENTAL HEALTH 831. When someone you know dies, you will go through The Five Stages of Grief. During the 1960s, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross popularized the idea that each person reacts to the death of a loved one with five emotions in a specific order – Denial, Anger, Depression, Desperation, and Acceptance. However, there is no science to back this up. One of these stages can be skipped while another can be repeated. Everyone reacts to grief differently. 832. Mental illnesses have only been treated in the past century. The first recording of treating mental illness dates back to 1300 BC in Mesopotamia (now known as Iraq.) Medical documents from this time detail how soldiers experienced depression and flashbacks soon after being engaged in battle. This is the first historical reference to PTSD (Posttraumatic stress syndrome.) Doctors at the time advised medication, prayer, or religious offerings to find peace. 833. Autism is a genetic disorder. Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability. This means that autism is caused by problems in the brain’s neurons, not the person’s DNA. This is significant because it means that autism is not hereditary and cannot be passed on. 834. Autistic people are unemotional. Autistic sufferers often seem like they are disinterested in their surroundings. In reality, it is the opposite. Autistics feel more emotion than a person without autism. Author and occupational therapist, Lindsey Biel, says that autistics are extremely expressive with their emotions when they write them down. 835. People with autism can do incredible mathematical problems. According to pediatric neuropsychologist, Michael Rosenthal, only some autistic savants can do this but it is extremely rare.

836. An epileptic has seizures when he or she is exposed to flickering light. Only 5% of epileptics are photosensitive. Epileptics can have fits for numerous reasons such as stress, fatigue, or allergies. 837. Vertigo is a fear of heights. Acrophobia is a fear of heights. You don’t have to be high up to experience vertigo. People can suffer vertigo when they are in the bottom story of a building. 838. Eating disorders only happen to skinny women. 25% of anorexics and bulimics are men and 40% of binge eaters are men. Underweight people are in the minority among bulimics. According to the EDF study, bulimics are usually average or above-average weight. 839. Mentally ill people know what mental illness they have. In movies, there is a moment where a character has an epiphany and learns the truth – they have bipolar. Or depression. Or a split-personality. Or schizophrenia. Sadly, it’s not that simple. Bipolar can be genetic, so if it is in your genes, symptoms may arise without having to experience a tragedy to “trigger” it. It might activate over weeks or months and it may happen so slowly that you don’t even realize how much you have changed until years later. A mental illness can trigger if you experience a horrific tragedy. As the months go by, the illness might make you enraged or terrified. But you might not see it as an illness. You might think you are childish because you can’t get over the past. It can take years to learn that you have a mental illness. It can take just as long to receive the correct treatment or medication. 840. People who are mentally ill can get “cured” in an instant. If you have a phobia or suffer bipolar or experience clinical depression, how do you get rid of it? Face your demons? Face your past? Face yourself? Find the love of your life? Stop being angry or sad or afraid? Have an epiphany? The best-case scenario is you will need medication.

However, the road to recovery is long and arduous with a few relapses from time to time. It’s not an accurate idea that mental illness can be magically cured. Mental illnesses can be treated for years, maybe for the person’s entire life, rather than with a snap of the fingers. 841. Mentally ill people are dangerous. The Appleby study of 2001 confirmed that mentally ill people are more likely to be attacked than to attack someone else. The Hiday study of 1999 showed that the mentally ill are 2½ times more likely to be attacked or mugged than the general population. If a mentally ill person has an episode or is experiencing side effects from their medication (or lack of it,) they are prone to anxiety, disorientation, depression, and fear. They aren’t going to start attacking people for no reason. If they suffer an episode in public, they might ask for help from a total stranger, which can freak out some people. Others might attack a mentally ill person thinking that they are about to be attacked or robbed. 842. If someone is having an epileptic fit, put a book in their mouth to prevent them from biting their tongue. Everyone has bitten their tongue. It’s annoying but not excruciating. You know what is excruciating? Biting down on a book over and over until it does damage to your jaws and teeth. Also, an epileptic can easily bite someone who comes near his or her mouth. Different epileptics have different treatments. Some need medication, others need an ambulance, and some just need to be held down until the fit is over. 843. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder makes a person have an obsession with cleanliness. People who suffer OCD have odd obsessions or habits (which they usually call rituals.) An OCD sufferer may have an inability to sit in blue chairs or feel like they to close every door three times in a row. Many OCD sufferers have rituals which do not include over-cleanliness. 844.

If you have a panic attack, breathe into a paper bag.

Breathing into a paper bag in mid-panic attack can make you pass out. People tend to say, “Take a deep breath,” but that can cut off blood flow in certain parts of your body, which can numb your arms, legs, and face, causing you to panic more. Small, quick breaths are the most effective tactic. Over time, your body will relax and the panic will subside. 845. Mental institutions use straitjackets. By law, institutions have to use the least restrictive restraints possible. Patients lashing out will be sedated with medication. 846. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is common. Just because a person is a bit hyper doesn’t mean they suffer ADHD. I know two people who had ADHD. Both of them required medication like Ritalin for six months to calm down, but they suffered severe side effects for years, like depression and night terrors. A specialist needs to diagnose you. You can’t just diagnose yourself. 847. A person suffering from depression looks and acts sad. Depression is a clinical disorder. You can’t just “get it” nor can you stop having it. The best way to differentiate between depression and sadness is this – you can snap out of sadness. You can’t snap out of depression. If you lost somebody close to you and you were distraught, you would have to be strong for the sake of your family and friends and loved ones. You can’t do that with depression. You can’t just pull through with willpower and mental strength. Depressives aren’t just sad. It’s a mental condition; one that never becomes easy to live with. Also, depression comes in many forms. A depressive may rarely display sadness but instead become paranoid, anxious, or incredibly angry over seemingly nothing. Those who suffer clinical depression tend to exude their depression. Many famous clinical depressives like Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf, were very open about their struggle with depression. However, manic depressives may seem like the last people you would expect to have depression. Manic depressives keep switching from feeling high and low. When they have high moments, they seem like the happiest, funniest people in the world. People like this tend to hide their dark

moments so most of their close friends and family would never suspect they have this illness. 848. The best cure for depression is prescription drugs. Many depressives say that a long walk can be just as effective as prescription drugs. Placebos can be better than a drug designed to alleviate depression because the belief that it will help can be enough to alleviate one’s mood. Placebos can be more effective because the patient won’t suffer side effects that most prescription drugs cause. This isn’t a generalization. Tests were carried out by Dr Arif Khan over a period of 17 years. He found that placebos were successful in onethird of his patients. Prescription drugs worked on one-quarter of his patients (at most.) 849. Schizophrenics have multiple personalities. First off, multiple personality disorder is clinically called disassociate identity disorder (DID.) Secondly, DID is a different disorder to schizophrenia. A person with disassociate identity disorder will have more than one personality. Schizophrenics may hear voices but they don’t have to act on what the voices say. The schizophrenic is still in control. It can be horrible and depressing to hear voices but the schizophrenic doesn’t have to obey them. 850. Although Alzheimer’s is a debilitating disease, it doesn’t kill. This horrific disorder doesn’t just destroy the sufferer’s memory. It kills people within three to nine years. In fact, Alzheimer’s is the sixth most common cause of death in the US. 851. Alzheimer’s is a genetic disorder. Just because Alzheimer’s isn’t in your family doesn’t mean you can’t get it. The Alzheimer’s Society of Canada state that many things can cause Alzheimer’s. To limit the risk of developing this disorder, the ASC recommends “being physically active, eating healthy foods, keeping your brain challenged, reducing stress, keeping an eye on your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, avoiding traumatic brain injury, and

keeping socially active.” Just do all of those things every day for 80 years and you should be fine. 852. “Sociopathic,” “psychopathic,” and “psychotic” mean the same thing. Serial killers in movies are often described as being “psychotic” and “sociopathic.” A sociopath is a person who can’t understand the rules of society. Look at it this way. A kleptomaniac is a person who steals impulsively but they know it’s morally wrong. If a sociopath is hungry, they may steal, incapable of understanding why it is illegal or immoral. Despite what is depicted in films and television, sociopaths rarely engage in violent behavior. They are barely functional in social circumstances. A psychotic person has a severely warped understanding of reality. Allen Menzies thought he was a vampire and attacked his friend because he thought his friend’s blood would make him immortal. That’s pretty psychotic. Many television shows and films incorrectly state that a psychopath is devoid of emotion. This is incorrect. A psychopath is incapable of experiencing human empathy. This doesn’t mean the person is emotionless. Psychopaths tend to be narcissistic and become angry in response to other people’s success and happiness. When our friends and family are depressed, afraid, or stressed, it’s human nature to feel the same way as a means of bonding. A psychopath lacks this ability. Psychopaths aren’t all criminals. A psychopath may never have a single experience with crime or violence. 853. Anorexia was diagnosed a few decades ago. Queen Victoria’s personal physician, William Gull, diagnosed anorexia in the late 19th century. Gull was highly praised but his theory for anorexia wasn’t taken seriously because, shortly after he publicized the concept, he was accused of being Jack the Ripper. (If anything’s going to stop you being taken seriously, it’s probably that.) With his reputation destroyed, nobody considered anorexia a viable concept until nearly a century later.

854. People who are psychosomatically ill are hypochondriacs. A hypochondriac is a person who thinks they are ill but they aren’t. A psychosomatic person makes himself or herself ill through stress. People can suffer all sorts of psychosomatic illnesses from anxiety, depression, or tragedy rather than a virus, bacteria, or a disease. It doesn’t make the illness any less real. 855. People with Tourette’s syndrome swear uncontrollably. Tourette’s sufferers usually have “tics” which makes them spasm uncontrollably due to a neural disruption. Society assumes that all Tourette’s sufferers curse because it is the most identifiable trait. Uncontrollably swearing is a separate neurological condition called coprolalia. 10% of Tourette’s sufferers have this disorder. 856. The best way to deal with anger is to vent. According to Mike Fisher, who wrote Beating Anger and other self-help books, venting is counter-productive. When you lash out in anger, you usually feel better because anger temporarily makes you feel more powerful. Sadly, anger is addictive. The angrier you get, the more anger you want to unleash. It works in an unhelpful and vicious cycle. Fisher recommends therapy, medication, or using that intense energy to fulfil physically-demanding tasks. 857. Most NASA workers have dyslexia because a dyslexic mind is better at dealing with the mathematical precision required for the job. There’s this idea that dyslexics are more likely to be hired by NASA because dyslexics are better at calculating 3D patterns, sequential convergences, and blah blah blah it’s not true. In a nutshell – having dyslexia will not help your chances of getting a job at NASA. This misconception has become so popular, NASA had to dismiss it on Twitter.

MISCELLANEOUS 858. The continents used to be merged together to form a supercontinent called Pangaea. There have been seven supercontinents – Vaalbra, Ur, Kenorland, Columbia, Rodinia, Pannotia, and the last one was Pangaea. There is no defining supercontinent. People focus on Panagea simply because it is the most recent one. There will be another supercontinent in 100 million years called Ultima. 859. A day is 24 hours. A day’s length varies. It can be up to 50 seconds shorter or longer. It can’t be exactly 24 hours because of variances with the Earth’s rotation, the tides, the weather, and geological events like tsunamis and earthquakes. 860. The Earth has two poles. The Earth has two geographic Poles; the North Pole and the South Pole. However, our world had nine other poles – two magnetic Poles, two geomagnetic Poles, two Poles of inaccessibility, two celestial Poles, and one ceremonial Pole. 861. If everyone in China jumped at the same time, it would cause a tsunami on the other side of the planet. If everyone on Earth were to jump in one spot simultaneously, no seismic event would occur. Our collective weight is not sufficient compared to the 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons that the Earth weighs to have an effect. 862. The world map is accurate. It is impossible to convey a 3D object perfectly on a 2D scale. The Mercator map that we are most familiar with is not the most accurate map but it is the easiest one for us to process. 863. end.

If the world’s magnetic poles reversed, life on Earth would

The magnetic poles reverse themselves every few thousand years. This affects the sea and the weather but nothing cataclysmic takes place that could end humanity. 864. You have used tinfoil. Unless you are about 120 years old, you have never used tinfoil in your entire life. When tinfoil developers realized that the material affects the taste of the item within, it was replaced by aluminum foil in 1910. 865. Breaking glass is easy and not dangerous. In action movies, actors effortlessly smash glass like it’s made of Papier Mache. Schwarzenegger or Stallone shatter glass in their movies just by looking at it. But glass is sturdier than you might think. There are many videos on YouTube of carjackers trying to break into vehicles with bricks and hammers but they underestimated the strength of the glass. Movies also depict people being thrown through glass with little to no injuries. You might think, “Ok, I know when glass breaks in a movie, it’s just a movie. I know glass can be really dangerous!” But would you believe that safety glass is dangerous? Safety glass is used on glass shower doors. Although this is the “safe” type of glass, window expert, Mark Meshulam, says that “hundreds of people are sent to the emergency room every year when this safety glass shatters.” 866. You can sink in quicksand. Quicksand is so thick, it’s physically impossible to sink in it. Even if you struggle as much as possible, you won’t sink more than waist deep. After enough time goes by, the sand will settle and you will be able to climb out. 867. Pencils contain lead. There has never been lead in pencils. Pencils are made of graphite. 868. College students are lazy. College students are considered privileged compared to our parents’ time. However, twice as many students in the US have jobs today compared to 30 years ago. 55% of students now work full-time or part-time. It was less than half that in 1984.

869. Cigarettes are the most popular traded items in US prisons. According to a 2016 study by a doctoral candidate, Michael Gibson-Light, the most popular traded item in American prisons is ramen noodles. 870. There is a famous painting called Whistler’s Mother. James Whistler’s painting is called Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother. This was too much of a mouthful so people called it “Whistler’s Mother.” 871. Women speak far more than men. A study in Arizona State University declared that men and women speak the same amount of words per day – 16,000. 872. Therapists are cool, calm, and collected professionals with perfectly balanced minds. Therapists have to deal with dozens of unstable people per week, each suffering from phobias, mental illness, depression, self-harming, or suicidal tendencies. As a result, it’s not uncommon for the job to take its toll on a therapist’s mind. Many therapists see other therapists. Sigmund Freud said this was a good idea to keep therapists “in check.” 873. Psychiatrists and psychologists are the same thing. These terms are often used interchangeably but they are two very different professions. Psychiatrists prescribe drugs and psychologists don’t. 874. Therapy involves discussing dreams. If you have never been to a therapy session, you may believe that talking about dreams is a big factor. The very first episode of The Sopranos plays with this idea when the main character visits his therapist. However, most neuropsychologists find oneiric analysis (the study of dreams) unnecessary, unhelpful, or pointless. 875. The best time to book a flight is Monday. People believe Monday is the best time to book a flight because that is when flights are announced. By Tuesday, airlines start to match the sale prices of their competitors and their own prices will go down. In the future, book on a Tuesday.

876. Biker gangs are criminals. The idea that biker gangs are gangsters is easy to believe thanks to the show, Sons of Anarchy, and the 2015 biker gang shootout in Texas that left nine dead. According to a sergeant on the scene, it was the worst crime he had seen in 30 years. Because of this, it’s going to taint all of the good deeds that biker gangs have done over the last 20 years. The main thing that biker gangs represent is the fight against child abuse. Bikers Against Child Abuse is a volunteer group in 36 states which has existed since 1995. Bikers will protect children being bullied, assaulted, or abused and walk them to court or parole hearings against their potential attackers. 877. Diamonds are indestructible. Although diamond is the hardest natural substance, it is the seventh hardest substance in the world. Scientists have created six substances harder. The world’s hardest material is the man-made graphene. Mineral hardness is measured on the Mohs Scale of 1 to 10. When this scale was created, diamond was the hardest substance, measuring 10. By comparison, talcum powder is 1, chalk is 2, and quartz is 7. But graphene is 15.8 on the Mohs scale!! It literally broke the scale! It is over one-and-a-half times harder than the hardest natural mineral on Earth. 878. Diamonds are rare. Diamond mining companies withhold stock to artificially reduce supply. You could give everyone on Earth a cupful of diamonds. However, it is very laborious to extract diamonds and only 0.0001% of diamonds are one carat quality. 879. Diamonds come from coal. This idea that diamonds come from coal has been popularized by films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Superman III. However, most diamonds are far older than Earth’s first land plants, which is the so-called source material of coal. Diamonds are formed in the planet’s mantle and are delivered to the surface by deep-source volcanic eruptions. These eruptions produce the kimberlite and lamproite pipes that are sought after by diamond prospectors.

880. When you shop for a diamond, you should get a full carat. The average customer won’t know much about diamonds so they tend to get one-carat diamonds, unaware that 0.95 carat is three times cheaper. The size difference is completely unnoticeable to the untrained eye. 881. You can smother a person with a pillow. If someone was smothering you with a pillow, you could just… turn your head. Problem solved. The only cases where people have been smothered by pillows are when the victims were unconscious, incredibly ill, or very young or old. You couldn’t smother a healthy person with a pillow, no matter how hard you tried. 882. Subliminal messages in advertising are effective. The cult classic film, They Live, popularized this idea. In the movie, Nada finds a special pair of sunglasses that allows him to see that every billboard on Earth has secret messages like “Conform, ”“Obey,” or “Consume,” which is why people live drone-like lives. The idea of subliminal messages originates from James Vicary, who discussed his theory in 1957. However, he eventually admitted that there was no proof that subliminal messages work. The idea hasn’t been taken seriously since. 883. A lit cigarette can ignite a gasoline trail. This looks cool in movies but a cigarette doesn’t give out enough heat to light gasoline. 884. You can use sprinklers to flood an entire building. We’ve all seen movies where the hero sets off one sprinkler, triggering every sprinkler in the building to go off. Sprinklers don’t work this way. If they did, most companies would go out of business due to water damage. Sprinklers aren’t linked up. They operate individually. If a fire set off a sprinkler, the other sprinklers won’t activate until the fire catches up with them. Also, sprinklers can’t be activated by flipping a switch or pressing a button except in rooms containing documents or objects which must be saved from fire at all costs.

885. The best time to get the cheapest prices at Christmas is Black Friday. Anyone who’s worked in a retail shop will tell you that many retailers will introduce their most drastic markdowns two weeks before the holiday to avoid being overstocked in the New Year. 886. If you are stranded in a desert, you can survive by drinking water from a cactus or by drinking your own urine. Once a cactus absorbs the moisture in the air, it converts it into a toxic liquid that can make a human being very ill, which will render him or her more dehydrated. The idea that you can drink your own urine became popular after the 2010 biopic, 127 Hours. The film tells the true story of Aron Ralston, who survived several days in the desert after trapping his arm under a boulder. Although Ralston did drink his own urine to survive, you can only do this once. If you do it repeatedly, you will suffer kidney failure. 887. Recycling is cheap, reduces pollution, and uses less energy. Different elements recycle differently. The process of recycling one material can be cheaper but can cause pollution. Recycling a different material might cause no pollution but it is more expensive than starting from scratch. A lot of items rarely recycle back into their original form. The only items that work the way society thinks all recycling works are aluminum cans. Aluminum cans cause no pollution to be recycled and it is cheaper to recycle them than it is to make new ones from scratch. So recycling works, but it may not be as effective as you would imagine. 888. You should clean your bed as soon as you get up. Human beings sweat during the night, which makes our bed moist by the time it’s morning. Unfortunately, the sweat attracts mites. If you make your bed first thing in the morning, it traps the mites within. If you leave it for an hour or two, it gives the mites time to get out. No matter how many times I explain this to my wife, she never believes me. 889.

A gargoyle is a beast-like statue.

That type of statue called a grotesque. A gargoyle is a statue that spews water from its mouth. Its name is derived from the word “gargle.” 890. Schoolteachers have used chalk. Schoolteachers used gypsum to write on the blackboard. Chalk has never been used for this purpose. Gypsum and chalk look identical but are composed of different materials. Gypsum comes from the Greek word “gypsos” which means… chalk… but it’s still not chalk. 891. Algebra was created to benefit mathematics. Muslims used algebra during medieval times to simplify convoluted inheritance laws in Islam. Interestingly, trigonometry wasn’t taken seriously until 1000 AD when Muslims realized they could use it to understand where they needed to turn to face Mecca during prayer. Seriously. They used trigonometry to pray to God. 892. Air fresheners get rid of bad smells. Air fresheners mask the smell but they don’t expunge it. Also, some air fresheners can have toxic chemicals like phthalates which are linked to reproductive abnormalities and decreased sperm count. 893. At a wedding, the bride walks down the aisle. The aisles are the sides of the church. The bride walks down the central passage. If you’re at a wedding, remind the bride of that tidbit in midceremony. I’m sure it will make her day. 894. Automatic toilet cleaners are effective. Drop-in cleaners leave your toilet more stained from the dye. They also pose a hazard to the inner parts of your tank. Also, if a dog drinks from it (which is more likely if a toilet cleaner is inside it,) the dog will become very ill. 895. Most of the world’s gold is in Fort Knox. Nearly all of the world’s gold is in the Federal Reserve Vault at Wall Street in New York.

896. Bank notes are made from paper. Bank notes are made from cotton and linen, which is pressed together with gelatin. 897. You can use chloroform to knock out someone. We’ve all seen a movie where a character puts a chloroform-soaked rag over a person’s face and it incapacitates them within seconds. In reality, this could take over five minutes. There have been cases where criminals have used chloroform on their victims but only after another drug like diazepam or alcohol was administered. 898. Some people are human magnets and can make metal stick to their bodies. Some people have claimed they can make metal attach to their bodies by projecting an electromagnetic field. These people are commonly known as Liars. Legendary skeptic, James Randi, challenged a so-called “human magnet” live on television. Randi put talcum powder on the “human magnet” and asked him to use his powers. Nothing stuck to him. Randi said that all these people did to make metal objects stick to them is… stop bathing. After a few weeks without washing, your skin can become as sticky as glue. 899. You can’t fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times. A US high school student called Britney Gallivan folded a piece of paper 12 times. 900. Suicide skyrockets during the holidays. In most countries (especially the US,) the most common time of the year for suicide is April or May. 901. Opposites attract. It always appears that way because any personality difference will stand out in a relationship. A 2003 study showed that people are attracted to fundamental similarities like socioeconomic class, being interested in monogamy, and children.

902. Teenagers are the most likely to commit suicide. In most countries, 50% of suicides are by people over the age of 65. 903. You can slide down a bannister. The bannister is the top part of a stairway that supports the handrail. You can only slide down the handrail. 904. Velcro exists. The company’s website states that Velcro only exists as a brand name, not as a physical substance. 905. A spiral staircase is a stairway that spins around. That stairway is a “helical staircase.” “A spiral staircase” isn’t a real thing. 906. Dropping a penny from a tall building will kill somebody down below. Have you ever heard someone die like this? 907. You should wear white clothes in hot weather to stay cool. Many people believe that white clothing reflects light and black clothing absorbs it. However, heat comes from your own body as well as the Sun. A white shirt would reflect from the Sun and the heat from your own body, making you warmer. Wearing black is more sensible. This is why most Middle Eastern people wear black clothes during intense heat. 908. A woman spilled coffee over herself at McDonalds and sued the company for millions and won. This story is true but very misleading. When this story was in the media, most sources didn’t mention that the coffee was 200 degrees Fahrenheit (almost boiling point.) The victim, Stella Liebeck, only wanted enough money to cover her medical bills because she was hospitalized and needed skin grafts. Liebeck wanted to make sure McDonalds made their coffee cooler so no one else would get hurt. Sadly, McDonalds refused to pay her bills. Although she couldn’t afford the skin graft because she was retired, the media twisted the story so Liebeck sounded like a money-grabber.

She was eventually rewarded £2 million compensation after there were 700 similar cases damaging McDonalds reputation. 909. Walmart is bad for small businesses in the area. According to a 2009 issue of Journal Economic Geography, researchers studied new Walmarts opening in Florida over 24 years and learned that restaurants and stores that sold goods that were dissimilar from Walmart received a significant boost in sales because the area attracted far more customers. 910. The toilet is the dirtiest place in your house. The following places have more germs and bacteria than your toilet – i) Your cutting board has twice as much. ii) Your keyboard has five times as much. iii) Your phone has 500 times as much. iv) Your carpet has 4,000 times as much. v) Your kitchen sponge has 200,000 times more germs than your toilet. Sponge…you win. 911. Pink is a girly color. Pink has only recently been considered a feminine color. During the 19th and early 20th century, girls tended to wear blue and boys wore pink. Pink was described as “manly” and “strong,” while blue was considered “dainty.” What is considered “masculine” or “cool” will change over time. 912. Owning 51% of the shares in a company means you own the company. There is a common plot device in movies where a guy buys 51% of a company and then fires the boss and nobody can legally stop him. A majority in a stock-based company can outvote any individual, even if they hold 51% of stock or more. 913. People can fit in ventilation shafts. Although it is iconic when John McClane navigates his way around a ventilation shaft in the film, Die Hard, a human being couldn’t fit in one.

Even if they could, a ventilation shaft is not designed to support a person’s weight. 914. Car crashes are more frequent than ever. Since 1921, fatal car crashes have dropped by 95%. Deaths per million miles driven in the US in 1921 – 24. In 2012, it was 1.13. 915. The ice cubes that you see in commercials are made of ice. Setting up shots for advertisements (and a lot of television shows and films) takes so long, ice cubes will melt. To counter this, the “ice cubes” that appear on television are made of acrylic. 916. Skydivers pull a cord to deploy their parachute. Although pulling a cord looks cool in movies, cords haven’t been used in over 20 years. Skydivers release a pin instead. 917. Skydivers fly up in the air after they deploy their parachute. Most films show a skydiver flying up in the air when they activate their parachute. However, skydivers can’t go back up. When you see a skydiver in a movie, they look like they are shooting up when they deploy their chute because the cameraman is still falling at 100mph while the skydiver is slowing down dramatically. 918. Skydivers can talk to each other while in the air. Films like Point Break, Iron Man 3, and Kingsman: The Secret Service show people having conversations while falling through the air. This is great at building suspense in a scene, especially if it looks like a person’s chute isn’t working. However, you could never have a conversation while falling through the air. No matter how loud you yell, you won’t be able to hear anything as you plummet down to Earth at 100mph. 919. Skydiving is dangerous. Although films make skydiving appear dangerous, statistically eight out of one million skydiving jumps results in a fatality.

MOVIES AND TELEVISION 920. Movies were made for our entertainment. Movies were made on a bet. Eadweard Muybridge believed that a horse’s legs are all off the ground at some point in mid-gallop but his friend Leland Stanford disagreed. Eadweard decided to take lots of camera shots of a horse running and he compiled the shots together to form the first moving picture in 1878. It is now known as A Horse in Motion. However, it must be emphasized that Eadweard only did this to win money. Which he did. 921. Braveheart is based on a true story. Okay, everybody knows that Braveheart is grossly inaccurate. However, there are so many inconsistencies, I have to point all of them out. For starters, the title is wrong. Although the hero, William Wallace, is referred to as Braveheart in the film, it was Robert the Bruce who was given this name. Although the film depicts Wallace as a peasant, he was a nobleman and the son of a landowner. William Wallace was 6ft 6. The actor, Mel Gibson, who played Wallace was only 5ft 10 (and not Scottish.) The film shows Wallace having an affair with Princess Isabella. This is impossible since she was seven years old when Wallace was executed in 1305. In the film, the First Scottish War takes place in a field. In reality, the first battle took place on a bridge. It was even known as the Battle of Stirling Bridge. How do you forget that? It’s in the title! Despite what the film shows, the Scots didn’t wear kilts until the 1500s. At the time the film is based, they wore tunics. Also, the Scots did wear blue war paint but it was centuries before Wallace was born. The main villain of Braveheart is Edward “Longshanks,” who is depicted as an evil ruler who kills his own men to further his agenda. In reality, Longshanks was invited by the Scots to help the country. He is

responsible for creating dozens of laws and formed the first constitution in England. He was considered one of the best kings of his time. The film concludes with the Scots winning their independence against England shortly after Wallace’s death. In reality, it took nine more years for Scotland to gain its independence. 922. Waterworld is the most unsuccessful movie of all time after it lost $100 million. Waterworld didn’t lose money. However, it wasn’t a success because a movie needs to make twice as much as it cost to make to be considered profitable Waterworld cost $175 million, which means it needed to make $350 million to be considered a profitable. It only made $264 million, which is where the idea that the film lost nearly $100 million comes from. The most unsuccessful film is The Adventures of Pluto Nash, which lost $93 million. If you haven’t heard of it…that is my point. 923. Hitchcock wrote all of the scripts for his films. Although Hitchcock claimed to write the scripts with the screenwriter, crew members who have worked with him said this was heavily embellished and that he was a script supervisor at best. 924. Alfred Hitchcock won an Oscar for Best Picture. Hitchcock never won Best Picture for any of his films. 925. Alfred Hitchcock was a horror director. In 54 years, Hitchcock made over 50 films. Only two of his famous movies are horror films. He is known for directing horror because his slasher film, Psycho, is arguably his greatest movie. Hitchcock followed Psycho up with another horror movie, The Birds. However, many of his classic films, like Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and North by Northwest are psychological thrillers, not horror movies. 926. Ridley Scott has won an Oscar for Best Director. Ridley Scott is one of the most influential film directors in decades due to making films like Gladiator, Alien, and Blade Runner. Despite his

achievements, he has never won an Oscar for Best Director. 927. Godzilla’s roar is from a wild animal. Most movie monster sounds are from animals. King Kong’s roar is an edited lion roar. Godzilla may have the most iconic roar in movie history, the sound isn’t from an animal. Akira Ifukube came up with the idea for Godzilla’s roar by stroking a violin chord with a leather glove. I don’t know if Akira has waaaay too much time on his hands or if he is a genius. 928. The original Frankenstein film came out in 1931. There is a 16-minute silent film called Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley’s novel that was made in 1910. It is more like a staged play but it was filmed so it is officially the first Frankenstein movie by 21 years. The Monster looks much hairier and has none of the distinctive attributes that society normally associates with the Monster. The bizarre thing is that the producer of the film was Thomas Edison. 929. The most expensive movie ever is Titanic. Titanic cost $200 million, which was unheard of at the time. However, that was in the 1990s. At the moment, there are over 70 films that are more expensive than Titanic. You may think the most expensive film is Superman Returns, King Kong, or Avatar as they all cost over $250 million. If you think you’re clever, you might say it’s the 1963 epic, Cleopatra, which cost $44 million, (which is $295 million in today’s money.) But the most expensive movie ever is Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides, which cost $379 million. 930. A child’s ghost appears in Three Men and a Baby. In the scene where Ted Danson’s character, Jack Holden, and his mother are walking through the house with the baby, an image of a boy appears for a second in the background. Although many fan-theorists say it’s a ghost, it’s the reflection of a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson. Which begs the question – Why would a ghost decide to appear in a sub-par comedy with Tom Selleck and Ted Danson? That just seems like a

wasted opportunity. 931. George Lucas directed Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. George Lucas directed Star Wars in 1977. Irvin Kershner directed the second movie. Richard Marquand directed Return of the Jedi. 932. The 2013 film, Rush, is the true story about two racecar drivers who hated each other. The two racers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, were good friends and lived together for a while. 933. The 2015 film, The Revenant, shows how Hugh Glass vowed revenge on the man who murdered his son. Although Glass vowed revenge on John Fitzgerald for leaving him to die, Glass never had a son. 934. The Ancient Roman epic, Gladiator, is accurate. In the film, Commodus usurped the throne from Maximus. In reality, it was Maximus who usurped the throne in 383 AD. Maximus and Commodus had no personal relationship as they lived two centuries apart. 935. The 2014 film, The Imitation Game, is the true story of a socially inept autistic who became a codebreaker during World War II. Alan Turing was such an incredible athlete that he had minor celebritystatus (which is very different to the character depicted in the film, who doesn’t know how to respond to being invited to lunch.) Also, the film shows Turing’s commander, Alastair Denniston, intentionally trying to jeopardize Turing’s invention. In reality, Denniston supported Turing’s Enigma machine and personally hired Turing as one of the codebreakers. Also, Turing wasn’t the first person to break the Enigma. A polish cryptographer called Marian Rejewski cracked the first Enigma code in 1932. The Germans countered this by making the code ten times more complex for future messages. Although Turing cracked the next code, he was working off Rejewski’s work.

At the end of the film, Turing discovers there is a mole in the facility but doesn’t out him because he knows the mole will publicly reveal that Turing is gay, which would destroy his life. This never happened and was only put in the film for dramatic effect. However, if this had happened, Turing would’ve been sentenced to death for covering for an enemy spy. 936. Planet 9 From Outer Space was a movie by Ed Wood. This film is called “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” 937. Tim Burton directed A Nightmare Before Christmas. Although Burton produced the film, wrote the script, and helped with the painstaking stop-motion, he didn’t direct the film. In fact, he was only on set for ten days. The director was Terence Selick. 938. The first found-footage film was The Blair Witch Project. Although The Blair Witch Project revitalized the horror genre during the 90s and opened the door to countless imitators, it was the second foundfootage film. The first was the 1998 horror flick, The Last Broadcast. The movie has a similar theme; it revolves around a film crew who venture into the forest in search of the mythical Jersey Devil. The film wasn’t very good so it was forgotten. Although the reviews of The Blair Witch Project weren’t much better, it relied on masterful film marketing which made filmgoers flock to the cinema to see the movie. 939. In movies, special effects and computer-generated images (CGI) always look fake. This complaint is very common despite being non-sensical. If CGI looked real, you wouldn’t know it was CGI. So how could you complain about it? In the Star Wars prequels, none of the clone troopers are actors. Every one of them is CGI. Even the ones that interact with the main characters are computer generated. In Les Misérables, CGI was used to remove all microphones. In Forrest Gump, all the Ping Pong balls that Forrest use are CGI. Robert Downey Jr. injured his ankle while filming Iron Man 3. The crew created a computer-generated Downey Jr and placed his face on the body of a double in key scenes (including when Stark’s mansion is attacked and the final scene.)

CGI is used more often than you could ever imagine. CGI is used to create tears, sweat, entire landscapes, thousands of passers-bys, etc. In this day and age, if a movie needs a tree to blow in the wind, the film crew will create a tree from scratch on a computer because it’s easier than forcing a real tree to move. They can get away with it because you, as an audience member, can’t tell the difference. 940. Hollywood is the world’s biggest distributor of movies. Bollywood is the largest movie distributor. Although most people believe it is simply “the Indian version of Hollywood,” Bollywood only produces Indian-made films where the actors speak Hindi. Any Indian film where the actors speak any of the other 22 Indian languages wouldn’t be considered a part of Bollywood. Nigeria’s Nollywood is the second-biggest movie distributor followed by Hollywood. 941. The first morphing effect in movies was the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. A morphing effect is when an object changes into another object using special effects. The first movie to use morphing effects was in the 1986 comedy, The Golden Child. There’s a scene where a rat morphs into the person. He kills a man and then morphs back into a rat. The special effect was in its infancy and only lasts a second on screen. Morphing was perfected on screen for the first time in the 1988 drama, Willow, when Fin changes from a possum to a raven, goat, ostrich, peacock, tortoise, and tiger before reverting to her human form. 942. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first animated film. That honor belongs to Qurino Cristiani’s 1917 film, El apostol. Sadly, this film has been lost forever. The oldest animated film that can still be viewed today is the 1926 feature, The Adventures of Prince Achmed. 943. Troll 2 is the second movie in the Troll series. Firstly, there are no trolls in this movie. There are goblins. Secondly, there is no Troll 1. Thirdly, there are two Troll 3s! Unsurprisingly, all of these movies are terrible.

944. There is a scene in Some Like It Hot where Marilyn Monroe’s dress is blown up by an air vent. This scene is from The Seven Year Itch. 945. People died performing the chariot race in the 1955 epic, BenHur. Several crewmembers died in the 1907 version of Ben-Hur, not the 1955 version. 946. A munchkin hanged himself in the Wizard of Oz and you can see it in the finished movie. When the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and Dorothy are about to meet the Cowardly Lion, you can see a shape in the background that looks like a body hanging from a noose. With HD quality nowadays, it’s clear that it is a crane bird. 947. The first film to use computer effects was TRON. TRON was famously disqualified from receiving an Oscar nomination for special effects because the Academy believed that using a computer for effects was “cheating.” Because of this, many film fans assume it was the first film to use CGI. However, that honor belongs to a 1976 sci-fi flick called Futureworld. One scene shows a computer-generated hand and face on a screen. Sadly, the film tanked at the box office so nobody took computer effects seriously until years later. 948. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a prequel. The first movie was set in the early 1940s so Nazis were the villains. The director, Steven Spielberg, didn’t want to use the Nazis as the antagonists again so he decided to make a prequel set before the Second World War. This is worth mentioning because it proves the idea that “prequels are always terrible” isn’t always true. 949. It took 127 takes of the “Here’s Johnny” scene in The Shining, which is the world record.

The director, Stanley Kubrick, was infamous for shooting many takes of the same scene. While shooting Eyes Wide Shut, he made Tom Cruise walk through a door 80 times before Tom did it “right.” However, Charlie Chaplin has the record for the most takes for a single scene. In his movie, City Lights, it took 342 takes for an actress to give Chaplin a flower until the director was satisfied. 950. Sean Connery has hair in the James Bond movies. Connery went bald when he was 22. He is wearing a toupee in every Bond film. You can even see him adjusting the toupee in the DVD extras. 951. In the James Bond movies, Q’s real name is undisclosed. Desmond Llewelyn played Q in the James Bond movies for 46 years. In From Russia With Love, Q is referred to by his surname, Boothroyd. In the novels, his first name is Geoffrey. 952. In Goldfinger, Oddjob kills people with his bowler hat. Bowler hats are round at the top. Oddjob wears a short top hat. Although he throws it several times in the film, he only kills one person. 953. No one knows what Bill Murray says to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation. Cinephiles have debated this for over a decade and the answer will ruin the ambiguity. There’s no way to hear it all but you can just about hear Murray say, “When John is waiting on the next business trip…. Go up to that man, and tell him the truth. Okay?” 954. The ending of Total Recall is ambiguous. In the movie, Quaid doesn’t know if he is a secret agent or a brain-damaged comatose patient having a dream. The movie ends by fading to white. Usually, movies fade to black. This white light is meant to symbolize that Quaid’s dream has ended and he has died in his coma. This has been confirmed by the director. 955. A producer’s duty is to fund a movie. There are different types of producers who carry out different jobs. The executive producer deals with the legal issues with the film. Sometimes,

they own the rights to the story as well. A co-executive producer is responsible for providing part of the film’s budget. A co-producer deals with daily issues such as casting, equipment, crew, etc. 956. An editor starts editing a movie during post-production. Because editing relies on computers, edits can be performed while footage is being shot. While shooting a scene, an editor can make a section lighter or cut off another section, etc. An entire scene can be finished within a day on the biggest Hollywood films, as long as there’s no complex action or special effects. 957. The word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” was created in the 1964 film, Mary Poppins. The earliest appearance of this word comes from Helen Herman’s The Syracuse Daily Orange in 1931. 958. Ewoks are mentioned in Star Wars. “Ewok” isn’t said once at any point in any of the original Star Wars movies. 959. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is based on a true story. The movie’s killer, Leatherface, is inspired by the real life serial killer, Ed Gein. However, the circumstances of the film never happened. Gein also inspired the killer in Psycho and Silence of the Lambs. 960. Sounds effects in films are created on set. Apart from dialogue, nearly all sound effects on a movie are inserted into scenes afterward. The microphones on set are designed to pick up on dialogue and will not pick up on most sounds such as footsteps, opening and closing doors, clicking, scratching, texting, etc. Some dialogue is edited in later because it may not have sounded right on the day or the director wanted to try it a different way. Try watching a film now knowing that every sound you hear is a lie. 961. No one knows what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. The briefcase was filled with diamonds. The director’s previous movie, Reservoir Dogs, revolved around diamonds. The director said he didn’t

want to do another “diamonds movie” so the contents of the case are never seen on camera and nobody refers to them as “diamonds.” 962. In Pulp Fiction, Jules reads a Biblical quote from Ezekiel 25:17. The only part that is even close to Ezekiel 25:17 is, “I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful punishments. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance on them.” The rest of the quote was made up for the film. 963. In the 1931 film, Dracula, the titular character has fangs. Dracula has normal teeth in this film. Many people also believe this film has a shot of a vampire neck-bite. The film was supposed to have this scene but it was removed for being “homo-erotic.” And no, I’m not kidding. 964. Dracula is the first vampire film. If you think you’re sneaky, you may believe that the 1922 horror, Nosferatu, was the first vampire film but that’s wrong too. The 1909 horror, Vampire of the Coast, was the first vampire film. The 1921 feature, Dracula’s Death, was the first Dracula film. There were 17 other vampire films before the 1931 version of Dracula. Sadly, all of them have been lost. 965. The Jazz Singer was the first film with sound. I hate to get technical but the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer, was the first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue. However, this only happens for two minutes. There were many shorts and features before that had sound, dialogue, and live music. 966. The documentary, Super-Size Me, is accurate. In this 2004 documentary, Morgan Spurlock only eats McDonalds three times a day for 30 days. After eating up to 5,000 calories a day for a month, his cholesterol levels became catastrophically high and he experienced depression, mood swings, and liver damage. Or so he claimed. No study has been able to replicate Spurlock’s results. Sweden’s University of Linkoping did the same test on a bunch of students and none of them had the same results as Spurlock, nor were they able to consume 5,000 calories a day.

967. Cool Runnings is a true story. Although Jamaica did enter the Winter Olympics in 1988 as the movie states, the characters on the team are fictional. The entire backstory of how the coach was a disgraced champion is a fabrication. The other teams didn’t bully or antagonize Jamaica’s team. They were very supportive of the Jamaican bobsledders, especially the Germans (who were evil in the movie because of course they were.) In the movie, the team crashes in their final race. This happened in real life but they didn’t hoist the sled above themselves. This was added for effect. In reality, they just carried it. Nevertheless, Cool Runnings is still the greatest film ever made. 968. The mafia inspired the characters in The Godfather. The Godfather didn’t copy the traits of the mafia. Ironically, it was the mafia that copied The Godfather! The mafia never even the word “Godfather” before the film was released. The movie defined the mob as men of honor who saw each other as a family rather than friends or business partners. They dressed well and had legitimate businesses. They were respected and feared, even by the law. In Tim Adler’s book, Hollywood and the Mob, he said that the mafia were “pig-ignorant, violent-sentimental goombahs” before The Godfather came out. The mafia wanted to be associated with their depiction in the movie, which is often considered to be the greatest film ever made (after Cool Runnings, of course.) 969. Citizen Kane won an Oscar for Best Picture. If you have never seen Citizen Kane, you should still be aware that it is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, if not the greatest (Juuuuust behind Cool Runnings.) Nevertheless, the only Oscar it won was for Best Screenplay in 1941. How Green is My Valley won for Best Picture that year. 970. The first film that M. Night Shyamalan directed was The Sixth Sense. Although Shyamalan is best-known for directing the 1999 classic, The Sixth Sense, he directed Prayer with Anger in 1992 and Wide Awake in

1998. 971. Hollywood is churning out prequels, sequels, and reboots more than ever. Do you remember when movies were clever and epic like Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, and The Wizard of Oz? Then The Wizard of Oz had a prequel in 2012 called Oz the Great and Powerful. Although it was supposed to launch a franchise, Oz bombed at the box office. The Ten Commandments was remade into Exodus: Gods and Kings in 2014 and was met with mediocre reviews. Ben-Hur was remade in 2016 and was shredded by critics. None of these films recaptured the magic of the originals. Why can’t Hollywood just leave these classic films alone? But here’s the thing. The classic Ben-Hur, The Wizard of Oz, and The Ten Commandments were all remakes. The 1955 Ben-Hur is the second remake of the story inspired by the 1880 novel. The first Ben-Hur movie was in 1907 and the second one was in 1925 (the same year as the original Wizard of Oz.) The original Ten Commandments was in 1923. The “original” versions of Frankenstein, The Mummy and Dracula are also remakes. In fact, the 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon, (which many people believe is the first film ever made) is a remake of the 1898 version. Remakes, reboots, sequels, and prequels are not a recent invention. They existed shortly after the dawn of cinema. 972. The audition in talent shows is the first time the participants have performed for the judges. In American Idol, the participants are accepted or rejected by two sets of producers before they perform to the main panel. That means they have gone through two auditions before they “surprise” the main panel. Most talent shows follow similar strategies. 973. Manga and anime are extremely popular in Japan. Japanese comics are called manga. Many of them have been adapted into animated films or anime. Manga has become very popular in the Western world and have been adapted into many successful television shows such as Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack on Titan, and Dragon Ball Z.

Ironically, manga has been steadily declining in Japan over the years. Avatar: The Last Airbender is often considered to be the greatest anime of all time (and one of the greatest shows) even though it was made in the United States, not Japan. Most anime (especially Pokémon) is intentionally tailored towards a Western audience. Manga is more popular in some European countries like Germany, Portugal, and France than Japan. 70% of the comics sold in France are manga. 974. In the Lassie television show, the titular dog saved Timmy from a well. Everyone knows this cliché. The actor who plays Timmy, Jon Provost, called his biography Timmy’s in the Well. Although this has been parodied in Pokémon, Tintin, The Far Side comics, Garfield, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Mad About You, Fallout 2, The Secret of Monkey Island, Family Guy, and Tiny Toons, Lassie never rescued Timmy from a well at any point throughout the 19 seasons of this show. If you don’t believe me, watch all 571 episodes and let me know which one this happens in. 975. Watching television damages the viewer’s eyes. Early televisions used to emit a low level of radiation so people were advised not to sit too near it. This hasn’t been a concern for 50 years. Watching too much TV is bad for you because it creates a lazy and addictive lifestyle, but it doesn’t damage your eyesight. 976. Star Trek has the first interracial kiss in television history. When William Shatner kissed Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek, the studio demanded that the scene be re-shot so that the kiss happened off-screen, because they didn’t like the idea of Shatner kissing a black woman. Shatner refused even after the studio threatened to sack him. When the studio threatened to cancel the show, Shatner reluctantly agreed to do the kiss offscreen. After the kiss, Shatner came back on-screen cross-eyed, so the studio couldn’t use the shot. As a result, they had to use the original footage of the on-screen kiss and television history was made.

It’s an amazing story, but the first show to have an interracial kiss was a televised play of You in Your Small Corner in 1962. This was four years before the premier of the Star Trek show.

MUSIC 977. The Sydney Opera House is the best opera house in the world. Although the Sydney Opera House is the world’s most famous opera house, it is considered to have the worst acoustics of all the major opera houses because it is too big. It will realistically get shut down in the near future. 978. Violin strings are made of catgut. Catgut isn’t from a cat. When catgut is used (which is rare,) it normally comes from a goat, but it can be from a pig or a donkey. Nowadays, most violin strings are made from steel or synthetic material. 979. Every Breath You Take by the Police is a romantic song. This song is about a stalker in the process of stalking. Now that you know this, listen to the lyrics and tell me if they sound sweet or disturbing. “Every step you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you.” That’s why the band is called The Police. Because that’s who you call if a person plays this song to you. 980. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles is an allusion to drugs. John Lennon’s son, Julian drew a picture of his friend Lucy in playgroup looking at the sky and surrounded it with diamonds. John was inspired to write a song about something his son loved. He did not realize until later that the title’s initials are LSD. 981. Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul, and Mary is an allegory to drugs. Peter, Paul, and Mary sang Puff the Magic Dragon but it was written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow who said he was “too square to write about something like that.” 982. Jeff Buckley wrote the song, “Hallelujah.” Buckley’s version of Hallelujah is the most famous but Leonard Cohen wrote it.

983. Michael Jackson invented the moonwalk. A musician called Bill Bailey (not the English comedian of the same name) invented the dance in 1955. 984. Michael Jackson had hair. During a Pepsi commercial, a pyrotechnic malfunction burned Jackson’s hair. He had to wear a wig to his dying day. 985. Bob Marley sang the song, Don’t Worry, Be Happy. I’ve heard this song many times sang over images of Bob Marley. It was sung by Bob McFerrin years after Marley died. 986. Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Who, Nirvana, Bob Marley, and Jimi Hendrix had a #1 hit. Bruce Springsteen has sold 120 million records, won 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, and an Oscar. Born in the USA and Born to Run are the two best-selling albums in US music history. In spite of all of his success, Springsteen never had a #1 hit. Led Zeppelin are often considered to be the creators of heavy metal. Even though Stairway to Heaven is the most requested song in American radio history, Led Zeppelin never had a #1 hit. Although Bob Dylan is the only musician to win a Nobel Prize in Literature, he has never had a #1 hit. The Who’s music coined the term “rock opera” and have sold 100 million records worldwide. Despite the fact they are known as one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, their songs never hit #1. Nirvana only released three albums before lead singer Kurt Cobain’s death. None of their songs reached #1. Bob Marley’s most successful song was Roots, Rock, Reggae, which only reached #51 in the charts. James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix was only a mainstream musician for four years. Hendrix died at the age of 27 before he had a single #1 hit.

NATURE 987. All of the trees will be cut down in the next few decades. There are more trees in the world now than there have been in the past century. Unlike before, people replant trees in enormous numbers. In some countries like Uganda, three trees are planted for every tree that is cut down. 988. Bamboo is a sprout. A bamboo is not a sprout, nor is it a tree, a flower, or a seed. Bamboo is grass. 989. You can tell how old a tree is by how many rings it has on the inside. This technique only applies to trees that aren’t in the tropics. Some tropical trees have rings and some don’t have any. The only way to gauge how old those trees are is with radiocarbon dating. Weirdly, this “count the ring to gauge the age” rule applies to the teeth of bears and inside the horns of a bulls. 990. Mushrooms are plants. Mushrooms are fungi. You probably knew that but you may have assumed that fungi are a type of plant. Mushrooms have DNA closer to animals than plants. Bizarrely, mushrooms have more genetic similarities to human beings than to any tree or flower. 991. Trees provide most of the oxygen on the planet. This is a common argument used to stop people chopping down trees. However, algae provide 90% of all the oxygen in the world. 992. Icebergs are made of saltwater. Icebergs are made of freshwater. Saltwater physically can’t form in the shape of an iceberg. 993.

There are a couple of earthquakes per year.

There are a million earthquakes every year. However, only 100,000 quakes can be felt. That’s 275 earthquakes a day. Although these quakes can be felt, 99.9999% are considered minor. A hundred potentially dangerous earthquakes occur each year but they are unnoticed because they often happen in uninhabited terrains like forests or deserts. Each year, there are approximately 17 major earthquakes (7.0 on the Richter scale) and one great earthquake (8.0 or higher.) 994. When lightning strikes, hide under a tree. Trees can explode when struck by lightning, which can make the bark shred a person’s body like shrapnel. The most intelligent place to hide during a lightning strike is inside a car. 995. Lightning comes from clouds. Lightning comes from the clouds and the ground. It happens so quickly that it is invisible to the human eye. If you want a boring scientific explanation, the National Severe Storms Laboratory states, “A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts. Objects on the ground generally have a positive charge. Since opposites attract, an upward streamer is sent out from the object about to be struck. When these two paths meet, a return stroke zips back up to the sky. It is the return stroke that produces the visible flash, but it all happens so fast - in about one-millionth of a second – so the human eye doesn’t see the actual formation of the stroke.” 996. Lightning can’t strike the same area twice. The Earth is billions of years old. I can imagine that a few of the same places have been struck numerous times, especially if lightning strikes 8.6 million times a day. (That’s a hundred per second.) Many skyscrapers get struck hundreds of times every year. Some spots can be struck twice in the same storm. 997. The Northern Lights is unlike anything else on Earth. The Southern Lights (also known as the aurora australis) are visible in the South Pole, New Zealand, Australia, and the bottom of South America. 998.

Weather and climate are the same thing.

Weather means temperature in the short-term (daily) and climate means temperature in the long-term (years or decades). 999. During a tornado storm, you should hide in a car or under a highway pass. Tornados can lift cars off the ground and hurl them around. A strong tornado can crush a car completely. If you are in a car during a tornado storm, National Weather Service recommends that you get out of the car and run to safety, preferably to a house or basement. There have been reports in recent years of people surviving tornado storms by seeking refuge under a highway pass. However, research shows that in those cases, the tornados didn’t reach the highways. 1000. Tornadoes can’t occur during the winter. Tornadoes can form in any season. In fact, winter tornadoes are more dangerous because they move faster. 1001. It can be too cold to snow. If it is too cold, less snow will form because there’s not enough water vapor in the air. However, there doesn’t seem to be a specific subzero temperature at which snow cannot physically form. Snow forms in Antarctica even when it is -57 degrees Celsius. 1002. If the ice caps melted, humanity would be destroyed. Melting the polar ice caps would raise the sea level by 216ft. It would be pretty devastating but it wouldn’t end mankind. 1003. If there’s an earthquake, stand in a doorway. A doorway will make no difference when a powerful earthquake demolishes your house. Your best bet is to hide under a table. 1004. Earthquakes cause thousands of deaths. If an earthquake was to cause a tsunami, approximately 98% of the victims would be killed by the tidal wave, not by the earthquake itself. Of the 16,000 people who died in the Japanese magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami of 2011, only 300 were killed by the earthquake. In fact, you are statistically more likely to be killed by lightning than in an earthquake.

1005. The Richter scale is the best way to detect an earthquake. The Richter scale hasn’t been used in nearly 50 years. The MMS (Moment Magnitude Scale) has been used since the 1970s. However, most seismologists say the most efficient way to tell if an earthquake is imminent is by observing the behavior of cats. Seismologists believe that about 66% of cats disappear in an area minutes before it is hit by an earthquake. 1006. Sunflowers follow the Sun. This may sound absurd but sunflowers do follow the Sun but only when they are buds. As soon as the petals open, they face east. No one knows why. 1007. You can tell how far away a storm is by counting the seconds between when you see lightning and when you hear thunder. This idea became popularized by the movie, Poltergeist. The concept is accurate but the details are wrong. If you see lightning and hear thunder ten seconds apart, most people believe that the storm is ten miles away. To calculate it correctly, you need to divide that number by five. So, if you hear the thunder ten seconds after you see the lightning, it is only two miles away. 1008. Climate change is debatable. Between November 2012 and December 2013, 2,259 peer-review articles about climate change were studied by 9,136 climatologists. After studying the articles, one climatologist believed that climate change is a myth.

PEOPLE 1009. Hannibal defeated his enemy with elephants. Hannibal did cross The Alps with elephants but he defeated King Eumenes by catapulting pots of snakes in the Battle of Eurymedon. The weirdest thing about this strategy is Hannibal devised it on the spot. 1010. Judges have gavels. Auctioneers have gavels. Television judges like Judge Judy use gavels for entertainment value but judges have never used them. 1011. The most dangerous job is firefighting. Alaskan crab fishing is the most dangerous job in the world. For every 100,000 crab fishermen, 128 will die. 1012. Tokyo Rose existed. Tokyo Rose was said to be a protestor during World War II who made antiwar radio announcements. However, she never existed. Tokyo Rose was a generic name that American soldiers gave to any English-speaking Japanese women on the radio. The term “Tokyo Rose” was used so often that the general populace assumed she was a real person. 1013. Mavis Beacon existed. For over 20 years, Mavis Beacon has been an application on PC’s to help computer users to type. Mavis appears on the program as a posh, welldressed, friendly, black woman. Computer users are surprised to discover that she isn’t based on a real person. She is simply an application character. 1014. Betty Crocker existed. Betty Crocker is a brand name and trademark of American Fortune 500 corporation General Mills. She never existed. 1015. Sun Tzu existed.

Sun Tzu’s book, The Art of War, is written in a way that doesn’t match the timeline, as if it was written much later than it says. Sun Tzu’s name is never mentioned in history outside of this book. This book was probably a collaboration by many authors. 1016. William Tell existed. Supposedly, William Tell was an archer from Switzerland who shot an apple off the top of his son’s head with his bow. When I say this “supposedly” happened, I mean…it didn’t happen. It’s just a Swiss folklore story. 1017. Nancy Drew’s author, Carolyn Keene, existed. There are several writers of the Nancy Drew books but they all use the pseudonym “Carolyn Keene.” The original author was Edward Stratemeyer. 1018. Homer existed. Homer is credited with writing The Iliad and The Odyssey. These two books are the backbone of all literature. Many wonderful stories and characters were created thanks to these epic tales. Troy. Achilles. The Wooden Horse. The Greek War. The Cyclops. Battling sea monsters. Greek Gods involving themselves in human disputes. All credited to Homer. Or maybe not. It is possible that Homer existed but there is very little evidence to support it. The only thing that is supposedly known about him is that he was born blind. There is no record of Homer’s life, his family, or even his surname. He may have shared these stories orally and other storytellers refined them over the decades, or possibly centuries, and made them what they are today. Some scholars and historians believe that “Homer” is simply a pseudonym for dozens of authors who wrote these Greek tales over the years. 1019. Aristotle was a great philosopher. Aristotle is the most famous philosopher of all time and is considered to be history’s first scientist. His influence is unquestionable. He was one of the first people to talk about physics, motion, causality, optics, particles, substance, understanding of memory, sleep, and dreams. He also said that snot is part of your brain falling out of your nose… The Greek philosopher also believed that the brain was a cooling device

and that humans think with their hearts. Ok, obviously this was thousands of years ago so even the greatest teachers believed silly things. Galileo thought comets were optic illusions. Isaac Newton believed he could turn lead into gold. But I have to make an exception for Aristotle because he believed in so many concepts that were absurd and even immoral. He firmly believed that women were deformed men and they couldn’t keep their emotions in check because their wombs wandered around their bodies. He was adamant that slavery was necessary as some people were designed to be slaves. The most puzzling thing he believed was that flies have four legs. Every child knows that’s wrong. What is weirder is that this misconception went unchallenged for centuries. 1020. The musician, Prince’s, real name is Roger Nelson. Prince was his stage name. His birth name is Prince. His full name is Prince Rogers (not Roger) Nelson. 1021. Charles Manson is a mass murderer. Manson never killed a human being in his life. He wasn’t present when his victims were killed. He manipulated cult members to kill others but never killed his victims himself. 1022. The Aztecs existed for centuries. The entire Aztec Empire collapsed within 94 years. Also, they didn’t call themselves Aztecs. They referred to themselves as “Mexica.” 1023. Uncle Sam is a fictional character. Samuel Wilson was a New York meat packer whose job was to inspect meat for the Army. Soldiers found him so friendly, they called him Uncle Sam. They joked that “US” stood for Uncle Sam, not United States. Over time, Uncle Sam became associated with the Army and eventually, America itself. 1024. Mozart’s middle name was Amadeus. Despite the play and movie of the same name, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart was never called Amadeus. He had the

nickname Amade, but never Amadeus. 1025. Mozart was poor. Because Mozart was buried in an unmarked grave, it is a popular belief that he died penniless. Poverty-stricken families buried their young in unmarked graves because they couldn’t afford tombstones or coffins. However, the reason Mozart’s grave was unmarked was because it was common practice in Austria at the time. 1026. Robin Hood wore green. The oldest existing version of Robin Hood is A Gest of Robyn Hode. According to medieval historian, James Holt, it was written in approximately 1450. In this story, Robin and his Merry Men wore red, not green. 1027. Joseph Stalin was Russian. He was born in Georgia. 1028. Rosa Parks was the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in the US. Not only was Rosa not the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat in the United States, she wasn’t the first black woman to do it in her hometown. Claudette Colvin was the first black woman in the US to refuse to give up her seat. Unfortunately, black activists couldn’t use her as an example for equality because she was a pregnant, unmarried teenager. They knew bigots would use her circumstances to undo all the good the Civil Rights Movement was trying to accomplish. They needed a perfect candidate. Despite what many believe, Rosa Parks was not just a sweet, old lady who refused to give up her seat because she was tired. She was planted. Her refusal was pre-empted. She knew bigots would arrest her. The Civil Rights Movement knew she had a squeakyclean record. They predicted it would strengthen their cause, which it did. 1029. There was uproar when Charles Darwin revealed his Survival of the Fittest theory.

This was not a particularly farfetched theory at the time because Darwin didn’t concoct the idea from scratch. He was working off a concept concocted by his competitor Robert Chambers, as well as from the Transmutation Theory. He combined these theories with his grandfather, Erasmus’s, idea of a “common ancestor.” Darwin didn’t even coin the phrase, “Survival of the Fittest.” Political theorist, Herbert Spencer, came up with this idea. Spencer was referencing himself as he was the only one of eight siblings to live to adulthood. The first record of an evolution theory comes from Anaximander of Ancient Greece. When Darwin put forward his theory, the Church of England was quite supportive. They found it clinical and cold but an acceptable theory. 1030. Typhoid Mary had typhoid. On March 27th 1915, New York health officials quarantined Mary Mallon for being linked with typhoid fever. She spread the disease to 51 people, killing three. Although she was known as Typhoid Mary, Mallon didn’t suffer from typhoid herself. Although she harbored the contagious bacteria, Mallon was immune to all of its symptoms. A person who is immune to the pathogen that they carry is known as an asymptomatic carrier. 1031. Einstein repeatedly failed math in school. He didn’t. Because he’s Einstein. He mastered differential and integral calculus when he was only 15. That’s the opposite of flunking math. 1032. Einstein won a Nobel Prize for his Theory of General Relativity. Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his lesser-known theory on the photoelectric effect of light. 1033. Nero fiddled as Rome burned. It’s unlikely Nero knew how to play the fiddle since it wasn’t invented for another thousand years. 1034. People who wear large, pointy, white cloaks that cover their whole bodies are members of the Ku Klux Klan. The first group known to wear these garments were Spanish priests called Nazarenos. Weirder still, the Nazarenos still wear this clothing today. Their

clothes aren’t identical to the Klan but they are so similar, that it’s easy to think they are the same. Nazarenos have a big red X on the front of their cloak, just like the KKK. The main difference is that the Nazarenos’ pointed hat (which is called a capirote) is much taller. The Klan knew the Nazareno priests wore these garments but it is unknown why they chose it as their uniform. 1035. People who live in igloos are called Inuits, not Eskimos. There is no single word to describe a person who lives in an igloo. Different tribes live in different igloos. Calling all igloo-dwellers Eskimos is like saying that every American is Christian. Many tribes can live in the same country, each with their own tribal name, so it’s politically incorrect to give them all a collective name. 1036. Eskimos have 30 words for snow. Eskimos (or any of the tribes) have four words for snow. On the other hand, English-speaking people have at least 15 words for snow. 1037. Eskimos kiss by rubbing their noses together. Eskimos don’t rub their noses together. Or Inuits. Or any tribe. They make their noses touch as a means to get as close to the person as possible to smell them. Eskimos mightn’t be able to recognize each other’s faces in a powerful blizzard but they can recognize their scent. This “Eskimo kiss” is called a kunik. 1038. Gypsies come from Romania. Although the ten million gypsies in Europe are mainly from Romania, they didn’t originate there. Gypsies originated from India a thousand years ago. They gradually spread through the Middle-East through Iran, moved towards Europe through Turkey, and eventually settled in Romania. 1039. Confucius was the most respected philosopher of his time. Confucius wasn’t revered as a philosopher at the time. Confucius had some students who admired him but he wasn’t well-known. He was simply a teacher and didn’t stand out any more than any other tutor. Some of Confucius’ students wrote down his teachings. In Confucius’ time, Emperor Qin tried to destroy all philosophical literature.

Confucius’ scrolls are among the only ones to survive. It is only because of them that we have heard of him. For all we know, Confucius was viewed as a terrible teacher and philosopher in his time. 1040. The Elephant Man’s real name was John Merrick. The Elephant Man’s name was Joseph Merrick. After he died, the doctor who studied him, Frederick Treves, told friends that Joseph struggled saying his own name due to his large head size. Treves told Joseph to pretend his name was “John” since it was easier for him to say. 1041. The Elephant Man suffered elephantiasis. The Elephant Man was so-called because his skin was similar to elephant skin. The Elephant Man suffered from Proteus syndrome. 1042. The Elephant Man was born deformed. Joseph Merrick looked completely normal when he was born. His disorder didn’t develop until he was five years old. 1043. Giordano Bruno was the first person to hypothesize the Earth revolves around the Sun. Aristarchus concocted this heliocentrism theory in 250 BC, which was 1,700 years before Bruno. You would assume that Bruno was the first to prove this hypothesis. But here’s the thing. Bruno didn’t have a shred of proof that the Earth went around the Sun. Bruno was a friar, not an astronomer. Bruno believed in heliocentrism because he saw it in a dream. He liked the idea that the Earth wasn’t the center of everything because it meant the universe was far bigger than people believed. Bruno blindly followed a crazy idea with no evidence and died for it. Countless people have done this. 99.999% of the time, they are completely wrong. Bruno is one of the only people to follow a crazy idea with no proof but turned out to be right. 1044. Arthur Conan Doyle had no belief in the paranormal. It’s easy to assume Doyle was an incredibly logical man. After all, he created Sherlock Holmes who believed that “the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.”

Ironically, Doyle had such an intense belief in the paranormal he fell out with his friend, Harry Houdini, because the magician wouldn’t admit he was psychic. 1045. Sir Walter Raleigh introduced tobacco and potatoes to England. A Frenchman named Jean Nicot introduced tobacco from his homeland to England four years before Raleigh was born. The word “nicotine” is derived from Nicot’s name. The potatoes that were brought to England came from Spain. Raleigh wasn’t responsible for this but he did popularize tobacco and potatoes throughout Europe. 1046. Cannibalistic tribes boiled people in huge cauldrons. This is an image that has been seen in countless cartoons to depict any jungle tribe. There is no record of any tribe ever doing this. A large pot or cauldron would take far too long to boil, so this method would prove to be utterly impractical. 1047. Benjamin Franklin attached a key to a kite and let it get struck by lightning. This experiment would’ve killed Franklin. As part of his research, Franklin did fly a kite with a key attached to it into a cloud just before a thunderstorm, hoping to capture electricity. 1048. The great philosopher Plato’s name was Plato. Plato’s name was Aristocles. Plato was his nickname. It means “wide.” His friends called him Plato because of his broad shoulders. 1049. Pocahontas’ name was Pocahontas. Her name was Matoaka. Pocahontas is the name her tribe gave her when she went with the Settlers. It translates into “frisky” but it was considered incredibly insulting. 1050. Gandhi’s first name was Mahatma. Mahatma was Gandhi’s title. It means “great soul.” His name was Mohandas.

1051. Napoleon Bonaparte was short. The French measuring system during Napoleon’s lifetime showed that the famous French monarch was 5ft 2. Using conventional measuring units, Napoleon was 5ft 7, which was slightly above average for the time. 1052. Martin Luther King wrote the speech, “I Have a Dream.” On that day, the crowd received pamphlets with Martin Luther King’s prepared speech. At the last minute, he didn’t feel like reading it. Instead, he devised his own speech and spontaneously improvised his “I Have a Dream” monologue on the spot and created one of the greatest speeches of all time. 1053. Martin Luther King was popular at the time of his death. King was against the Vietnam War, which made him lose supporters. Documentary maker, Michael Moore, said when he was a kid, he came out of a church when the news confirmed King was dead. People cheered and applauded at the news. 1054. Quakers invented Quaker Oats. Henry Parsons Crowell bought the bankrupt Quaker Oat Mill Company and trademarked the name. He himself was not a Quaker. 1055. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel lying on his back on a platform. This idea came from the 1965 movie, The Agony and the Ecstasy, with Charlton Heston playing Michelangelo. In reality, Michelangelo was on a platform but he painted the ceiling standing straight; the same way as any painter. Painting this way would have put incredible strain on Michelangelo’s neck. In the movie, the filmmakers probably had Heston lying on his back to avoid him being injured in a similar fashion. 1056. Michelangelo was the most famous painter of his time. Despite the fact that he painted the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo was better known as a sculptor during his lifetime. 1057. St. Patrick was Irish.

St. Patrick was either Welsh or Scottish. He was kidnapped and shipped to Ireland at 16 as a slave. Also, his name wasn’t Patrick. He was born Maewyn Succat. When he became a priest years later, he took the name Patrick to honor Saint Patricius. 1058. Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston in the legendary “Phantom Punch Fight.” This moment has been turned into a classic poster of Muhammad Ali standing over a defeated Sonny Liston. The poster has the caption, “First Round. First Minute.” This picture helped define Muhammad Ali as a champion and a legend. However, it’s against the rules not to return to your corner after a knockdown. Liston should have continued but the referee unfairly ruled a knock out. 1059. Elvis Presley had jet-black hair. Elvis dyed his hair black for most of his career. He was blond. 1060. The Mayan civilization is extinct. Seven million Mayans are alive today, mainly in Mexico and Guatemala. In case you’re wondering, they are not savages. Many of them are assimilated into modern society. 1061. The western outlaw, Buffalo Bill, killed buffalos. Buffalos didn’t exist in North America during Bill’s time. He killed bison. 1062. Pope Joan was a secret female pope who got found out when she gave birth. This is how the story goes. In the 9th century, a German woman called Joan was studying at a monastery pretending to be a man by covering her entire body in a robe. When Joan went to Rome, she became a secretary to a cardinal. When the Pope at the time died, Joan was seen as the perfect candidate. Two years after her reign as Pope, Joan got caught when she gave birth on the street during a procession. Everything you just read is utter nonsense. Joan’s coronation supposedly occurred in 855 AD.

However, Leo IV became the Pope immediately after Benedict III in 855 AD. There is no blank spot in history where anyone could’ve been the Pope in secret during that time. If that isn’t the final nail in the coffin of this conspiracy theory, there are simply no historical artifacts that suggest this story is true. There’s not one painting or letter or item of clothing referencing Joan in any shape or form. 1063. Captain Cook discovered Australia. An English pirate called William Dampier and two Dutchmen called Abel Tasman and Dirk Hartog found Australia before Cook. 1064. Harry Houdini was the greatest magician ever. Houdini was a great magician but he was a terrible showman. Houdini’s original passion was acting but critics described him as being “wooden.” This was at a time when audiences were blown away by awful makeup and cardboard sets, so Houdini must’ve been really bad at acting. Houdini would do one trick, then move onto another trick, and so on and so on. He didn’t dress up his magic. Houdini was so good at magic, he indirectly made other amateur magicians create all of the gimmicks that we associate with magic - the presentation, build-up, beautiful assistants, dramatic lights, music, etc. When Houdini realized he was considered boring and dull, he focused on death-defying tricks and became known as the greatest escape artist of all time. Houdini was known more as an escape artist than a magician back in his day. 1065. Harry Houdini died because somebody punched him in the stomach while he was performing a magic trick. Houdini could tense his muscles so he could withstand a punch to the stomach. Supposedly, a muscular man asked him if he could punch Houdini in the stomach. Before Houdini had a chance to prepare, the man punched Houdini in the gut full force. This was said to have burst Houdini’s appendix, killing him. Houdini did die from appendicitis but the story of the man punching him is not true. On Houdini’s final tour, he complained of stomach pains,

but continued his tour. His appendix ruptured the same day as his final performance. He died several hours later. 1066. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook by stealing people’s ideas and only created the website to spite his girlfriend. This idea has become popular thanks to the 2010 film, The Social Network. Zuckerberg already had a girlfriend when he created the website. He married her years later. Also, the film is based on the semi-fictional book, The Accidental Billionaires. The author of The Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick, stated that many aspects of the film were heavily exaggerated or never happened. In fact, Zuckerberg’s associates said that the only thing in the film that is 100% accurate is his dress sense. That’s it. The film doesn’t show that Zuckerberg invested a lot of his money into the project. It also makes the viewer believe that he stole the idea from the Winklevoss brothers. However, many social media sites already existed including MySpace, which was created one year before Facebook. The film shows that the Winklevoss brothers concocted the idea of having a social media site only available to Harvard. This was not an original idea since other universities like Stanford and Columbia had their own social media websites. 1067. Caligula was insane. There are many “insane facts” about the Ancient Roman emperor, Caligula. Caligula was said to order his men to fight the sea with swords to kill the god of the sea, Neptune. But he wasn’t insane. There are several detailed biographies of Caligula that describe him as arrogant and aggressive but not delusional. Only one biography has described Caligula as a lunatic and it didn’t come from a reliable source but people believed it because it was more interesting. 1068. Pythagoras came up with Pythagoras’ theorem. If your mathematic knowledge is a bit rusty, Pythagoras theorem provides an equation to figure out the angles in a right-angled triangle. However, the Babylonians were the first to use this theorem a millennium before

Pythagoras was born. The Egyptians, Chinese, and Indians used it long before Pythagoras did. 1069. Mussolini made the trains run on time. The trains ran more efficiently before and after Mussolini’s intervention. This inaccurate idea became popular because Mussolini prided himself on how punctual his (and only his) train was. 1070. Anne Boleyn had 11 fingers. Some reports say she had 11 toes but neither statement is true. 1071. Joan of Arc fought in battle. Joan was armor clad in battle but she didn’t fight. Joan stood at the front line before battle as a symbolic gesture and to inspire the troops but she never engaged in combat. 1072. There is a picture of Uncle Ben on the front of Uncle Ben’s rice. Gordon Harwell was in charge of a rice business in the 1950s. When Harwell decided to expand his company, he wanted a mascot and a catchy name. He saw an elderly black gentleman called Frank Brown in a restaurant that he often visited and thought he had a good face to help Harwell sell his rice. Harwell knew of a successful black rice farmer living in Texas who called himself Uncle Ben. Ben had a great reputation, so Harwell thought the combination of Ben’s name and Frank’s face would sell his product. 1073. Sigmund Freud was the father of modern psychology. Pierre Janet devised psychoanalysis, theorized hysteria and disassociation, and created the practice of having a relationship with a patient. Sigmund Freud published Janet’s theories as his own and walked away with all of the credit. 1074. Sigmund Freud was from Germany. No, and it’s not Austria either. Freud was from Moravia. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s because it no longer exists. It was a country that got absorbed by the Czech Republic.

1075. Steven Spielberg got his first job at Universal Studios by showing up with a suit and briefcase, finding an office, and pretending he worked there. It’s a lovely story but it’s not true. Spielberg’s uncle got him the job at Universal Studios because he already worked there.

1076. The English burned Joan of Arc at the stake for witchcraft. The French burned Joan of Arc to death for dressing like a man. The best way to understand this is by using Al Capone as an example. Al Capone committed burglaries, beatings, and murder. Despite his heinous crimes, Capone was jailed for tax evasion because that was the only crime that the law could pin on him. Joan of Arc made herself a powerful woman by committing many successful pre-emptive sieges. Joan was clad in armor and kept her hair short to look more masculine so she would be taken seriously by her men and her enemies. Sadly, powerful women never went down well in Christian history. The French wanted to get her out of the way anyway they could. Joan was accused of heresy before a French court and she admitted guilt (but only to avoid death.) Since Joan couldn’t be put to death unless she denied heresy, the court accused her of wearing men’s clothes during the sieges. A woman dressing like a man is, “an abomination unto the Lord” according to Deuteronomy 22:5.

PIRATES 1077. Pirates were most prominent during the 17th-18th century. Although pirate movies seem to focus on this era, pirates have been a problem since the 14th century. 1078. Pirates were immoral savages. Pirates accepted everyone, no matter their religious belief, gender, race, or sexual orientation. Same-sex weddings were common on-board. Pirates practiced democracy and health insurance. I mean, they still attacked and plundered towns; they just had standards. 1079. Most pirates were in their 40s or 50s. The majority of pirates were much younger than you would expect. Many were in their 20s and some were teenagers. 1080. All pirates were criminals. Although pirates are always depicted as outlaws in movies, some of them had semi-legitimate careers as privateers. They were legally employed by their governments and the British Army to rob enemy ships. 1081. Pirates had parrots. Pirates rarely had any pets As they traveled hundreds of miles through violent storms, the last thing they would do is bring another mouth to feed. 1082. Pirates had peg-legs. There is not a single record of any pirate having a peg-leg. 1083. Pirates made prisoners walk the plank. Pirates needed as many men as possible to maintain their ship so they didn’t concoct creative ways to off their men. 1084. Pirates buried treasure. William McKidd is the only pirate that has been recorded to bury treasure.

1085. Pirates created the Jolly Roger “Skull and Crossbones” symbol. The Spanish originally used this symbol to label cemeteries. Some pirates used red sails to intimidate enemy ships. 1086. Pirates who lost an eye wore an eye-patch. Pirates did wear eye-patches but not because they were missing an eye. It was to adjust their eyes from above-deck to below-deck by having one eye trained for the bright light and the other for dim light. 1087. Pirates talked like pirates. Pirates talked the same way as everybody else. The “pirate voice” was popularized by the 1950s Disney movie, Treasure Island. 1088. Pirates stole gold. They rarely stole gold since it didn’t have any value while sailing on the ship for weeks on end. Instead they stole soap, candles, household supplies, sewing tools, salted fish, gunpowder, and medical supplies. 1089. Pirate ships were enormous. Most pirate ships were very small. If a ship was too big, it would be difficult for it to evade capture. The idea that all pirate ships are big became popular due to Blackbeard’s colossal ship. Speaking of which… 1090. Blackbeard was the most powerful pirate in history. Edward “Blackbeard” Teach was an infamous pirate… for 15 months. That’s it. Within just over a year, he was dead. However, there was one pirate far greater and more dangerous than Blackbeard; a Chinese ex-prostitute called Ching Shih. Her husband was a pirate captain. When he died, Ching was left with all of his crew. Over time, she became the most powerful pirate ever, commanding 1,800 vessels and 80,000 pirates.

PLACES 1091. Holland is another word for the Netherlands. The kingdom of The Netherlands has only existed since 1830. Nowadays, The Netherlands is composed of 12 counties including North Holland and South Holland. The major cities of The Netherlands are located in the Hollands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague) so if you know somebody from there, it’s likely they are from Holland. Before 1830, many trading ships travelled from the Hollands to all other regions in Europe. The traders were known to be from Holland so when the 12 provinces were formed, Europeans were still dealing with the same Holland traders that were now saying they were from The Netherlands. Naturally, people assumed that Holland and The Netherlands were one and the same. If you ever visit The Netherlands, please don’t make that mistake as it is considered rude. 1092. Madagascar is a tropical rain forest. The movie, Madagascar, has popularized this idea. Most of the rain forest is on the east coast of Madagascar. Saying that Madagascar is “just a rainforest” is like saying Ireland is heavily mountainous just because there are some mountains in it. Madagascar is a mix of desert, grassland, dry forests, farms, and rainforest. 1093. Deserts are mostly made up of sand. 20% of the world’s deserts are made of sand. Most deserts are composed of rock, salt, shingle and even snow. 1094. Hawaii is a tropical paradise. Hawaii does have beautiful beaches but not as many as you’d think. The government emphasizes the palm trees and sunshine to boost tourism but there’s a massive desert in Hawaii as well called Ka’u. Well, technically it’s not a desert because it was formed by a volcano. It’s more like a charred, smoldered, lifeless terrain. Not the image you would picture when you think of Hawaii, is it?

1095. The Great Wall of China is depicted accurately in photographs. I’ve been to the Great Wall twice. I can tell you from personal experience that over 99% of the Great Wall is in ruins. Any photographs you have seen of the Great Wall are from Beijing where some of the Wall has been restored. 1096. The Great Wall of China is in China. The Wall is 13,170 miles long. It’s so long, it covers three countries – China, North Korea, and Mongolia. 1097. Texas is mostly desert. Most non-Americans assume that Texas is mainly desert thanks to cowboy movies. Texas has an even amount of different terrains – forest, desert, beaches, canyons, and mountains. 1098. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Babylon has no records of these Gardens. Historians believe that soldiers returning to Greece from Babylon exaggerated what they saw. The Gardens were pretty at best; not so awesome that they deserve to be put in the same bracket as The Pyramid of Giza. 1099. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol for welcoming immigrants. Originally, Lady Liberty represented anti-monarchy and anti-slavery. The statue wasn’t associated with immigration until the 20th century. 1100. Ancient Greece was a country. Ancient Greece was a group of smaller, individual city-states. Most cities like Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Sparta had their own political systems, laws, and currencies. As a result, they were seen as their own separate nations. 1101. You can’t see Russia from Alaska. Although Sarah Palin was mocked for years for claiming to see Russia from her home state, she is right. There is a photograph online of Palin in Alaska pointing to Russia. Alaska and Russia are only a few miles apart.

1102. The United Kingdom has only recently become a multicultural society. Britain has had black citizens for over 1,800 years. Tombs of wealthy Africans have been uncovered in the UK recently that are over a millennium old. In 1501, Catherine of Aragon brought over Muslims, Jews, and Africans. Although Britain is more multicultural than ever, all ethnicities have lived freely in the UK for centuries. 1103. Nigeria has a prince. At some point, you have spam stating that you will receive money if you give the sender your credit card details. The most famous example of this is an email from a Nigerian prince who will give you a fortune if you give him your bank details. This story is not only baloney but it is impossible since Nigeria doesn’t have a prince! 1104. Scandinavia is made up of Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Finland, Sweden, and Norway make up a peninsula called the Fennoscandia. Since Norway and Sweden are also part of Scandinavia (countries with an ethno-cultural North German heritage) many people assume Finland is as well. However, Finland doesn’t share the German heritage like the other countries. Finland heroically fought against Germany throughout history and never fell under its reign. Because of this, it’s considered ignorant and disrespectful to consider Finland as a part of Scandinavia. Also, Iceland is considered a part of Scandinavia. 1105. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in the 1980s, which rendered it useless. Chernobyl was operational until December 2000. One reactor blew up during the Chernobyl explosion. The other three reactors worked perfectly. As dangerous as it was to continue working, there was too much nuclear energy to go to waste. By sealing off the melted reactor with steel, engineers got back to work on the remaining three reactors. 1106.

The Sistine Chapel is huge.

Before I was thrown out of the Sistine Chapel (don’t ask why,) I was astonished by how small the building is. It’s far smaller than many churches. Its dimensions are 40 x 13 x 21 meters. (I measured it. I had a lot of free time after I got thrown out.) You can see the entire interior without walking around. The chapel itself looks surprisingly dull. From the outside, it looks like a boring, brown building. Based on its outward appearance you would never assume it houses one of the world’s most famous paintings. 1107. Tibet is a country. Tibet hasn’t been a country in over 60 years. What’s even weirder is it was only a country for less than 40 years. Tibet has existed for over a millennium but it wasn’t its own country until 1913 thanks to the Dalai Lama. After Mao took over China, Tibet’s sovereignty dissolved in 1953. 1108. Bagpipes are Scottish. Bagpipes are from Central Asia. 1109. Haggis is Scottish. Haggis is from Greece. 1110. Kilts and whiskey are Scottish. Both of these originate from Ireland. 1111. Porridge is Scottish. Porridge is Scandinavian.……Did Scotland invent anything?.......... 1112. Chicken tikka masala comes from Bangladesh AND IS DEFINITELY NOT SCOTTISH! Although chicken Tikka comes from Bangladesh, chicken tikka masala is Scottish. In 1971, a customer in a Glaswegian restaurant ordered chicken tikka but demanded it to be covered with gravy. The chef didn’t have any, so he made a concoction with spices and tomato soup and so, chicken tikka masala was born. 1113.

Gaelic is the Irish language spoken in Ireland.

Gaelic was spoken before the Irish Potato Famine. For the past century, the Irish speak Gaeilge. 1114. Minnesota has more lakes than any other state in America. Minnesota has 10,000 lakes. Alaska has three million. Minnesota does have the second most lakes though, so well done Minnesota. Alaska only beat you by 2,990,000 lakes. 1115. The Sahara Desert is covered in sand. Although the Sahara is the world’s largest desert, only 15% is covered in sand. By definition, a desert is not a sandy area. A desert is a barren area of landscape with little to no life or precipitation. 1116. The driest place in the world is the Sahara Desert. The driest place is…. Antarctica. At this point, you might think, “Book…. are you just making stuff up? Do you need to lie down?” But “dry” doesn’t mean hot or cold. It means one thing – rainfall. Although there are deserts that have 0.03cm of rain per year, Antarctica has 0.00cm per year. It hasn’t rained there in millions of years. 1117. The poorest country is Somalia or Ethiopia. Neither of those nations are in the top ten poorest countries. The poorest country is Congo Democratic Republic with an annual average wage of $348 per capita. 1118. The country that commits suicide the most is Japan. Japan has the eighth highest suicide rate. Lithuania has the highest suicide rate at 34 people for every 100,000. Nobody knows why. 1119. The country that drinks the most is Ireland. Belarus, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, and Russia drink far more. The country that consumes the most alcohol is Moldova. 1120. British people have horrible teeth. A 2006 study performed by the OECD measured the amount of decayed, missing, or filled teeth in the average 12-year-old. Not only was Great Britain not the worst country for dental care in Europe (it was Poland,) it

was considered to have the best teeth in Europe and among the best in the world. 1121. Faberge eggs originate from Russia. Faberge eggs were invented by a French Dane called Peter Faberge. 1122. The most dangerous city in the world is Baghdad. If it isn’t Baghdad, what is it? Detroit? New Orleans? Rio de Janeiro? Mogadishu? Somewhere in Mexico? Surely Capetown? Nope. The highest murder and crime rate is in Caracas in Venezuela. It has 130 murders and 537 kidnappings for every 100,000 inhabitants. 1123. Japanese people have the highest life expectancy. The average life expectancy in Japan is 83. The average life expectancy in Monaco is 90 years old. That’s not even old over there. That’s considered normal. If you died at 88 in Monaco, the locals would say, “Such a shame… taken before his time. The good always die so young.” 1124. Most Internet users are from the United States. Not even close. There are over 720 million Internet users in China. That’s over double the population of the US. 1125. Big Ben is a building in London. The building you are thinking of is the Palace of Westminster. Big Ben is the name of the bell in the Clock Tower. 1126. Mt Everest is the world’s tallest mountain. Mt Everest measures 8,848m high. Mauna Kea in Hawaii is 10,000m but most of it is submerged under water. Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level. 1127. The second tallest mountain is K2. Mt Everest is the second tallest mountain. I don’t mean it’s the second tallest mountain because Mauna Kea is first. Mt Everest is the tallest and the second tallest mountain above sea level. Everest, like most huge mountains, spreads out into multiple peaks. Mt Everest’s tallest point is

8,848m high. Its second highest peak is 8,750m, which is taller than K2 by 150m. 1128. The most commonly spoken language is English. Although 500 million people speak English worldwide, nearly 1.4 billion people speak Mandarin. 1129. The longest waterfall is Niagara Falls. Niagara is pitifully small compared to Angel Falls in Venezuela, which is 17 times longer. 1130. Kazakhstan is a Third World Country. Kazakhstan is one of the biggest exporters of oil and natural gas in the world. Thanks to the movie, Borat, society believes that Kazakhstan is a backwards nation. 1131. South Africa has the highest production of diamonds. Russia has the highest worldwide production of diamonds at 22.4%. South Africa is fifth at 9%. Russia has a colossal diamond field containing “trillions of carats,” which is more than enough to supply worldwide markets for the next 3,000 years. The field was discovered in the 1970s underneath a 35-million-year old asteroid crater in Siberia. 1132. The Canary Islands are named after canaries. The islands are named after dogs. It comes from the Latin for “Isle of Canines.” 1133. Christmas Trees come from America. If you think these trees originated from Iceland, Turkey, or Lapland, you would be wrong. Christmas trees originate from Germany in the 16th century. 1134. The tallest mountain in Europe is Mont Blanc. Until recently, Mount Elbrus was thought to be in Asia. However, it’s in Europe on the edge of Asia. It is 5,642m, making it Europe’s tallest mountain.

1135. The Pyramids of Giza are hundreds of miles from civilization. The city of Giza is only a few miles from the pyramids. 1136. Most products that Americans use are from China. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, citizens of the United States only spend 2.7% of their income on goods made in China. 88.5% of goods bought in the US were made there. 1137. The piñata comes from Mexico. The piñata was originally Chinese. 1138. Most of Africa is wilderness. 28% of Africa is wilderness. 38% of North America is wilderness. 1139. Soy sauce comes from Japan. The Netherlands exports more soy sauce than any other country. 1140. There are 50 states in America. There are 46 states in America. The other four “states,” Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are Commonwealths. They titled themselves as Commonwealths after the War of Independence and have never been reverted to States. 1141. Americans have more cosmetic surgery than any other country. 7.5 million South Koreans have had some sort of cosmetic surgery, which is more than any other country. 1142. 10% of Americans have a passport. America has the third highest number of international flight departures annually. 37% of Americans have a passport. 1143. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are uninhabitable because of radioactive fallout. Although these cities were destroyed during World War II, Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been completely rebuilt. People get these cities mixed up with Chernobyl, which will remain uninhabitable for the next 10,000 years.

1144. Ayers Rock in Australia is the world’s biggest rock. Weirdly, Ayers Rock isn’t even the biggest rock in Australia. The world’s biggest rock is Mount Augustus. It’s 858m high and five miles long. It’s nearly two-and-a-half times the size of Ayers Rock. It is located in Australia but for some reason Ayers Rock gets the reputation as the continent’s most famous natural landmark. 1145. Chinese people are only allowed one child. If a Chinese couple have another child, it will be killed. The one-child rule applies to 35% of the population. It is an understandable rule since China has over a billion people. If a parent in China is not taking precautions after having children, they can be fined or arrested. 1146. Switzerland has no guns. Society assume Switzerland doesn’t have guns because it is considered “the neutral country,” since it stayed out of both World Wars. Gun laws are highly regulated in Switzerland. Although almost every household must have a gun by law. People in Switzerland have more guns per person than in Iraq. 1147. Egypt has more pyramids than any other country. Nope. And it’s not Peru or Mexico either. Sudan has the most pyramids with a grand total of 35. 1148. The Nile is mostly in Egypt. The Nile is in Egypt but most of the Nile is in Sudan. Again. How come Sudan never gets any credit? 1149. The biggest pyramid in the world is Giza. The Aztec Pyramid of Mexico, Cholula, is the world’s biggest pyramid. Although Giza is the tallest pyramid, Cholula has the biggest mass since it occupies 4.3 million cubic yards compared to Giza’s pyramid, which occupies 3.4 million.

PREGNANCY 1150. Humans are born as a blank slate. Depending on the pregnant woman’s mood, diet, and genetics, the fetus will develop characteristics which can be set in stone before it is born. 1151. A woman will put on weight if she takes The Pill. Despite women claiming this, there is no scientific evidence to support it. 1152. If a man takes The Pill, nothing will happen. Some men take The Pill as a joke, not knowing that it can cause side effects like losing facial hair, decreasing libido, and retaining more fat in their chest. Also, if a man tests positive on a pregnancy test, it might mean the person has testicular cancer. 1153. If you play classical music to a pregnant woman daily, her unborn child will grow up to be super intelligent. This myth is called the Mozart Effect. Listening to classical music may relax a woman when she’s pregnant, which will be calming for the unborn child. However, there is no proof it will boost the fetus’ intelligence. 1154. A fetus looks like the diagrams that you see in medical books. For the first 23 weeks, the fetus has next to no fat on its body as it focuses on building nerves, muscles, and bones. For nearly six months, a fetus’ head looks like a muscular skull. The skin is transparent for the first four months. After five months, the fetus’ skin develops lanugo. Lanugo is a collection of hair that covers an entire fetus’ body. For that month, the fetus looks like a baby werewolf. Also, did you ever wonder how something as complicated as the small intestine forms in a baby? There’s no room for it to form. How can this organ form so meticulously in the womb? Simple. It forms outside the baby’s body, inside the umbilical cord. When the intestine is finished forming, the organ nips back into the baby’s gut.

I found out all of this just before my brother’s wife had a baby. They really appreciated me telling them all of this. 1155. A pregnant woman is eating for two. Doctors advise pregnant women to eat an extra 340 calories per day during their second trimester and an extra 452 calories per day during the third trimester. 1156. A pregnant woman shouldn’t fly during her final trimester. This misconception was popularized by the television show, Friends, when Phoebe couldn’t fly when she was carrying triplets. Protocols vary from airline to airline but the reason heavily pregnant women are advised not to fly has nothing to do with the plane being bad for the baby. The reason why airlines don’t want pregnant women to fly is simply because air attendants don’t want to risk the possibility of a woman going into early labor on a plane. 1157. Spicy food triggers labor. This is another misconception popularized by Friends. In the show, Rachel is encouraged to eat spicy food to accelerate her pregnancy. The BabyCenter Editorial Team concluded that spicy food has no effect on labor. Other foods that are believed to trigger labor are pineapple and garlic. These foods also have no effect. 1158. Pregnant women shouldn’t be near a cat. It’s totally fine for a pregnant woman to stroke a cat. However, it is heavily advised for pregnant women not to go near a cat’s litter box as it may contain parasites that could be harmful to the unborn child. 1159. Pregnant women shouldn’t consume fish or coffee. The reason that doctors advise pregnant women not to eat sushi is to avoid the risk of food poisoning since certain bacteria can be found in uncooked meats. Fish are very nutritious for a pregnant woman and consuming them should be encouraged. Some fish have too much mercury, which can be dangerous if one is pregnant. However, high mercury levels are found in more obscure fish like swordfish, marlin, or shark. Are you going to eat

shark anytime soon? No? Then you’re fine. The only common fish you should avoid is tuna. Obviously a pregnant woman shouldn’t drink tons of coffee but a small amount every now and again is completely harmless. 1160. When you are pregnant, you can’t conceive another child. It’s very rare but has been documented several times in humans. It is known as superfetation.

PRESIDENTS 1161. George Washington was the first president of America. Peyton Randolph was the first American President but he has been forgotten due to a technicality. When he was President, he governed The United Colonies of America. It eventually changed its name to the United States of America. Who was the first president after the name-change? George Washington. Technically Washington is the 15th American President but he is officially considered to be the first. 1162. George Washington had wooden teeth. America’s first president (or 15th) had teeth made of hippo ivory. For a guy who’s famous for telling the truth, he does lie a lot. 1163. George Washington smoked weed. This idea comes from the fact that Washington wrote about his Indian hemp in a letter. Although this plant can create cannabis, Washington couldn’t have smoked it because the plant only had 0.3% THC, which is a necessary chemical to develop cannabis. Modern weed has at least 5% THC but it can be as high as 20%. Washington grew hemp to help produce clothes. 1164. Abraham Lincoln cared about black slaves. You may find this hard to believe as it will destroy your perception of Lincoln. Unfortunately, I can’t argue with the source since it’s from Lincoln himself. At the fourth Lincoln-Douglas debate in September 18th 1858, Lincoln said, “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, or of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people: and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.”

1165. Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States. Let’s say, for simplicity’s sake that George Washington was the first American President (sorry, Peyton.) If Washington was the first President, Trump would be the 44th. Why? Because Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and the 24th President of the United States, and the only person to be President twice non-consecutively. Grover Cleveland was the 22nd President, then it was Benjamin Harrison, then Cleveland again, and then it was William McKinley. So McKingley was the 25th President, but McKinley was the 24th different President of the United States. Isn’t history fun? 1166. President William Taft was so fat, he got stuck in a bathtub. It was said that the 27th President of the United States, William Taft, got wedged in his bathtub due to his huge girth so he went on a diet. At this time, food was becoming plentiful in society; people were making more money and could afford more food. People weren’t starving like they used to. As a result, obesity was beginning to become a problem. When Taft decided to lose weight, it triggered the “diet boom” that we obsess about to this day. It’s a fantastic story but Taft never got stuck in a bathtub. Taft was 330lbs. He wasn’t oblivious to his weight so he had a bathtub that could comfortably hold four men in it. 1167. Stuffed bears became known as teddy bear after President Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a wounded bear. This isn’t true. To quote writer, John Green, “When has Teddy Roosevelt ever not killed anything?” 1168. Thomas Jefferson freed all of his slaves on his deathbed. Jefferson could have had as many as 800 slaves but he only freed five just before he died. 1169. If JFK hadn’t been assassinated, America never would’ve invaded Vietnam. If JFK hadn’t been murdered he would have been dead within a year, or at the very least, had to step down from the Presidency.

JFK is often known as the most handsome US President. Many people describe him the same way – He had a natural glow about him. It is true that JFK had a distinctive color. After all, it is one of the side effects of Addison’s disease, which Kennedy suffered from. Addison’s causes damage to the adrenal glands, discoloring the skin to a bronze color. The reason why Kennedy appeared to be tanned wasn’t because he was healthy. He was dying. He had to be rushed to the hospital nine times between 1955-1957. This was a well-known fact in the Presidential circle, which dilutes the conspiracy theory that the American government killed JFK. Why would they assassinate him if they knew he was at death’s door? Speaking of which… 1170. JFK was against the Vietnam War. The conspiracy theory revolving around JFK is simple – the government assassinated Kennedy because they wanted to go to Vietnam but JFK was against it. The government supposedly killed him so they could declare war on Vietnam. However, JFK had already sent advisers and Special Forces to Vietnam before his death. It wasn’t a full-scale war but he directly began military activity in South Vietnam. Kennedy didn’t want a war but he knew it was unavoidable.

PRONUNCIATIONS 1171. Beijing is pronounced “bay-zhhing.” China’s capital is pronounced “Bey-JING.” 1172. Iraq is pronounced “EYE-rack.” I always say this word incorrectly. It’s “ee-ROCK.” 1173. Dubai is pronounced “doo-BYE.” It’s Du-BAY.” 1174. Colombia is pronounced “Co-LUM-bee-a.” The correct pronunciation is “Co-LOHM-bee-a.” 1175. Hiroshima is pronounced “hir-rosh-im-ma.” Considering Hiroshima suffered the worst attack in history, you’d think the least we could do is pronounce the name of the city correctly. It’s pronounced “Hir-row-sheem-ma.” 1176. Pakistan is pronounced “PAK-uh-stan.” It’s pronounced “PAH-kee-STAHN” in spite of the fact I have never heard a single person say it that way. 1177. Qatar is pronounced “kwa-tar.” Not even close. This country is pronounced “KUH-ter.” 1178. Budapest is pronounced “boo-da-PEST.” It’s “Boo-da-PESHT.” 1179. Nutella is pronounced “nut-tel-la.” It’s “NEWT-tel-la.” This blew my mind more than all of the other facts in this book combined. 1180.

Ralph Fiennes’ name is pronounced “Ralph Fines.”

The actor who played Voldemort in the Harry Potter series often has his name mispronounced. His first name is pronounced “Rafe”. 1181. Jeff Goldblum’s surname is pronounced “GOLD-blum.” It’s “GOLD-bloom.” 1182. Milla Jovovich’s name is pronounced “Mil-la Jo-vo-vitch.” This Ukrainian actress became famous after playing Leeloo in The Fifth Element. But the correct way to pronounce her name is “Mee-luh Yo-vovitch”. It even says this on her Twitter account. 1183. Gerald Butler’s first name is pronounced “JER-ald.” Since Butler is of Celtic descent, he pronounces his first name as “CHAIRerrd.” 1184. Eva Green’s surname is pronounced “green.” Although this actress is well-known for playing Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, most people mispronounce her surname. She pronounces it as “grane.” 1185. Steve Buscemi’s name is pronounced “Steve Boo-shem-me.” Steve says he pronounces it “Boo-semi” but he does point out that the correct way to pronounce the name in its country of origin (Italy) is “Booshame-me.” So everybody pronounces it wrong. Including him. 1186. Kirsten Dunst’s first name is pronounced “kur-stin.” This actress played Mary-Jane Watson in the Spider-Man movies (the good ones). Despite how well-known she is, most people don’t realize her first name is pronounced “Keer-stin.” 1187. Rihanna’s name is pronounced “Ree-awn-ah.” It’s “Ree-ahnne-uh.” Even her biggest fans get this wrong. 1188. Charlize Theron’s name is pronounced “Char-leez Thir-rone.” She won an Oscar for Monster, was awesome in Mad Max Fury Road, and people still can’t say her name. It’s pronounced “Shar-leez Ther-un.”

1189. Shia LeBeouf’s name is pronounced “Shy Li-Bay-of.” The star from the Transformers franchise has a tricky name. It’s pronounced “Shy-ya Le-Buff.” 1190. Saoirse Ronan’s name is pronounced “Say-orsh-she Ro-nan.” Although she is famous for Atonement, Anna Karenina, Hanna, and The Host, few people outside of Ireland can pronounce her name. Saoirse’s name is Gaelic so you can’t pronounce it the way it looks. It’s pronounced “Seer-shu Row-nin.” 1191. Vincent Van Gogh’s surname is pronounced “Van Goff” or “Van Go.” The Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, is one of the greatest artists ever, and yet society can’t even pronounce his name. The Dutch pronounce his surname as “vun KOKH” or “fun KHOKH.”

QUOTES 1192. “Blood is thicker than water” means “family is stronger than anything.” This expression means the exact opposite of what you think it means. This quote means, “The blood that your soldiers spill in order to keep you alive means you are closer to your comrades than to your own family.” 1193. “Curiosity killed the cat” means “knowing too much can be dangerous.” Ben Johnson created this phrase in the 1598 play, Every Man in His Humor. The phrase was originally “care killed the cat,” not curiosity. In modern terms, it means, “Caring too much about something can kill you”. Simply put, “Worrying can kill you”. 1194. “Take the road not taken,” means “Forge your own path instead of following everybody else.” Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, is often misunderstood. The second stanza states that both roads are “worn, really about the same.” Frost believed humanity find significance in random decisions. He references this when talking about his friend, Edward Thomas, by saying, “Whichever road he went, he would be sorry he didn’t go the other.” 1195. Dracula says, “I vant to suck your blood” in the original Dracula movie. The titular character never says this in the original Dracula film. 1196. Harry Callahan says, “Do you feel lucky, punk?” in the movie, Dirty Harry. The exact quote from Harry Callahan is, “Ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?” 1197. George W. Bush said a lot of hilariously stupid things. I have seen posters with idiotic Bush quotes like “Time for the human race to enter the solar system.”

“For NASA, space is still a high priority.” “The future will be better tomorrow.” These quotes and many more are from former Vice-President, Dan Quayle. If any politician said something silly at the time, Bush got the blame. Some quotes were jokes by satirical magazines and weren’t to be taken seriously. Bush did say very stupid things. But a lot of politicians and presidents (and ordinary people) did too. 1198. Sherlock Holmes says, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Sherlock never says this in any of the 60 official books. 1199. Sherlock Holmes was the first to say, “The game is afoot.” This quote originates from William Shakespeare’s play, Henry V. It is spoken by the titular character. 1200. Niccolo Machiavelli said, “The end justifies the means.” The term “Machiavellian” is used to describe an evil person who believes committing atrocities can be necessary if it brings about the greater good. This idea came from Machiavelli’s letter, The Prince, which he wrote in 1513. In this letter, Machiavelli says immoral behavior such as killing innocents can be justified if it politically expedient. Naturally, there was uproar over Machiavelli’s suggestion that “the end justifies means.” However, that quote is never said at any point in The Prince. More importantly, Machiavelli didn’t believe in that philosophy. According to political philosophers of the time such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Prince is clearly a satire written to expose the duplicity of politicians at the time. Unfortunately, it was a joke that most people took literally. Some jokes can fall so flat that no one laughs. And some jokes fail so badly that your name is used to describe every megalomaniacal villain ever. 1201. The Evil Witch says, “Mirror mirror on the wall” in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She says, “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all.” How come everyone has seen this movie and we all get this wrong?

She doesn’t even say it in the book. She says, “Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?” 1202. Captain Kirk said, “Beam me up Scotty” in Star Trek. This was never said in the original series nor in the original movies. 1203. Gordon Gecko says, “Greed is good” in the movie, Wall Street. Gecko’s lines are, “Greed, for a lack of a better word, is good. It works.” He says, “Greed is good” in the sequel (which is awful.) 1204. “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned” is a quote from… something. This quote is paraphrased from William Congreve’s play, The Mourning Bride. In Act III Scene VIII, Zara says, “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned. Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” 1205. George Washington said, “I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree.” You know what is a lie? That quote. 1206. Hannibal Lecter says, “Hello Clarice” in Silence of the Lambs. This fictionalized statement was popularized by the Eddie Murphy remake of Doctor Do-little. Lecter never says it in the original film. 1207. Rick says, “Play it again, Sam” in Casablanca. This quote is not in the movie. Rick says to Sam, “You played it for her, you can play it for me.” 1208. During Apollo 13, Jim Lovell said, “Houston, we have a problem.” The quote is, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Although Jim Lovell said this in the film, Apollo 13, it was Jim Swigert who said this iconic quote. 1209. Murphy’s Law states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Eddie Murphy (not the comedian) came up with the idea of Murphy’s Law (also known as Sod’s Law) but his original phrase was, “If there’s more

than one way to do a job, and one of those will result in disaster, then somebody will do it that way.” 1210. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” was originally said by Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali’s friend, Drew Brown, concocted catchy phrases for Ali to say in interviews, including this famous quote. 1211. Albert Einstein said, “If bees went extinct, mankind would too in four years.” Although there is no record of Einstein saying this, society considers this quote as fact because Einstein was really really smart. However, Einstein was an expert in physics and math, not botany or biology. So the next question is - What would happen if bees went extinct? Bees pollinate plant life. The cycle of bees pollinating flowers is responsible for 70% of all fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Not only would this drastically affect our food consumption but these foods are responsible for $200 billion worth of agricultural revenue which would cause countless corporations to collapse and cause millions of people to lose their jobs. So the bee’s extinction would devastate human life, but it wouldn’t end it. 1212. In Jaws, Roy Scheider’s character says, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” He says, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” This sounds like a pedantic correction but this quote comes up in a lot of pub quizzes. 1213. Philip Sheridan said, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” He said, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” Sheridan meant that he had seen great heroes who died in battle, but his quote was taken out of context to make it sound like he hated Indians. 1214. In the film, Apocalypse Now, Colonel Kilgore says the “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like victory.” The exact quote is, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like… victory.”

1215. Sigmund Freud said, “Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.” Sigmun Freud is most famous for talking about how conscious actions are based on subconscious desires. However, this concept isn’t universal. As a painter was drawing Freud while he was holding a cigar, the artist asked him what the cigar represented. Freud said, “Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.” It’s a witty, simple remark which is often used as a warning to amateur psychoanalysts who create connections with the conscious and the subconscious where there are none. However, there is no evidence that Freud said this. In fact, the first time this quote was reported was in English, not German, which was Freud’s native tongue. Because of this, historians believe the quote was simply a joke at Freud’s expense. 1216. Voltaire said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” In 1758, French philosopher, Helvetius, wrote in De l’esprit (On the Mind) how human motivation derives from sensation; a course of action is chosen because of the pleasure or pain which will result. The French parliament condemned this statement, believing it was an attack on religion. Although Voltaire didn’t agree with it, he believed Helvetius had the right to say and believe what he wanted. What Voltaire actually said was, “Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too” in Essay on Tolerance. It’s not as eloquent but the message is the same. 1217. “Everything that can be invented, has been invented” was said by Charles Duell just before the invention of cars, television, planes, computers, and spaceships. This would be the most inaccurate quote ever but Duell, who was the Commissioner of US Patents, never said it. In fact, he believed the exact opposite. 1218. Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake” to starving peasants. Marie Antoinette never said this because, y’know, she spoke French. But she never said this in French either (which is “Qu’ils mangent de la

brioche.”) The story goes that Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake” to the peasants as she was on the way to the guillotine. There are other stories of her saying it at different points in her life but all of them are wrong. Jean-Jacques Rousseau first wrote this quote in his autobiography, Confessions. However, Marie Antoinette was only ten years old at the time. The quote was later associated with her as anti-royal propaganda. 1219. “No computer will need more than 640 kilobytes” was an incredibly inaccurate statement made by Bill Gates. Bill Gates has admitted to inaccurate predictions about computers many times that he has made but he never said this quote. 1220. Mark Twain coined the phrase, “The only two certainties in life are death and taxes.” Although Twain was the first famous person to say this phrase, it was Christopher Bullock who said, “T’is impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes.” in his work, The Cobbler of Preston. 1221. Darth Vader says, “Luke, I am your father” In the movie Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. This is the dialogue from the movie. Vader: Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father. Luke: He told me enough. He told me you killed him. Vader: No. I am your father. Please debate this dialogue with any Star Wars fan. It will melt their brain. 1222. Obi-Wan Kenobi says, “May the force be with you” in Star Wars. If you have a friend who can quote Star Wars, name every bounty hunter in the franchise and can tell you the name of the Rancor’s owner, ask them, “When does Obi-Wan say, “May the force be with you” in Star Wars?” and watch your friend’s brain explode. Obi-Wan never says this line. Han Solo says it before Luke heads to the Death Star.

RELIGION 1223. Adam and Eve ate an apple in the Garden of Eden. The Bible doesn’t specify what fruit Adam and Eve ate. The idea of an apple probably became popularized by an old painting. The Hebrew word in one of the translations of the Bible is tapuach, which means “scented fruit.” It is more likely it was an apricot, fig, or quince. 1224. In the Bible, Noah built a huge ship. It’s not called Noah’s Boat. It’s an Ark. Have you ever heard of someone going on holiday on an Ark? Drawings of the Ark make it look like a ship with a steering mast. Noah didn’t sail the Ark. Where would he go? The entire world was flooded. Ark means “box” or “chest.” The Ark was a huge wooden mass that Noah needed to stay in to wait for the flood to pass. 1225. In the Bible, Noah took two of every animal. It says in Genesis 7:2 “Of every clean beast, thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, and of the beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.” The unclean animals that are taken in twos were the animals that Jews were not allowed to eat. The clean animals were any other animals that were edible. 1226. Delilah cut Samson’s hair in the Bible. Delilah’s servant committed the deed. 1227. The Bible has ten Commandments. There aren’t ten Commandments. It’s more like 613. I’m not going to list every commandment but the Bible says that it is forbidden to practice witchcraft, wizardry, or…to eat camels. You might think there are ten official Commandments. Surely the Commandments that Moses possessed were on the two tablets that God gave him, right? But they weren’t called The Ten Commandments because Moses presented 13 Commandments. Several of them are similar so some Commandments are bundled together.

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house” is usually combined with “Thou shalt not steal.” “Keep the Sabbath holy,” “Don’t work on Sunday,” and “Work all other days of the week” are three Commandments but are clumped together just to round off the Commandments to ten. 1228. The most important Commandment is Thou Shalt Not Kill. The Commandments were originally written in order of importance. The first six Commandments are i) Thou shalt not have false Gods before me. ii) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. iii) Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain. iv) Keep the Sabbath Holy. v) Honor your father and mother. vi) Thou shalt not kill. When the Commandments were written, killing was considered the sixth worst offense! 1229. In the Bible, Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. Mary Magdalene is barely mentioned in the Bible but she is never associated with prostitution. 1230. The number of the Beast is 666 and it is the Antichrist. That’s a mistranslation. The number is 616. This was corrected shortly after the Bible was written but this idea has lingered ever since. The Beast in the Bible isn’t a person. It is literally a Beast. It is a huge monster with ten horns, seven heads, and ten crowns. There is a False Prophet mentioned in the Book of Revelation who some Christians believe is the Antichrist but it is the Beast that bears the number, 616. Okay, now let’s look at the Antichrist. Although the Antichrist is mentioned four times in the Bible, it is not the son of Satan nor is it a person destined to bring about Armageddon. An Antichrist is any person who doesn’t believe in Christ’s divinity. Here’s exactly what it says in 2 John 1:7, “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the Antichrist.” Saying you are

an Antichrist is like saying you are anti-war. It means you do not believe in Christ’s divinity. It doesn’t mean you’re the spawn of Satan. 1231. Angels are described in the Bible as beautiful beings. There are many types of Biblical angels; Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Cherubim, and Seraphim. When I say “Cherubim” you may think of the cute babies you see in artwork, especially in the Sistine Chapel. However, the Biblical passage, Ezekiel 10:14 states, “Each of the Cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second face of a human being, the third face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.” That’s…scary. Thrones are described as “wheels within wheels” with the rims completely covered in eyes. That sounds terrifying! There is no angel in the Bible described as having two wings. Seraphim angels have six wings and Cherubim have four. Artists wanted to sculpt, draw, and paint angels as peaceful beings. Therefore, the Cherubim and Thrones were…. revised. To make an angel easy to identify, they were usually painted with a halo above their head. The “plucking harps” image was first mentioned in John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost. 1232. There are female angels in the Bible. Angels are only referred to as “he” in the Bible. However, many biblical scholars see angels as genderless as they would have no need of male or female organs. 1233. Hell is ruled by The Devil. There is no suggestion that Satan rules Hell. That idea comes from Paradise Lost again. When God banished Lucifer, it is described in 2 Peter 2:4 as, “God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into chains of darkness to be held for judgment.” Satan is not the king of Hell. He’s a prisoner. 1234. Hell is made up of nine levels. This concept was mentioned in Dante’s Inferno. It is never referred to in the Bible.

1235. The Devil is described in the Bible as a horned, red beast with hooved feet, a spiked tail, and a scepter. This image was taken from the Greco-Roman satyr, Pan. Pan looks similar to a goat because of his hooves, horns and tail. He also had a trident which was a symbol of power, not evil. Pan was a God of fertility. The Roman Catholic Church was not a fan of “embracing fertility” because it made women look strong. The Church said this depiction of Pan was evil. The Bible never gives a vivid description of Satan. He is described as “masquerading as an angel of light” and he is called “the son of the morning,” and “a beautiful cherub”. Wait… isn’t he described as a snake in the Garden of Eden? The Bible doesn’t say the snake is Satan. It’s just a snake…that talks…. 1236. In the Bible, Satan tricks people into giving them their souls. As I already said, Satan had no power after he was banished to hell. It is never suggested in the Bible that he can steal people’s souls. 1237. Three wise men visited Jesus as a newborn in a stable. Matthew 2:1 reads, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” Wise men. Not three wise men. It continues in Matthew 2:1 with, “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him.” Some sources state that the wise men are called Balthasar, Gaspar, and Melchior but these names are never connected to the wise men in the Bible. The wise men did not visit Jesus when he was a newborn baby. They visited him in a house when he was a toddler. The shepherds did visit Jesus when he was a baby in the manger, but the wise men came later. 1238. The United States has more Christians than any other country. Brazil has the most Christians with 123 million. 1239. Lent lasts for 40 days. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. This means that Lent lasts for 46 days. So where does the number 40 come from?

Nowadays, most Catholics who embrace Lent will give up a vice (chocolate, alcohol, Netflix, etc.) for 40 days. Originally, Catholics fasted during Lent. 40 is an important number in the Bible. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18.) God flooded the Earth for 40 days. (Genesis 7:4.) The Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years in search of the Promised land (Numbers 14:33.) Jesus fasted for 40 days while he was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-2, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-2.) However, this doesn’t answer why Lent is supposed to be 40 days when it’s actually 46. Did the Catholic Church just round it off? Originally, there was no obligation to fast on the six Sundays during the six weeks of Lent. As a result, Catholics fasted for 40 days over a period of 46 days. 1240. The Bible mentions the Holy Grail. The Bible mentions that Jesus used a cup in The Last Supper but it doesn’t suggest this cup is now enchanted. This is like if the Bible mentioned that Jesus sat in a chair and now there is a Holy Chair secretly hidden somewhere in the world. Which there isn’t. 1241. Jesus had no siblings. Jesus’ brothers are mentioned in Matthew 12:46, Luke 8:19, John 7:1-10, Acts 1:14, Galatians 1:19, and Mark 3:31. According to Matthew 13:55, Jesus had four brother called James, Joseph, Simon, and Judah. Matthew 13:56 tells us that Jesus had sisters but they are not named or numbered. 1242. In Christian beliefs, people have guardian angels. There is no Biblical reference to guardian angels protecting people individually, only collectively. During the Middle Ages, saints claimed to have encounters with angels who said they were watching over humanity. By the 18th century, stories of angels rescuing people from danger became more and more common. Over time, the idea of each person having his or her own angel became popular. 1243. When people go to Heaven, they become angels. It is never referenced in the Bible that people can become angels. When a person dies, they are welcomed into Heaven by angels but never become one themselves. Hebrew 1:14 states, “Are they (angels) not all ministering

spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Angels are servants created by God to serve Him. 1244. Gabriel is the most powerful angel. Gabriel is one of the only angels named in the Bible and he is the one that tells Mary she was chosen by God to bear His son. He is also titled as an Archangel, which makes him sound like he is ranked higher than a normal angel (which he is.) However, every other type of angel is ranked far higher than Gabriel. Here are the angels ranked in descending order – Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and angels. The Seraphim, the Cherubim, and the Thrones can’t be separated from God. This means they never leave Heaven. Gabriel leaves Heaven four times in the Bible because he is one of the lowest ranking angels. An Archangel’s duty is to give messages on Earth directly from God. This sounds pretty important but the Seraphim serve God directly, which is the highest priority. 1245. Jesus’s name is pronounced “Jee-sis.” The “j” sound is rare outside the English language. It is usually pronounced like a “y.” In the Aramaic language which Christ spoke, Jesus’ name was pronounced “Yesh-u-wah.” The modern version of Yeshua’s name is Joshua. 1246. “An eye for an eye” is a quote that originates from the Bible. That quote is in the Bible but it originates from Babylon. Hammurabi of Babylon created the first legal system consisting of 282 laws and referenced this quote in one law. It means that a punishment should be proportionate to the crime e.g. if you take a man’s eye out, the same should be done to you. 1247. There are Four Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are over 60 Gospels but only four are considered canonical because they seemed the most accurate. The other 56 are in a vault in the Vatican along with well over a hundred thousand texts that didn’t make the Bible’s final cut.

1248. Jesus was born on 25th December 1 AD and died in 33 AD. The Bible doesn’t give a date of birth for Jesus. December 25th was a celebratory holiday long before it was a part of Christianity. The earliest record of celebrating December 25th goes back 300 years before Christ’s birth when the Romans worshipped the sun god, Helios. Many Jewish historians (most notably Josephus) have said that King Herod the Great died in 4 BC shortly after Christ’s birth. It is most likely Christ was born in the Spring of 4 BC and died at 33 years of age in 29 AD. 1249. In the Bible, a whale ate Jonah. Despite the fact that this story is usually known as Jonah and the Whale, a fish ate him. When the Bible was written, there was no differentiation between a fish and a whale. But then again, the Bible also says that bats are birds. 1250. David should have stood no chance against Goliath. Although Goliath was a giant, he was infantry. David was a slinger. Slingers automatically had a vast advantage over infantry. This was common knowledge at the time and it still stands today. In modern terms, it would be like the greatest swordsman in the world running towards a sniper. The swordsman would have no chance. Goliath posed no threat from a distance. From David’s point of view, Goliath was a sitting duck. 1251. “AD” has always stood for “Anno Domini,” which is Latin for “In the Year of Our Lord.” Ancient Roman emperor, Diocleatius, coined AD in his name. It stood for Anno Diocletian. As his influence faded, AD changed its meaning. When 247 AD ended in Diocleatius’ name, the following year was 532 Anno Domini, approximately 500 years after Christ’s death. 1252. In the Bible, it states “Money is the root of all evil.” I genuinely don’t know why people make this mistake because I find the actual quote, “For the love of money is the root of all evil,” more powerful. 1253. “It is more likely a camel can enter the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” is a misunderstanding.

The Needle is a thin gate in Israel that is too narrow for a camel to enter. That quote literally means a rich man can’t enter heaven. There is no Needle gate. Rich men didn’t like the idea that they were barred from God’s kingdom so they concocted the notion of a Needle gate. 1254. The Bible states, “The lion will lie down with the lamb.” The quote in Isaiah 11:6 is a bit of a mouthful. It goes, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together.” And no, I don’t know what a yearling is. 1255. Jesus Christ was white. Since Jesus was from the Middle East, he had a dark complexion. Jesus had short hair, as was custom with Jewish men at the time. It says in Corinthians 11:14, “Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair it is a shame onto him?” Despite what paintings show you, Jesus did not look like a Calvin Klein model. Isaiah 53:2 reads that Jesus “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” 1256. Jesus sat with his disciples for his final meal as is depicted in Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, The Last Supper. Jesus and his disciples crouched before a 1ft tall table for their final supper together as was common practice at the time. They didn’t sit on chairs. 1257. “God works in mysterious ways” is a quote in the Bible. This quote stems from William Cowper’s hymn of the same name, which was written in 1773. 1258. An upside-down crucifix is a Satanist symbol. If a cross is a symbol of Jesus, surely an inverted cross is a symbol of Satan, right? No. The first Pope, Saint Peter, was crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to be crucified the same way as Christ. This symbol is used by the Catholic Church to commemorate their first Pope. You can see this symbol on the current Pope’s throne.

So when heavy metal bands use the inverted cross to be cool, they are actually saying that they respect St. Peter. 1259. The Behemoth was a fictional monster in the Bible. The Behemoth is described as “hidden among the reeds in the marsh,” “the stream surrounds it,” “power in the muscles of its belly,” and “its tail sways like a cedar.” Scholars believe that the “cedar” description is a mistranslation and are now firm that it means “cedar branch.” If this is true, the description perfectly describes one creature on Earth – a hippo. 1260. In the Bible, Moses turned his staff into a snake to show the pharaoh, Ramses, his power. According to Exodus 7:8-13, “Aaron threw his staff in front of the pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.” Although Moses was present in this passage, only Aaron performs this act. Despite the fact that the film, The Ten Commandments, shows Aaron casting the staff down in front of Ramses, many people still believe it is Moses who performs this act. 1261. The most common name in the Bible is Christ. Christ is mentioned in the Bible 973 times. David is mentioned 1,011 times. 1262. It took Noah several years to build the Ark. According to the Bible, Noah was 600 years old when he started building the Ark and he finished it when he was 720. That must’ve been really boring. 1263. The seven deadly sins are mentioned in the Bible. The seven deadly sins have been popularized by the movie Se7en but they are never mentioned in the Bible. The idea that Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Envy, and Wrath are the seven deadly sins originated in medieval times, so that society knew what the Church forbade. You might wonder why people of the time didn’t simply read the Bible to learn what the Church allowed and disallowed. Which brings me to my next point. 1264. People have always known what was written in the Bible.

The way we know the Bible today is different to how it was known for over a millennium after it was written. It was originally written on scrolls and parchments rather than in a book. People have only had their own Bibles for the last few hundred years. Before that, people outside of the Catholic Church had very little understanding of what was written in the Bible. Even if the common people got a copy, the scriptures were written in Latin, which no one could read outside of the Church. For a long time, Europeans’ knowledge of God came directly from priests. It was only when the printing press became popularized, and Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, that people finally got to read it themselves. Luther assumed this would end debates about religion. In case you haven’t been on the Internet ever, that is still a problem. 1265. The Bible states that humanity was created in God’s image. This is a mistranslation. Making God look human in art is misinterpreting what “in God’s image” means. It’s referenced in Gen 1:27. The original wording is “tselem demuth,” which means “having God-like attributes.” This may be a reference to how the first generations of mankind had greater longevity according to the Bible. Noah and Methuselah lived for over 900 years. 1266. The Gospels of the Bible were originally written in Latin. They were not written in Latin nor were they written in Hebrew or Aramaic. They were written in Greek (hence all of the mistranslations and misunderstandings.) 1267. Mother Teresa was extremely religious. Mother Teresa was an atheist. This wasn’t known until after her death. She writes about her belief (or lack of) many times in her letters. She had a belief in God, but after years of being surrounded by the poverty-stricken and the dying, her faith waned. Teresa couldn’t publicly admit it because she had raised millions for charity. She went to her grave with people believing her to be one of the most devout Christians in the world. 1268. The Rapture is mentioned in the Bible.

The Rapture is the idea that the world will end when the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse walk the Earth, destroying and killing everything. The nonsinners will ascend into heaven while the sinners are left behind to bear witness to the end of the world before they are cast down to Hell. The Rapture wasn’t a popular idea until the 16th century. People mix up the Rapture with the Book of Revelation. Although the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are mentioned in the Book of Revelation, they only appear in one chapter. The Book of Revelation is composed of 22 chapters. During this time, God appears on a throne in the sky, stars fall to the Earth, a bottomless pit opens in the ground, some guy called John eats a book, two Great Beasts appear, and a war breaks out in Heaven. 1269. Purgatory is mentioned in the Bible. The idea of purgatory didn’t exist until the Council of Florence devised it in 1431. The Bible states that only the pure go to Heaven and the wicked are banished to Hell. But what about the inbetweeny people? What about a good person who occasionally commits small sins? What about the good people who died before Christ was born? What about a baby that died before it had a chance to be baptized? Do innocent babies deserve to go to Hell? The Council decided that there must be a place after death where decent souls go to be purified before ascending to Heaven. This became known as purgatory. 1270. Jesus’s life story is copied from other religions. In the documentary, Religulous, Bill Maher explains how Jesus’s life is suspiciously similar to that of the Egyptian god, Horus. Maher states that Horus was born of a virgin, had 12 disciples, was baptized in a river, walked on water, cured the sick and blind, was tempted in the desert, raised Asar from the dead (whose name translates into “Lazarus,”) and was crucified and resurrected three days later. Maher also explains how the Persian god, Mithras (who predates Christ by six centuries,) was born on December 25th, performed miracles, was known as The Way, The Lamb, The Light, The Messiah, The Savior, and he also died and was resurrected three days later. So not only does Christ’s life sound like a remake, but it’s more of a crossover like the Avengers movie.

When Christians dismiss the idea that Christ’s life steals elements from other beliefs, it’s easy to assume they are being defensive because it shows huge inconsistencies in the foundation of Christianity. However, Ida B. Pratt and ML Bierbrier are adamant that this theory is wrong. And they are not just defensive Christians trying to protect their religion. They are Ancient Egyptologists. First off, Egyptians didn’t believe in baptism. Asar doesn’t translate as Lazarus. Ancient Egyptians didn’t believe any humans had divine powers, not even the pharaohs. Also, the idea that Christ had similarities to Mithras comes from a documentary called Zeitgeist, which doesn’t cite any sources, so this concept can’t be taken seriously by historians. 1271. All Muslim women wear veils. Some Muslim women wear veils. Assuming they all do is like saying all Irish people dress like Leprechauns (when only some of them do.) 1272. Most Muslims live in the Middle East. Most Muslims live in south-east Asia. 204.8 million Muslims live in Indonesia, which is far more than any other country. That makes up 13% of the world’s Muslim population. 1273. In the Quran, it states that a Muslim martyr will have 72 virgins waiting for him in Heaven. The word used in the Quran for “virgin” is “hur.” This is a mistranslation. The Quran was written in Aramaic when “hur” meant “white grapes.” So martyrs aren’t rewarded with 72 virgins. They just get a bunch of fruit. Yay. 1274. To Muslims, “jihad” means “holy war.” “Jihad” translates into “struggle,” but Muslims perceive the word to mean “duty.” 1275. Muslims do not believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus is mentioned several times in the Quran, as well as other Biblical characters such as Noah, Abraham, Adam. Mary has an entire verse dedicated to her. 1276. The Star of David is a Jewish symbol.

The Star of David was a symbol in Buddhism, Sanatana Dharma, and Jainism before the Jews popularized it. 1277. Jews can only marry Jews. This only applies to highly conservative groups. 79% of Jews in the US intermarry. 1278. Jews believe in Heaven and Hell. Many Jews see Heaven as an elevation of consciousness rather than a physical place. Some Jews believe in Gehinnom, where a soul is purified for up to a year before being accepted into Heaven (which is similar to the concept of Purgatory.) The Catholic interpretation of Hell is not a part of the Jewish faith. However, many Jews focus on what they do in this life rather than on what to expect in the world to come. 1279. Jews do not believe in a Messiah. Jews don’t believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah but they believe one is coming, and that he will be from the ancestral line of King David; the shepherd who killed Goliath. 1280. Judaists call God, “Yahweh.” The Hebrew language contained no vowels, so the name would be YHWH. However, its original pronunciation has been lost over time. 1281. Jews see the Old Testament as The Jewish Bible. Jews follow the teachings of the Talmud and Tanakh, which are made up of the Torah, Nevi’im, and K’tuvim (Teaching, Prophets, and Writings.) Although many of these books are in the Old Testament, it is only composed of a part of these books as a textual source. 1282. Dreidels were invented for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top that is associated with the Jewish holiday even though it existed long before the existence of Judaism. The dreidel existed in Ancient Babylon, Persia, Greece and in Ancient Rome. 1283. Jews can’t eat pork.

A kosher Jew will not eat shellfish, hare, camel, pig, or a hyrax… whatever that is. According to the Torah, the only meat a kosher Jew can eat is from a cloven hooved animal that has a multi-chambered stomach like a cow, goat, or sheep. However, Jews can choose whether to abide by this rule. Only 21% of the Jewish population in the US go kosher. 1284. Jews can’t work on the Sabbath. The Sabbath (which Jews call the Shabbat) falls between sundown on Friday and an hour after sundown on Saturday. However, 96% of Jews in the US stated that they work during this time. Some hardcore Jews will do absolutely nothing during the Shabbat that resembles work including using a light switch, answering a telephone, or tearing paper (and that includes toilet paper.) 1285. Hindus call their religion Hinduism. “Hindu” refers to the people of the Indus River region of India. Persians were the first to use the word to reference the entire Indian population and so, the name stuck. The official name for Hinduism is “Sanatana Dharma,” which means “eternal duty of God.” Followers of this religion are called Dharmis. 1286. Only Indians can be Dharmis. Although Sanatana Dharma is common in India, its caste system is based on each follower’s personality; not their birth or heritage. Someone from England, Mexico, or Botswana can become a Dharmi. 1287. Dharmis worship millions of gods. You may notice in the previous fact that I said God. Not gods. Although there is a misconception that Sanatana Dharma has 330 million gods, this is an oversimplification. Dharmis believe in one single creator of the universe. However, since God is beyond humanity’s understanding, many interpretations have been created of God such as Shiva, Krishna, and Vishnu. However, these depictions are merely symbolic of a single God. Each Dharmi can decide which depiction of a supreme creator they wish to believe in.

1288. Dharmis worship idols. Dharmis do not directly worship idols. Instead, they believe that since God created everything, his work can be seen in every living thing and object. This concept is called arca (which means “living embodiment.”) Dharmis see “idol worship” as directly worshipping God. 1289. Dharmis worship cows. The reason Dharmis respect the cow is because they see it as an animal that gives more than it takes. Although it only takes grain, grass, and water, it provides us with milk, cream, yoghurt, butter, cheese, and fertilizer. Although Dharmis respect the cow, they do not worship it. 1290. The Bhagavad Gita is the Dharmi version of the Bible. Many Christians and Catholics see certain parts of the Bible as metaphors while others take it literally. However, the Bhagavad Gita is not expected to be taken literally. Dharmis see it as a collection of stories to educate and inspire. 1291. A married Dharmi woman has a red dot on her forehead. The red dot (which is called a bindi) represents losing ahamkara (ego) and has nothing to do with the wearer’s marital status. Some women have black bindis to signify that they have lost their partner. 1292. Sanatana Dharma has existed for millennia. Modern Sanatana Dharma has only existed since the 1800s. Although Ancient Hinduism has existed since 4000 BC, the two religions have as much in common as Catholicism does with Ancient Egyptian mythology. 1293. Buddhism is common in India. Less than 1% of Indians are Buddhists. By comparison, 3% of the population is Christian. Buddhism hasn’t been a common religion in India for over a millennium. 1294. Buddhists believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation is a Dharmi belief. When Buddhists talk about being reborn, they mean you can change for the better. It doesn’t convey a literal change into another person or creature.

1295. Buddhists are pacifists. Although Buddhists practice pacifism, they can become violent to protect their loved ones, like any person would. They are not beyond defending themselves. 1296. Buddhists meditate by sitting in a yoga stance while chanting. This isn’t an accurate idea. They have other ways to find peace like music, walking, or exercise. 1297. Buddhists worship their god, Buddha. Many Buddhists don’t see Buddhism as a religion, but as a philosophy. Being at peace with oneself and meditating doesn’t necessarily mean Buddhists need to have a relationship with God. Buddha was not a God. He was a man. And he looked nothing like that fat, smiling statue you see everywhere. Buddha (whose real name was Siddhartha Gautama) lived around 560 BC. Although some sources say he was a prince and a religious leader, there is no evidence to back this up. That fat statue that is mistaken as Buddha is a monk called Budai. It is not known for certain how he got mixed up with Buddha. Some people have suggested that Westerners see happiness as “being big and jolly” so when they see this fat, smiling statue representing enlightenment and happiness, they assume he’s Buddha. 1298. Nearly all South Koreans are Buddhists. 22% of South Koreans are Buddhists, 29% are Christians, and 46% are atheists. 1299. Rastafarians call themselves “Rastafarians.” Although “Rastafarian” is not a derogatory term, these people prefer not to be labelled as such since they don’t like any labels, (good or bad,) because labels can be corrupted and cause separation with anyone who is different. To say someone has the right religion or belief is to imply that someone else has the wrong one. They would prefer to live without labels. Also, many people believe that most Jamaicans are Rastafarian. In reality, 64% of Jamaicans are Christian. Only 7% are Rastafarian.

1300. If enough people put their religion as “Jedi” on a consensus form, a country would have to recognize it as a religion. Funny but untrue…sadly. Someday… someday… 1301. Mormons practice polygamy. Any Mormon who has multiple partners is excommunicated from the church. 1302. Wicca is an ancient religion. Your grandparents are older than Wicca. Gerald Gardner invented Wicca in 1954. Wiccans get mixed up with druids because they have similarities such as hooded robes, spiritual fulfillment, totems… oh wait… 1303. We know a lot about the ancient Druids. We know next to nothing about druidism. Although druidism is often depicted in stories as an ancient religion that believed in sacrifices, spells, and incantations, we have no evidence of their beliefs because they left no historical records. We only know that ancient Druids existed because the Romans and Greeks mention them several times in their records. The idea that Druids delved with magic comes from Neo-Druidism; a Welsh sect formed in 1792. It was formed by Edward Williams, who called himself Iolo Morgannwg (because it sounded Druidy,) but it is clear he made this religion up for money and copied all of its “beliefs” from other religions. 1304. Satanists worship Satan. The Church of Satanism was created in 1966 by a lion tamer called Anton LaVey. (Please research that if you don’t believe me.) According to LaVey, Satanists are atheists and don’t believe in Satan. Satan was chosen as their symbol (or mascot) to represent nonconformity with Abrahamic religions, which LaVey saw as irrational. Satanists believe in being kind to those who deserve it, not judging others based on their race, gender, or sexuality, avoiding conformity or pretentiousness, and above all, not being an idiot. That’s not a joke. Stupidity is the cardinal sin of Satanism.

1305. Witch doctors stick pins into voodoo dolls to place curses on people. This is not a belief in any version of voodoo in Ghana or Benin. Despite what is depicted in films, cannibalism and resurrection also have nothing to do with voodoo. Voodoo is conceptually about healing the body and eradicating spirits from the human body. Even the Catholic Church accepts voodoo as a healthy and peaceful religion. Some voodoo beliefs use a doll called a poppet that has peg-holes in certain places. Twigs are inserted into the holes to drive out spirits. The whole idea of voodoo being evil became popularized by the James Bond movie, Live and Let Die. 1306. The most powerful being in Ancient Greek mythology was Zeus or the Kraken. The Kraken comes from Norse mythology and was an ancient Scandinavian legend. The Greeks didn’t believe in such a creature. So Zeus must have been the most powerful being in Greek myth, right? No, and it wasn’t his father, Cronus, either. The most powerful being in Greek mythology was the Hekatonkheires. There were three of these creatures called Briareos, Cottus, and Gyges. They were insurmountably powerful because they had one hundred arms and one hundred heads. The Hekatonkheires were the children of the primordial deity, Gaia. In battle, the Hekatonkheires hurled a hundred mountains at a time at other gods. For such a powerful and fascinating creature, the Hekatonkheires isn’t as well-known as the other Greek gods (unless you played God of War.) These beings are not mentioned often but they are known to have “a strength and ferocity that surpassed all of the gods.” 1307. Greek and Roman mythology are interchangeable. There’s a misconception that the Greek and Roman gods were the same apart from the names of the deities they worshipped e.g. The Roman version of Zeus was Jupiter, the Roman version of Hermes was Mercury, the Roman version of Ares was Mars, etc. Although the Romans borrowed a lot of Greek mythology to incorporate into their own religion, there were some differences. Romans believed that they would live with the gods after they died while Greeks believed the gods would always be separate from humanity.

Also, Greeks didn’t focus on lesser gods or on fallen heroes like the Romans did. 1308. In Greek mythology, Pandora opened a box which unleashed all of the evil upon the world. This concept first appears in Hesiod’s poem, Works and Days, which was written around 700 BC. In this poem, Pandora opens a jar, not a box. 1309. Zeus made Atlas carry the world on his shoulders. Not only does society erroneously believe Atlas carried the Earth, many people think this is why we refer to a world map as an atlas. But in Greek myth, Atlas carried the heavens upon his shoulders. The reason why a map is called an atlas is because King Atlas of Mauretania invented the first globe and gave it his name. 1310. Hell in Ancient Greece was called Hades. Ancient Greeks believed that all dead souls went to Hades. The souls of sinners went to an area far deeper than Hades called Tartaros. 1311. Ancient Greeks believed in all of their mythology. Many Catholics and Christians debate which parts of the Bible are historical and which are metaphorical. The same applied to the Ancient Greeks with their mythology. Many myths were passed on orally rather than in writing, so the mythology was constantly changing. As a result, different people believed different things over the years. There was no set myth that everyone universally believed. 1312. The Greek god of death, Hades, was evil. Thanatos was the Greek god of death. Hades was the Roman god of the dead. Pluto was the Greek god of the dead. You see, Thanatos was the Greek version of the angel of death and chose when it was a person’s time to die. Pluto simply guarded dead souls. Although this makes him sound similar to Satan, he governed all souls, not just the evil ones. He didn’t enjoy it. It was his job. He was passive and stern but not evil. Pluto was far more reasonable than his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, who killed many people.

1313. Hercules’ parents were the god, Zeus, and his wife, Hera. This is a perfect example of mixing up Greek and Roman mythology. In Greek mythology, Zeus’ demi-god son is called Heracles. In Roman mythology, Jupiter’s demi-god son is called Hercules. In both versions, his mother is a mortal woman called Alcemene. Also, Jupiter’s wife is called Juno, not Hera. 1314. Thor was blond. Most misconceptions about Thor are derived from the Marvel films and comics. Although Thor is blond in the Marvel stories, the Norse version of him is red-headed. 1315. Thor is the greatest hero in Norse mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldur was the greatest god, not Thor. 1316. Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, can only be held by one who is worthy of its power. Although the Norse god did have a hammer, Thor’s primary weapon was his magical belt, the Megingjord. It doubled his strength, stamina, and enhanced the effectiveness of Mjolnir. Also, no one can hold Mjolnir (including Thor) unless they are wearing magical gloves called Jarngreipr. 1317. Thor can use his hammer to fly. In the comics, Thor never flies with his hammer. Despite how it seems, Thor doesn’t fly in the Marvel films. He hurls it while holding the handle, which launches his body into the sky. In Norse mythology, Thor flew in a chariot pulled by goats. 1318. The most powerful sea monster in Norse mythology is a squidmonster called the Kraken. When this creature was first mentioned in the Icelandic story, Ovar-Oddr, it was known as the Hafgua. Although it is usually depicted as a squid-like monster in most media, it originally resembled a crab. 1319. Loki is an evil Norse god. Although Loki is seen as Thor’s arch nemesis in the Marvel comics, he is more of a trickster in Norse myth rather than a villain obsessed with

revenge and godhood. Contrary to how Loki is depicted in the Marvel films, he doesn’t have many magical abilities. The Norse version of Loki only has three powers; shapeshifting, fire manipulation, and illusions. He rarely used these powers and relied on his intelligence to outwit others. Loki mocked others, including Thor’s father, Odin, for relying on magic. He called Odin an Ergi, which means “unmanly.” Loki believed that those who relied on magic were weak, which is the opposite of how he is portrayed in the comics.

SCIENCE 1320. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. 186,000 miles per second is the maximum speed of light and it is only possible in a vacuum in space. If there is an object in the way, light will slow down as it passes through it. The denser the object, the slower light becomes. Researchers have slowed light down to just 38mph by making it pass through dense materials. This means you could outcycle light. 1321. You understand the Schrödinger’s Cat theory. This theory is used to explain quantum mechanics. Quantum physics is the idea that perception can affect reality and the universe’s “rules” are not set in stone. Erwin Schrodinger gave an example called Schrodinger’s Cat. Imagine a cat is in a box. Poisonous gas is poured into the box, which has a 50/50 chance of killing the cat. When the box is opened, the cat will be alive or dead. In quantum physics, this only happens when the box is opened. Until we see the cat, the cat is alive and dead. Make sense? Yes? No? Doesn’t matter because it’s utter garbage. Erwin made this concept up as a joke to mock those who believed in quantum mechanics. But quantum believers used Schrodinger’s Cat theory to strengthen their own argument. It was like they said, “Look! Even Erwin has come to his senses and agrees that quantum physics is possible! He even gave us his own example.” Erwin couldn’t stop becoming the poster-child of a concept he despised. This is like Hitler becoming the poster-child of Jewish equality. 1322. Radiation is dangerous. Although radiation can be dangerous, it has many practical uses. It can sterilize food, test welds for cracks, help with carbon dating, mutate plants to improve taste and resist disease, detect substances in the body, treat pain,

and check food for metal. Also, radiation is used for smoke detectors and exit signs. 1323. Clones look identical. If you cloned an animal ten times, you may have ten different looking creatures. A cat called Rainbow had a clone called Copycat. They looked nothing alike in color or pattern. 1324. Static electricity is caused by swapping electrons. When you rub your head against a balloon, it causes your hair to shoot up and allows you to pass an electric charge onto another material. Although Wikipedia states that this caused by swapping electrons, researchers have recently considered that an inaccurate explanation. At this time, scientists are unsure what causes static electricity. It could be from hydroxide ions in a layer or water or it could be the transfer of the zirconium material, but we’re unlikely to know because the experiment that might prove it is impossible to perform. 1325. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an inhumane treatment. ECT is one of the most effective therapies for disorders like bipolar or schizophrenia. Results show a 60-70% remission in patients suffering depression. 1326. The Large Hadron Collider is pointless and dangerous. The LHC has advanced our understanding of particle physics far more than any other research. You might ask yourself “So what? What does particle physics even do?” It fights cancer. Scans, X-Rays, treatments, injections, radiotherapy, predicting cancer, fighting cancer, curing cancer, and killing cancer have drastically improved because of the Collider. 1327. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. Caesium, francium, rubidium, bromine, and gallium are also liquid metals at room temperature. 1328. Humanity evolved from apes.

Charles Darwin never suggested we came from apes. Creationists dismiss evolution by saying, “If we came from apes, why do apes still exist?” Darwin said apes and humans had a common ancestor. This common ancestor went down multiple genetic paths; one of them was apes, one of them was humans, and other paths that didn’t survive like Neanderthals. But that is not the only misconception society has about evolution… 1329. Evolution is the process of animals consciously adapting to their surroundings within a few generations to survive. Ironically, this is what people used to believe before Darwin’s theory became popular. Mutations are random. If the world suddenly became far colder, your genes wouldn’t just adapt to cold. Of all the millions of animals in the world, there will be a few here and there who are more genetically resistant to cold, allowing them to survive. That doesn’t mean these animals are “better.” They just happened to be suited to those specific circumstances. If the planet suddenly became far hotter, they would be the first to die. 1330. If you repeatedly turn lights on and off, it uses more electricity than leaving them on. The idea behind this misconception is that most of the electricity is used in turning on the light. But this is untrue. It’s like believing turning a car on and off over and over again will use up more fuel than leaving it idling. 1331. Steam comes out of a hot shower. “Misty water” isn’t necessarily steam. Steam can only be formed when water boils. However, steam itself is nearly twice as hot as boiling water. The steam-like water vapor in the shower doesn’t have a definitive name. 1332. Toilets flush in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere because of the Coriolis force. This misconception became popular after The Simpsons episode, Bart vs Australia. The Coriolis force only applies to huge forces of water or wind, like a hurricane or whirlpool. The water in the toilet is too small to be affected.

1333. Air is mostly made of oxygen. 78% of the air we breathe is nitrogen. Only 21% of it is oxygen. 1334. Glass is the most viscous liquid in the world. This false statement comes from the idea that old houses have windows where the glass at the bottom seems to droop as if the glass is gradually pouring down. But that “pouring down” substance is good old-fashioned grime. Glass, however, is even stranger than that because it is neither solid nor a liquid. Glass is a different state of matter known as “amorphous solid.” You might think, “Wait, I thought there were only three states of matter.” 1335. There are three states of matter – solid, liquid, gas. There are over ten states of matter. Plasma is made up of charged particle calls ions. Strange Matter exists inside neutron stars. Neutronium is made entirely out of neutrons. Disordered Hyperuniformity is a liquid with crystal properties. It has only ever been found inside the eyes of chickens. (No, really.) Then there are other forms of matter that only exist under intense pressure, heat, or cold such as Quark-Gluon Plasma, Supersolid, Degenerate Matter, Superfluid, Photonic Matter, Bose-Einstein Condensate, and Fermionic Condensate. There are other states that scientists don’t really understand such as Dark Matter. Some elements cannot be classified into any physical state. This is the case with certain crystals, quantum spin liquid, and microphase-separated matter. There are other states of matter that scientists are hypothesizing, such as Superglass and Equilibrium Gel. There are states of matter that no longer exist! Strongly Symmetric Matter existed when all four fundamental forces of the universe were of equal strength and united in one fundamental force. When these forces broke away less than one second after the Big Bang occurred, it became the Electroweak Force. Sometimes, even I hate science. 1336. An atom looks like a nucleus with electrons spinning around it.

Even with the most advanced technology, we only have a small understanding of what atoms look like. Electrons don’t spin around the nucleus like the Earth spins around the Sun. Their movements are more erratic. It’s impossible to draw an atom accurately. 99.9999% of an atom is empty space. If an atom was the size of a football stadium, the nucleus would be the size of a fly in the center. There is no possible way you can scale this on a diagram. 1337. Atoms are the smallest things in the universe. Most people know that the proton and neutron that make up the nucleus of the atom are smaller. The edges of atoms are covered with even smaller particles called electrons. But neutrinos are far smaller. Neutrinos are subatomic particles with no electric mass. They are so small that if an atom was the size of the Solar System, a neutrino would be the size of a golf ball. 1338. The more chromosomes an animal has, the more complex and intelligent it is. Human beings have very few chromosomes compared to other animals. We have a total of 46. The organism with the most chromosome is one of the first living things in the world, the fern, with 1,260. The amount of chromosomes an organism has gives no indication of its complexity. 1339. Copper is the best conductor. Copper is an excellent conductor but it is only the most commonly used because it’s far cheaper than silver, which is the best conductor. 1340. The genes in redheads are going extinct. I have heard this said about blonds too. Neither are true. 1341. Coins have a weird metallic smell. That smell isn’t the coins, it’s you. When human perspiration mixes with the iron of a coin, it creates a distinct smell that people say smells like “metal.” If a coin has never had contact with human skin, this smell will not exist. You get a similar smell when blood comes into contact with skin because blood contains iron.

1342. All metals are magnetic. Only four metals are magnetic – nickel, iron, gadolinium, and cobalt. 1343. Louise Brown was the first test tube baby. Despite the fact that this is what the newspapers said, Brown was created in a petri dish. 1344. If something is radioactive, it glows. Radiation isn’t the same as radioactivity. Radioactivity is naturally invisible. All living things have traces of radioactivity and it is harmless. Radiation is how energy such as heat, radio waves, and X-Rays travel in space at nearly the speed of light. Radiation is always dangerous in large doses, e.g. infrared from the sun and ultraviolet rays from a sunbed can both give you cancer in the long run. So what glows? Radium. To be clear, radiation, radioactivity, and radium are different things. Radium is the only radioactive element that glows but only if it comes into contact with paint. Once it was discovered that it was lethal, society associated any science word that begins with “rad” with glowing and death. 1345. Water is clear, not blue. Water is blue. It is extremely faint, but it is irrefutably blue. 1346. MMR vaccines can cause autism. It has been suggested that 1 in 110 people injected with the MMR vaccine develop autism. Vaccines today will make you immune to diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia, mumps, hepatitis A and B, chicken pox, smallpox, rubella, polio, tetanus, meningitis, and other viruses. If vaccines had a less than 1% chance of causing autism, the chances of getting one of the above illnesses would be almost guaranteed if you haven’t been vaccinated. My mother didn’t get the Salk vaccine and she’s had polio for over 60 years. So it is unquestionably healthier to get vaccinated even if vaccines could potentially cause autism. But the vaccines don’t cause autism! This argument has been closed for 20 years. Andrew Wakefield was a doctor who claimed there was a link

with vaccines and autism. Six years later, it turned out that his theory of vaccines causing autism was so inconsistent that he was stripped of his license to practice medicine.

SHAKESPEARE 1347. Actors spoke in a “Shakespeare voice” when performing William Shakespeare’s plays. John Barton is one of the greatest Shakespeare teachers to ever live. He taught Shakespeare to Patrick Stewart, David Suchet, Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen, and many other respected actors. According to Barton, the “Shakespeare voice” is a recent invention. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, the English accent sounded like a mix of Irish, Welsh, Northern English, and Scottish. Rather than the clipped, booming voices of Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen, actors sounded like drunken pirates. 1348. Shakespeare was just a writer. Not only was Shakespeare an actor, but he acted throughout his entire writing career. The role he played most was The Ghost in Hamlet. 1349. William Shakespeare spelt his name as “William Shakespeare.” Shakespeare never spelled his name that way, nor did he spell it the same way twice in any of the existing copies of his signature. His signatures include – Willm Shakspere, William Shakspeare, William Shakespe, William Shakspere, Willm Shaksp, Wm Shakspe. 1350. William Shakespeare wrote lots of posh and fancy plays. One of my classmates asked my Shakespeare teacher, “Who would be the modern version of Shakespeare?” His answer was, “Eminem.” Shakespeare was a genius with words and rhythm. Eminem is so good with language, he made words rhyme with orange just to prove that he could. But Eminem isn’t just compared to Shakespeare due to his understanding of language; it’s his radical lyrics. 30 years ago, one swearword could guarantee an X-rating for a movie. Nowadays, X-ratings are rare because we have become desensitized to violence and vulgar language. How do you think people reacted 400 years ago when Shakespeare characters killed, mutilated, decapitated, and cannibalized each other? “Nut-

hookers,” “flax-wrenches,” “scullions,” “rampallians,” “lewdsters,” and “fustilarians” sound silly now, but back then, these words were considered filthy. Shakespeare’s plays were like a fusion of Quentin Tarantino and South Park in terms of vulgarity. Audiences had never seen violence and gore like this before on stage, which is why they loved it. 1351. Romeo and Juliet has the quote, “A rose by any other name smells just as sweet”. This quote is from Star Trek. The Shakespeare quote is, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. 1352. There is a balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. In the garden scene where Juliet says the iconic line, “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” the stage direction reads, “Juliet appears above at a window.” The word, “balcony,” is never mentioned in this scene. In fact, there couldn’t be a balcony because they didn’t exist in England at the time this play was published. 1353. The play, Macbeth begins with witches saying, “Bubble, bubble, boil and trouble.” The quote is, “Double double, toil and trouble.” I’ve studied the play in school and performed the show and even I get this wrong. 1354. Romeo and Juliet were “star-crossed lovers” because they experienced true love. Shooting stars used to be seen as an omen rather than a sign of good luck. A star crossing the sky signified that there would be a significant death that night. When Romeo and Juliet was written, calling them “star-crossed lovers” was implying that their romance was doomed. 1355. People understood Shakespeare back in his time. More than half of Londoners at the time were so uneducated they couldn’t write their name. Most of Shakespeare’s audiences were peasants. They were expected to watch a play that could be over four hours long with an average of 53 new words and phrases per play.

Even the biggest Shakespeare fans of today can’t understand everything. As an experiment, the Globe in London performed Shakespeare’s tragedy, Troilus and Cressida, with the dialogue spoken the way it sounded four centuries ago. Words like “war” were pronounced “whaarr.” The letter “k” was pronounced in words like “knight,” “knife,” and “know.” Renowned New York Times critic, John Lahr, said he understood less than a third of the show. 1356. William Shakespeare created 38 plays. Shakespeare wrote three plays and copied the rest from other stories. He read countless plays and poems and then stole the core stories and made them better. The only ones that are considered his creations are Love’s Labor’s Lost, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 1357. The most popular Shakespeare play in his time was Hamlet. Shakespeare’s most famous play in his time was King John. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s because it is the least performed Shakespeare play nowadays. 1358. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet’s line, “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” means “Where are you, Romeo?” Hundreds of Shakespeare lines are misunderstood but this is the most famous example. This line means, “Why are you Romeo?” This is in reference to how she loves Romeo but his family is in conflict with her family. So she’s basically asking, “Why did I have to fall in love with Romeo even though our families hate each other?” 1359. Shakespeare invented the most words in the English language. Paradise Lost author, John Milton, has created the most English words. Milton invented 630 words including “pandemonium,” “terrific,” and “healthy.” Although it is said that Shakespeare invented thousands of words, this is an oversimplification. Shakespeare created 2,035 words and phrases. He concocted sayings like “in a pickle,” “the be-all and end-all,” and “knock, knock, who’s there?” Shakespeare created these phrases but he only created 229 words like “bubble,” “eyeball,” and “wormhole,” Most of his words, like bunch-

backed, mad-bread, clotpole, cutpurse, hedgepig, gull-catcher, and younker never caught on. Most of Milton’s words are still used today. Shakespeare’s 2,000+ phrases is staggering, but Milton devised three times as many words as the Elizabethan author.

SLEEP 1360. Some people don’t dream. Although some people don’t remember their dreams, everyone has about nine dreams per night. Your mind starts forgetting the dream seconds after you wake up and most dreams are completely lost within less than ten minutes. 1361. Insomnia is common. Most people who believe they have insomnia simply have an imbalanced sleep pattern. Insomnia is an inability to sleep. A person with a bad sleep pattern sleep about six hours a day but it’s spread unevenly throughout the day. Insomniacs sleep for only two to four hours daily. Insomnia can only be corrected with therapy and medication. 1362. Using the snooze button is effective when you are trying to wake up. Snoozing heightens your sleep inertia so you will feel groggier. The more abruptly you awaken, the groggier you will feel. Imagine how groggy you will feel when you are jolted out of bed every ten minutes. When you wake up, you should get out of bed immediately. 1363. If you haven’t slept in a while, you should sleep-in the next day. Your body doesn’t work that way. That’s like refueling a car beyond maximum capacity. If a car is designed to take a certain amount of fuel, you can’t force it to have more and expect it to work better. If the human body is supposed to sleep for seven hours, it’s not going to work better because you slept for 12. The human brain is less alert when a person sleeps too much. 1364. Human beings should sleep for eight hours a day. Human beings haven’t evolved to sleep longer than a few hours. For millennia, there was no set time. Our ancestors didn’t have clocks or watches. Only in the last hundred years did society have a time that we all

agreed on. Our ancestors went to sleep when it got dark and awoke at sunrise. You must understand that our ancestors may not have had shelter and they could be mauled to death by a wild animal at any moment. As a result, we have never been inclined to sleep longer than a few hours here and there, rather than the set-in-stone times we are used to today. This is why people wake up an average of nine times every night. You won’t remember most of these times but it happens to everyone. If you want a definitive answer, seven hours is recommended to reenergize your body. 1365. Don’t ever wake a sleepwalker. If you wake up a sleepwalker, they will be just as disorientated as anybody who is suddenly awoken. If a sleepwalker were about to step on something hazardous, why wouldn’t you wake them? 1366. Night terrors are common. Night terrors only tend to happen to people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, mental illness, or side effects from medication. You can’t get them just from stress or anxiety. If you had a night terror, you physically couldn’t be able to function the next day so you wouldn’t be able to go to work or school afterwards. When a nightmare is over, you recognize that it was just a dream. A night terror is so intense, you can’t recognize the danger is over. It is not uncommon for the sufferer to run out of the house, attack people, scream hysterically, cry, or hyperventilate. About 10% of people claim to have suffered night terrors, but the true figure is more like 1% at most. 1367. Dreaming happens when a person is in the REM (rapid-eye moving) period of sleep. REM is when the dreams seem the most vivid. Because of this, these are the dreams you are most likely to remember. However, a person can dream during any stage of sleep. 1368. If you feel restless at night, sit in bed and you will eventually fall asleep.

As soon as you feel like you can’t sleep, get out of bed, go to a different room, and do a simple activity like reading a book. Make sure the light in this room is not too dark or too bright. Once you start to feel tired again (which usually takes 20 minutes,) return to bed and you should fall asleep with ease. 1369. Your brain isn’t as active when you are asleep. According to the Harvard Medical School, “During some stages of sleep, the brain is just as active as when we are fully awake.” Your brain never has a rest. Only your body does. 1370. If you die in a dream, you die in real life. If this was true, how could anyone know? How could any researcher know what a person was dreaming if they died before they had a chance to tell anybody? Also, people do have dreams where they die. It’s not that uncommon. 1371. If you train yourself to sleep less, you will get used to it. I’m certain every parent on Earth will disagree with this when they have a newborn baby. Your body has only a handful of basic needs but sleep is one of them. If you deprive yourself of sleep, you will not be able to function. If you slept every day for five hours, you would never get used to it no matter how much time went by. 1372. Counting sheep helps you sleep. This doesn’t work because you need to concentrate in order to count. Going to sleep only happens when you allow yourself to relax. If you are concentrating on something, even on a task as silly as counting sheep, it’s not going to help. 1373. We sleep to re-energize the body. Scientists have performed tests with mice running around mazes. When scientists studied mice while they slept, they see that the mice’s neurons were reacting the same way they were earlier when they were running around the maze. It’s like the mice are re-learning the maze when they are asleep. This shows that sleep gives us time to learn from what happened that day.

Unfortunately, there are inconsistencies that make this argument fall apart. You know what else sleeps? Plants. According to the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, researchers have confirmed that plants have a natural circadian rhythm that works the same way as human sleep. Why? Plants don’t have brains. A tulip can’t learn from a mistake like when it forgets to charge its iPad. If that isn’t enough to change your mind, bacteria sleep. Why? Stress? Long day at the office? The real reason we sleep is – no one knows. William Dement, who founded Stanford University’s Sleep Research Centre, has studied sleep for 50 years. He stated, “As far as I know, the only reason we need to sleep that is really, really solid is because we get sleepy.”

SPACE 1374. Being an astronaut is awesome. Astronauts suffer muscle atrophy, bone deterioration (especially in the spine and neck), and a damaged cardiovascular system. A lack of clean water creates lots of bacteria leading to illness, which you can’t fight because your immune system is weakened. Psychologically, space can be scary. Insomnia, rage, depression, and psychosis are not uncommon. 1375. Meteorites are extremely hot. Out in space, a meteorite is -270 degrees Celsius. That’s nearly absolute zero. When the meteorite passes through our atmosphere, it becomes very hot. However, the core of the meteorite remains freezing. As it passes out of the Earth’s atmosphere, the cold core will revert the whole meteorite surface to freezing within minutes. The meteorite can be so cold, a person can develop frostbite by touching it. 1376. The Big Dipper is a constellation. The Big Dipper makes up a small part of the constellation, Ursa Major, which is also known as The Great Bear Constellation. 1377. You have seen natural images of deep space. Almost every photograph you’ve ever seen of space has been colored in because the Hubble telescope doesn’t have a color camera. It takes blackand-white pictures, which are colored in afterward. Usually, they’re not even colored in accurately. They are only colored in to highlight certain qualities or to look more interesting. 1378. If you travelled into the Asteroid Belt, you would see countless asteroids. There are hundreds of thousands of asteroids but each asteroid is about three million miles apart from each other. You can travel in and out of the Asteroid Belt without seeing one single asteroid.

1379. The seasons of the year are based on the distance that Earth is from the Sun. The seasons are caused by the 23-degree axial tilt. The Earth tilts towards the Sun in the summer and tilts away in the winter. 1380. Ballpoint pens don’t work in zero gravity so NASA spent $1.5 million perfecting a Space Pen. Russians just used pencils. Yes, a Space Pen was invented for over a million dollars. But NASA didn’t pay a penny. Paul C. Fisher of Fisher Pen Co. created this pen of his own free will. He was offering his services and wasn’t asked by NASA for help. He created the Space Pen and gave it to NASA. So, why didn’t they just use pencils? Pencil tips can flake off and the smallest form of debris in a space capsule can be hazardous because it could float into an astronaut’s eye or into electric equipment. The Americans and the Russians both used pencils originally and they switched to the Space Pen once it was created. 1381. You have seen an image of our galaxy, The Milky Way. It’s impossible to take a picture of our galaxy because… we’re in it. Every “photo” of The Milky Way is of a galaxy called Messier 74. 1382. The Sun is a huge star. The Sun is so enormous, 1.3 million Earths could fit in it. But the Sun is small compared to other stars. It’s categorized as a dwarf star. In fact, there are only three stars in the night sky that are smaller than the Sun. VY Canis Majoris is the largest star in the known universe. It’s a billion times bigger than the Sun. 1383. The first animal in space was a dog. No, and it wasn’t a chimp either. It was a fruit fly. Fruit flies were sent into space in 1946 to test radioactive exposure to gauge if humans could survive space. 11 years later, Laika the dog was sent into space. 1384. A comet moves in one direction so its tail is facing the other direction. A comet’s tail is created by solar wind so no matter what direction a comet is moving in, the tail will always point away from the Sun.

1385. Spaceships burn on re-entry because of the atmosphere. It’s not the atmosphere that creates the heat; it’s friction and compression. As the craft hurtles through the sky, the air around it compresses and heats up, meaning the craft doesn’t have a chance to cool until it slows down. 1386. The Sun is red or yellow. When you see pictures of the Sun, you are looking at a nuclear explosion emanating from every part of the Sun. The Sun itself is white. 1387. The universe is mostly black. Astronomers, Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry, studied 200,000 galaxies to determine “the color of the universe.” When they condensed and compressed the color of every galaxy, it always came back as the same – beige. Since beige isn’t a cool colour, astronomers refer to the universe’s colour as Cosmic Latte. It didn’t catch on. 1388. We see every side of the Moon at some point. The same side of the Moon is always facing us. We can never see the other side, which is called The Dark Side of the Moon. 1389. The Moon is spherical. The Moon is shaped like an egg. It looks round to us because we always see the same side of it. 1390. Asteroids are huge. Most asteroids are about 100 meters across. If you got all of the known asteroids in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, their combined mass would be smaller than our Moon. 1391. You can see the Great Wall of China from the Moon. You can’t really see anything on Earth from the Moon. You can barely see the Great Wall from Earth’s orbit and the conditions have to be exact. There’s never a time where the Great Wall is the only landmark you can see from space. It’s easier to see China’s air pollution from Earth’s orbit than the Great Wall.

1392. The Moon is the only satellite in space that affects the tides. The Sun has partial responsibility too. Spring tides occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned and Neap tides occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon form a right angle. 1393. Black holes are funnel shaped. In diagrams, black holes look 2D to give us a small understanding of what happens to the matter it absorbs. However, a black hole is spherical. Also, black holes aren’t black. They are invisible so they have no color. 1394. Nothing can escape a black hole. There is an area around a black hole called the event horizon. This is the “no turning back” region. It was believed that once you are close enough to a black hole, you’re going into it and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Stephen Hawking realized that black holes can emit particles if they appear in pairs right on the event horizon – one of the pair falls in and the other escapes. 1395. Neil Armstrong’s flag is on the Moon. The flag was too near Armstrong’s lunar module so when the ship lifted off, the flag was blown away. 1396. The last planet in the Solar System to be understood was Pluto. Pluto was the last planet to be discovered (although it’s not considered planet anymore.) But astronomers understood that it was a small, cold planet. Ironically, the planet that astronomers knew the least about until recently was our closest neighbor, Venus. Although it can be visible to the naked eye and it has been referenced in Babylonian texts that date back to 1581 BC, scientists didn’t have a clue how the planet worked until the last few decades. Venus’s atmosphere is so smoggy that scientists couldn’t see what kind of planet it was. Was it made of ice? Lava? Gas? Until the last few decades, scientists believed that Venus was a swamp-like planet, which meant that it should have water. Researchers fantasized about the idea of meeting Venusian aliens in the future.

That idea was ruined in the 1970s when radar discovered that the smog was from the fumes of the 1000+ degrees temperature that would incinerate a human being in a second. 1397. When the Sun dies, it will collapse into itself and turn into a black hole. Stars only turn into black holes if they are a High Mass Star. The Sun is very small (by other star standards) and qualifies as a Low Mass Star. When the Sun dies, it will collapse into a White Dwarf. A White Dwarf is dense but tiny; about a billion times smaller than its original size. This would make it the same size as Earth. It will be so dense, one cubic centimetre of a White Dwarf (about the size of a dice) would weigh a ton. 1398. Planets revolve around the Sun in a circular orbit. All plants orbit their neighboring star in an ellipse. This means that a planet’s distance from its star varies. When a planet is at its closest point to the Sun, it is known as its perihelion. When it is at its furthest, it is known as its aphelion. 1399. Earth is spherical. Earth is flat at the poles and bulges at the equator. The correct term for Earth’s shape is oblate spheroid. Weirdly, no planet in the Solar System is perfectly round. Venus is the closest to being spherical. 1400. The Solar System looks like the diagram you have seen at school. That diagram is for your convenience. The planets are only lined up every few thousands of years. In that diagram, the planets are so close to each other that the planets’ moons would collide into one other. In diagrams, Jupiter looks slightly larger than Saturn. In reality, every planet could fit inside Jupiter two-and-a-half times. To draw an accurate diagram of the Solar System, you will need a lot more paper. In most diagrams, the Sun is about the size of a beach ball. On this scale, Pluto would be one-and-a-half miles away. It’s quite well known that Pluto has been declassified as a planet. (He did his best, but he just didn’t make the cut.) So there are eight planets, right?

Not exactly. There are eight “official” planets. There are some planets further out than Pluto called Sedna, Ceres, and Xena. However, they are classified as dwarf planets just to keep it simple. Most confusing of all, there is no true definition of the word “planet.” A planet doesn’t have to be round. Earth isn’t. A planet doesn’t need to have moons since Mercury and Venus don’t have any. Pluto isn’t a planet but it has a moon called Charon. Planets don’t have to be a certain size. Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, is larger than some planets including Mercury. It appears that astronomers are simply going to maintain the archaic and inaccurate Solar System diagram simply because society is used to it. 1401. The first planet to be discovered was Mars or Venus. Mars and Venus can sometimes be seen at night so you may think one of them must have been the first planet discovered. However, civilizations in Persia and Babylon believed Mars and Venus were unusual stars. The first discovered planet was Uranus, despite the fact that it’s the second farthest planet from the Sun. William Herschel discovered it accidentally in 1781, while trying to study stars. He noticed that Uranus moved like Earth and it was too small to be a star. 1402. Things can explode in space. Explosions in space are possible but they are not as visually impressive as you would imagine. What do explosions need? Oxygen. Space doesn’t have any. What do explosions do? Make a deafening sound. The tagline for the movie, Alien is, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” You can’t hear in space because sound cannot exist in a vacuum. Spaceships in Star Trek and Star Wars wouldn’t make any noise in space. Movies like Interstellar and Gravity portray silence in space during an explosion accurately. 1403. There is no gravity in space. There is gravity everywhere in space. We can’t escape gravity since it is a fundamental force of the universe. Astronauts seem weightless when they are in Earth’s orbit. In reality, they are falling towards Earth but they are

moving sideways at a sufficient angle and speed to miss it. So they are constantly falling but never landing. 1404. The Big Bang is a theory that proves God can’t exist. Georges Lemaitre was a Belgian physicist who hypothesized The Big Bang Theory. Georges was also a priest. He concocted his theory in an attempt to prove that science and religion could co-exist and help understand each other. His peers dismissed him (including Einstein.) Scientists used to believe that the universe had always existed and was constant, rather than that it started and is constantly growing. In 2013, it was confirmed that the Big Bang did in fact happen. It’s a fact now, not a theory. I’m not suggesting that this proves or disproves the existence of God. However, it is interesting how this argument is often used for the opposite reason for which it was originally hypothesized. 1405. The Big Bang was a huge explosion. The term “Big Bang” was used to mock Georges Lemaitre, who suggested that existence was created from a single point. He never coined the term himself. He called his theory, The Primeval Atom. The universe expanded at near the maximum speed of light, creating 80% of existence in less than three minutes. It wasn’t an explosion or a “bang,” but a rapid expansion. 1406. If a human was exposed to outer space, he or she would explode. This isn’t true. There’s another idea that you would die instantly if you were exposed to outer space which is also false. Space doesn’t make your head or your eyes swell and burst as has been depicted in films like Total Recall. Experiencing space would be extremely painful and freezing cold, but you would die within minutes from a lack of oxygen. 1407. Saturn and Uranus are the only planets with rings. Jupiter and Neptune have rings that are too faint to appear in photos. 1408. The North Star is the brightest star in the sky. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. The North Star (which is actually called Polaris) is the first bright star that people see in the night sky as it’s

above The Big Dipper. 1409. The Sun is on fire. The Sun emits light and heat through nuclear fusion but it isn’t “on fire.”

TECHNOLOGY 1410. We should use the conventional QWERTY keyboard. Look at your nearest keyboard. You will notice that the first few letters are QWERTY. This is the “normal” type of keyboard. Sadly, it is terribly outdated. The QWERTY typewriter wasn’t invented to make people type fast. Its purpose was to make writers type slowly so the keys didn’t jam. If this is the slow keyboard, we should use the fast one, right? But that means we have to unlearn how to type and learn the new way. Imagine if everyone in the world had to learn a new alphabet. Imagine if scientists guaranteed us it was better than our alphabet. Would you want to switch? People don’t like change. For this sort of thing, it can only work if everyone agrees to change, and I don’t see how that’s possible. 1411. North Korea hacked Sony in 2014. Although the exact culprit has yet to be found, almost every cyber expert surmised that North Korea didn’t have the technological ability to hack Sony, and almost all signs point to an inside job. 1412. Lie detectors exist. There is no such thing as a lie detector (except my wife.) The machine you may be thinking of is called a polygraph. A psychiatrist called William Marston invented it (He also created Wonder Woman.) This device measures a person’s pulse, respiration, skin conductivity, and blood pressure. But it doesn’t measure lies. If anything, it measures how nervous a person is. People get nervous when they are lying. They can get nervous by being accused of lying. Because of this, the interrogator can easily manipulate the test to make the accused nervous. If anyone accuses you of murder, you are going to be panicking knowing you could face jail or death. This system is easy to fool. You don’t have to be a government agent to trick the polygraph. Clenching while a question is asked and unclenching as you answer will relax you so it will look like you are telling the truth.

The same logic applies to pain. If you pinch yourself while a question is being asked and stop as you answer it, the test will confirm that you answered truthfully. As a result, the polygraph is not considered irrefutable evidence in court. 1413. Aircraft dogfights involve close contact battles. Movies like Top Gun have popularized the idea of dogfights between two jets flying around, shooting at one another as they narrowly evade collisions. In reality, close-up battles never get this close. To maximize safety, the planes during an air fights are about five miles apart. This means that when jets fight “up close,” the enemy aircraft is too far away to see with the naked eye. 1414. Internet viruses are more common than ever. According to Symantec, 1 in 566 websites contained malware in 2013. By 2015, only 1 in 3,172 websites contained malware. Malware continues to decease every year. 1415. Wrapping your head in tinfoil doesn’t interfere with satellites. This idea has become popular again thanks to the HBO show, Better Call Saul. This theory sounds absurd. The “wrapping your head with tinfoil” concept originated in a 1927 short story by Julian Huxley called The Tissue-Culture King. In this story, the “caps of metal foil” prevented the main character from being mind-controlled. Now that I’ve explained where this idea comes from, it seems more likely that it’s utter nonsense. But it isn’t. MIT studies confirm that tinfoil hats genuinely reduce the intensity of radio frequency radiation. This creates an electromagnetic shield, making the person almost invisible to satellite technology. However, the most effective tool to reduce radio waves is not a tinfoil hat but a wire mesh (such as the one on your tea strainer in the kitchen). However, wearing one of these on your head would look stupid. But not a tinfoil hat. That looks fine. 1416. Dropping a toaster in a bathtub full of water would kill you. It might blow a fuse and you can say goodbye to having toast the next day but it won’t kill you. You won’t even feel a shock.

1417. Emptying your trashcan on your computer means your deleted files are gone forever. If your computer has a magnetic hard drive (which most of them do,) the deleted file is probably sitting on your hard drive waiting to be overwritten. Nobody knows when the file will be overwritten, so if you delete something by accident, you may be able to get it back if you consult an expert. 1418. “Social media” and “social network” mean the same thing. Social media is what the user uploads. The social network is the platform where the social media takes place. Your tweet on Twitter is social media but Twitter itself is a social network. 1419. Using hashtags on Twitter increases the likelihood that people on the website will see your tweets. For those of you who don’t understand hashtags, let me explain. If you went on Twitter and did a hashtag search for the Olympics by typing #Olympics into the search engine, all tweets that contain that hashtag will pop up and you can read everyone who mentions it. Many new users of Twitter try to manipulate this algorithm by putting in as many hashtags as possible. If a Twitter profile like Starbucks wanted to use the Olympics as a platform to make money on their product, they might put up a tweet that includes hashtags like #Olympics #Rio #RioOlympics #Rio2016 #RioOlympics2016. However, Twitter has an algorithm that prevents users from manipulating hashtags like this. Using two hashtags per tweet will result in a 21% higher engagement than tweets with more than that. 1420. Airplanes are quick to start. There are countless movies where a pilot has to start a plane immediately. To do this, the pilot flips a few switches, push a few buttons, turn some knobs, pull a lever, and the plane is in the air. We really need to stop getting our facts from movies. Do you know how many checks a pilot needs to perform before starting a plane? 79. And I don’t mean the pilot has to do 79 steps before the plane starts. I mean the pilot has to carry out 79 steps before they can turn on the engine! There are

another 44 steps before they take off. A plane won’t be taking off until at least 123 checks are carried out. 1421. In emergencies, airplane cockpits become chaotic. When there’s an aircraft emergency in a movie, the cockpit goes insane with pilots screaming, lights flashing, sirens blaring, etc. If a pilot had to ensure the survival of every passenger onboard, they rely on their years of training and would not want sirens and lights distracting them. In emergencies, the cockpit doesn’t become an insane drama. The pilots act professionally and deal with the problem as best they can. Working everybody into a frenzy would make an emergency worse. 1422. If you turn off electronic equipment in your house, they won’t use up energy. This applies to British electrical plugs and outlets because they have shutters which block access to the electric current if the outlet is not in use. They also have built-in fuses that cuts the current in case of an overload. Sadly, if you turn off a plug in the United States, standby power means that you won’t reduce the electricity as much as you would imagine. 5-10% of electric power is wasted on standby power. If you want to reduce power in the US, you need to unplug plugs, not just switch them off. 1423. Apple Macs can’t get viruses. Viruses on Macs are rare but Microsoft Word and Excel and other similar documents can be corrupted. 1424. If a person tries to rob you at an ATM, you can alert the police by putting your PIN into the ATM in reverse. If this was true, surely banks would tell you when you get a new card. Also, if this was common knowledge, robbers would know about it too. On top of that, unless the police can get there in five seconds, you’re kind of screwed. Finally, my last PIN was 8338… so what would I do in that circumstance??! 1425. Hand and finger scanners work the same way as you see in movies.

There are many films where a character needs to get through a locked door but it is sealed with a biometric scanner for scanning fingerprints. In some films, a character chops off a security guard’s hand and use it to gain clearance. However, biometric scanners don’t just scan your fingerprints. They scan blood flow. Smartphones use this form of technology. 1426. Closing unused apps on your phone will improve the phone’s battery life. Closing unused apps on a Smartphone can drain the battery faster than leaving them on. An app will use very little battery if it is left idle and will load quicker if you click on it because it is already in your phone’s memory. However, if you keep closing an app and regularly reopen it, it will drain the battery rapidly. 1427. Surgically inserting pacemakers involves a huge surgical procedure. You’d assume inserting a pacemaker into a person’s heart would be a big deal. As recently as 2007, pacemaker surgery required cutting into the chest and inserting a device the size of a 50-cent piece with 2ft of trailing electrodes. Nowadays, nano-pacemakers are used. They are ten times smaller and can be inserted through a vein. 1428. If a plane is about to crash, the survival rate will be very low. From 1983 to 2000, there have been 53,487 people in plane crashes in America. 2,280 died. That’s less than 4%. Any deaths are horrible but a plane is not the deathtrap people expect it to be. Although bad fliers get anxious when the plane experiences turbulence, only one plane in history has crashed as a result of turbulence. In 1966, a British Overseas Airways captain veered from his flight path to Tokyo so he could show Mt. Fuji to the passengers. As the Boeing 707 approached the mountain, it experienced an unexpected wind that was in excess of 140mph. If the pilot hadn’t disobeyed the flight path, no one would’ve died. On top of that, plane crashes caused by turbulence are practically impossible by today’s standards since modern airliners are 50% stronger than they were 40 years ago.

1429. If a door bursts open on a plane, the compression would tear the aircraft apart. This haunting image has been popularized because of the movie, Final Destination, where a plane rips open after there is an explosion. If a window or a door were to open on a plane, it would cause a bit of suction but it would revert to normal after a few seconds. Nobody would get sucked out unless they were right beside the door or window straight after it opened. 1430. People in the 1950s believed that the world would only need five computers. It was rumored that the Chairman of IBM, Thomas Watson said this erroneous quote. This is false. Even if it was true, you have to remember the first computer weighed 30 tons. Ten years later, they were still over a ton. People back then couldn’t imagine society of today whipping out 2,000lb iPads to play Angry Birds. 1431. The police need to keep a criminal on the phone as long as possible to trace the call. It takes seconds for 911 systems to trace a call. 1432. E-Cigarettes are a good substitute for cigarettes. Anything is better than cigarettes but e-cigarettes are not as great as you would believe. The idea behind vaping is that you get the buzz from the nicotine but there is no tar so it can’t damage your lungs. Sadly, e-cigarettes contain formaldehyde and acetone, which can cause eye disorders, respiratory problems, and cancer. Side effects from ecigarettes may be more common than real cigarettes. There are over 200 reports each month in the US of children being poisoned by the vapor from the e-cigarettes. 1433. You can hack computers in seconds. Despite what movies like Mission Impossible show you, hacking usually requires a lot of trial and error and can take hours, sometimes days. 1434. An Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) shuts down all electronics rendering everything inert.

Movies like The Matrix Revolutions, Escape From LA, and The Day the Earth Stood Still show an EMP disabling all electronics instantly. News reports scare viewers with the possibility that a solar flare could hit Earth, devastating all technology, which would send us back to the Stone Age. If an EMP hit our world, electronics like televisions or cars might stop working but they would be back to normal within a few minutes. The worst-case scenario from an EMP is that some of the power grid would have to be replaced. No single incident could disable all technology worldwide. 1435. Turn the sound off on an iPhone to save battery. An iPhone uses more battery without sound. When your phone rings when it is on silent mode, it vibrates instead of making sound. The amount of kinetic energy needed to make your phone move requires far more battery power than is needed to produce sound energy. 1436. Wikipedia isn’t a reliable source of information. Over the years, Wikipedia has been drastically updated. The site is far stricter with updated information. Wikipedia is now considered to be one of the most reliable sources of information on the Internet, to the point where it’s perfectly acceptable to quote Wikipedia in court. 1437. It’s dangerous to use a cellphone near a gas station. There has never been an example of cellphones causing any potential harm at a gas station, nor is there any scientific basis for this claim. 1438. A plane’s black box is black. The black box used to be black but its color was changed to orange in 1965 so it would be easier to find after a plane crash. 1439. The military use machines called drones. The military do not call these machines “drones.” They are known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs.) 1440. UAVs can be controlled by one person.

Some UAVs need more operators than manned aircraft. A UAV requires an operator for every sensor and camera onboard. The Predator UAV requires 168 operators while a Reaper needs at least 180. 1441. If you put sugar into a gas tank, it will destroy a car’s engine. This idea became popular from the film, Kingpin. If this was true, people would do this all of the time out of revenge. But sugar doesn’t caramelize and so it doesn’t affect the fuel. Sadly, you have to find another way to get back at your enemies (I recommend a stern telling-off.) 1442. The Amish don’t use electricity. The Amish community use solar power, artificial light, and batteries for their washing machines, medicine, business, and for their kitchen appliances. 1443. Elevators can collapse if one of the cables snaps. Elevators have four cables keeping them up. If three got cut, one cable would be strong enough to bear the weight of the elevator. If all the cables snapped, the automatic brakes would kick in, stopping the elevator from falling. It’s impossible for an elevator to collapse unless there is some natural disaster which demolishes the entire building, like an earthquake or a hurricane. An elevator will almost never fall apart because of some random fault. 1444. A DNA analysis takes a couple of minutes. Genes are astronomically complicated. The most advanced Genetic Analyzer in the world will take over 12 hours to analyze DNA. 1445. The Apple logo is a reference to the apple that Adam and Eve ate in the Bible. The Bible never references what fruit Adam and Eve ate. Secondly, the logo has nothing to do with the Bible. And before you think it, it has nothing to do with the apple that fell on Isaac Newton’s head (even though that never happened,) nor is it connected to Alan Turing (the inventor of the first computer,) who killed himself by eating an apple laced with cyanide. According to the logo’s creator, Rob Janoff, the apple represents… an

apple. That’s it. An apple was chosen because it would appear on the first page of the Yellow Pages (This was when Yellow Pages was a thing) if anyone needed the services of a computer company. The reason the apple has a bite taken out of it so it doesn’t get mistaken for another fruit like a cherry.

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES 1446. No one knows who built the Easter Island Heads. Easter Island was originally inhabited by the Rapa Nui. This primitive tribe constructed iconic statues 400 years ago. Nobody knows why but it was unquestionably their top priority. So, if they built the statues, why aren’t the Rapa Nui around? You see, the tribe cut down all of the trees to roll the boulders they needed to build the statues. After building a thousand statues, the Rapa Nui had destroyed their entire forest. They cut down the trees so quickly, it stripped the soil of nutrients so nothing would grow. With no food, they resorted to cannibalism. After 30 years, the Rapa Nui were nearly extinct. 1447. Spiritual people can see other people’s aura. If you heard of a person who claimed to see auras and said things like “That person has a nice orange aura” or “She has a negative red aura,” it’s easy to assume this person is lying. But they may not be. A person who claims to see auras genuinely might see them. A person might see distorted colors from the most basic conditions like eye burns, epilepsy, or a migraine. But these are disorders that come and go. What about people who always see auras? In cases like this, is likely they suffer from synesthesia. This is a disorder where senses like sound, sight and taste get mixed up. A person with synesthesia might taste chocolate and smell tulips every time they hear a dog bark. If a synesthete sees a person, a sound or smell might force their brain to see this person in a specific color. Some people who genuinely believe they see auras have undiagnosed synesthesia. 1448. El Dorado was an ancient city of gold. The ancient tribe, the Muisca, covered their chieftain in gold dust when he was elected. Spaniards misunderstood this and assumed there was a city where gold was so plentiful, the inhabitants could throw it at each other. When the Spaniards asked the natives where they could find this secret golden city, the natives told the Spaniards that it existed miles away, hoping that the greedy, gold-obsessed Spaniards would leave their civilization in peace.

1449. Ships mysteriously vanish in The Bermuda Triangle. When is the last time you heard of a plane or ship going missing in The Bermuda Triangle? The last time any major vehicle went missing there was 20 years ago. Statistically, there are more dangerous areas in the world that have taken more lives through non-supernatural phenomena like storms and violent waves. 1450. Amelia Earhart mysteriously vanished. This mystery was solved four years after Earhart went missing. There’s nothing particular suspicious about her disappearance. Earhart’s plane crashed near an island in Kiribati and most of her skeleton was found. The skeleton matched her measurements and her equipment was found. Most importantly, the island was uninhabited. Amelia was the only person on it, alive or dead. 1451. The ancient Mayans disappeared into thin air overnight. The ancient Mayans disappearance wasn’t sudden. Their numbers dwindled to near extinction over hundreds of years thanks to civil wars, droughts, and deforestation which destroyed all of their resources. 1452. “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” is a riddle the Hatter says in Alice in Wonderland that never seems to have an answer. To quote the writer, Lewis Carroll, the answer to this riddle is, “Because it can produce a few notes, tho’ they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front.” That answer…is terrible. Nobody understood this answer for over a century because there was a spelling error that was corrected but was meant to be left in. “Never” is meant to be spelt “nevar.” The end of the answer says, “It is nevar put with the wrong end in front.” End in front? Does it mean one should read “nevar” backwards? What does it read? Raven. 1453. Atlantis may have existed. Plato first mentioned Atlantis. He was a fiction writer. You know who was the first person to mention Hogwarts? JK Rowling. She wrote Harry Potter,

which is a fictional book. So Hogwarts probably doesn’t exist either. 1454. We have yet to find The Missing Link between man and ape. There is no one link. Critics of evolution argue by saying there is no Missing Link between our ancestor and us. But there is. It’s called Homo erectus. But who is the link between our original ancestor and Homo erectus? Homo habilius. The next one is called Australopithecus. Then Homo naledi. At what point does Homo erectus stop being Homo erectus and start being Homo habilius? It’s hard to say. We have found numerous missing links. Scientists will uncover more in the near future. How many do we need to find to silence those who dismiss evolution? 50? 100? 1,000? 1455. The Loch Ness monster might exist. This idea became popularized by a photograph taken in 1934 even though the photographer, Robert Wilson, admitted he forged it. I have one main argument with this supposed creature. It’s not the fact that it’s supposed to be a prehistoric animal, its limited procreativity, or its ability to survive for millions of years. It’s simply this – What would it eat? An animal that size would have to eat a staggering amount of food every single day. A whale couldn’t physically live in a lake because it would run out of food very quickly. If a huge marine creature appeared in Loch Ness tomorrow, it would run out of food in a few days. 1456. Aliens make crop circles. Two people, a board, and a rope are all that is needed to form crop circles in a few hours. The common method to construct a crop formation is to tie one end of a rope to an anchor point and the other end to a board, which a person uses to crush the plants. It sounds too simple to be true but Doug Bower and Dave Chorley have confessed to creating countless crop circles in the UK in 1991. Some conspiracy theorists didn’t believe Bower and Chorley so they re-did the exact designs of famous crop circles throughout England and they matched perfectly. 1457. No one knows how Stonehenge was built.

Building Stonehenge isn’t as difficult as you would imagine. A retired construction worker from Michigan called Wally Wallington built his own Stonehenge by himself in his garden. You might think, “That doesn’t count. Even if he is one person, he still did it with modern technology and cranes and bulldozers.” No. He did this with what was available at the time of the Stone Age; simplistic pulleys and levers and pivots made of rope and stone. If this guy can do it alone, surely dozens of men can do it. 1458. No one knows how the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids were built. The blocks were put on top of each other using wide ramps. This much has been known for some time. But researchers couldn’t fathom how the Egyptians moved countless blocks so quickly. Unless the workers could somehow make the blocks slide. But how? They simply used water. Wet sand creates a firmer surface and reduces friction, which drastically reduced the workload. The blocks slid through the sand, allowing construction to be far more efficient. This process can be seen in a wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep. 1459. The Mary Celeste was a ship that was found empty. No one knows what happened to the crew. In 1872, the Mary Celeste was spotted in the Atlantic. There wasn’t a single person onboard but everything seemed to be intact. There was no sign of a struggle or attack. Nothing seemed to be misplaced, not even valuables or piano music. There were no storms in the area and no money was stolen. Even the logbook was up to date. It was like the crew had vanished into thin air. But they didn’t because that would be silly. What actually happened was way more stupid. On further investigation, there was something missing – nine barrels of alcohol. There was a leak in the barrels and once the vapor ignited (probably from a wandering crew member’s pipe,) a pressure-wave explosion was created. This type of explosion is so bizarre that it would freak anyone out. The entire crew abandoned ship so suddenly, they took no supplies with them on their lifeboats. They all died of thirst days later. Wait…hold on! How does anyone know this? There were no witnesses to confirm this so this is one heck of a far-fetched theory.

But it has been tested. Chemistry teacher, Dr. Andrea Sella, built a replica of the Mary Celeste in 2006. (Scientists have way too much time on their hands.) He ignited nine barrels of alcohol with a single spark creating a pressure explosion. This type of explosion is devastating but it wouldn’t have caused any damage to the ship or the crew. Sailors didn’t understand the science of it and assumed that their ship was haunted. I mean… wouldn’t you? 1460. Cow mutilations are a mystery. Cows and sheep and other animals have been found with gaping holes in their bodies. It seems impossible for predators to create wounds like this. The holes are perfectly circular as if they were caused by a laser caused them. If your rational mind is trying to comprehend this, the animals are always drained of their blood. For a long time, no one could think of a rational explanation why this happens. Then it was discovered that the explanation could be summarized in one word. Maggots. It turns out that predators did cause the wounds. After the wounded animal died, maggots feasted on the dead flesh, draining it of blood. Maggots start eating at one point and work their way around in a circular manner. This eventually creates a perfect circle. Conspiracy theorists blamed UFOs for these mutilations but it turns out the culprit was a lot closer to home. 1461. No one knows what ball lightning is. Some speculation suggests that ball lightning is a UFO. People who make these speculations are commonly known as Completely Wrong. Ball lightning occurs when lightning strikes land that is full of quartz or silica, e.g. sand. The silica and electricity from the lightning form a vapor which condenses into a ball of light when it has cooled. Since it is light, it passes through objects. Since it has an electrical charge, it has been known to burn things and people. 1462. The Nazca people of Ancient Peru mysteriously vanished. When an entire group of people mysteriously vanishes, it’s tempting to believe in some conspiracy theory. However, the fate of the Nazca people is

tragically simple. They destroyed all of their trees to make room for their farming, having no idea that it would alter the climate. This prevented the growth of food and thus, the entire Nazca population died out within a generation. 1463. Nothing can cure hiccups. There are so many supposed ways to cure hiccups. Holding your breath. Getting a fright. Drinking a lot of water in one gulp. But nothing seems to work. Except one thing. A spoonful of sugar. All this time, Mary Poppins was right. This sounds like a primitive type of medicine that was used centuries ago. Surely there’s a better cure nowadays. But no. Dr. Edgar Engelman did a study in 1971, which can be viewed in the New England Journal of Medicine, which validates this theory. In his study, a spoonful of sugar worked 95% of the time. It even worked on patients who had hiccups for weeks. The reason it works is that the sudden sweetness overstimulates the vagus nerve (which connects the brain to the abdomen) which takes pressure off the diaphragm. 1464. There are stones in Death Valley that move by themselves. Not only do the stones in Death Valley move, they also suddenly change direction. And these are not little stones. One of the “stones” was 700lbs. Conspiracy theorists insist that aliens are behind it. In their defense, Area 51 is nearby. But these stones move for a number of reasons. Death Valley has powerful winds, which are strong enough to move a big rock. Even a 700lb rock you may ask? Yes, because the ground in Death Valley is slick and muddy. Muddy? Slick? Isn’t Death Valley a desert? Usually. But every few years, a lake called Racetrack Playa floods, making all of the ground in the area slippery, which shifts the rocks around. Some of the rocks are so heavy they move in the water but they don’t leave the ground. This gives the appearance that the rock dragged itself. So, some of the rocks move because of winds and others move because of water. None of them move for supernatural reasons.

1465. The Illuminati exist. Nesta Webster was a British anti-Semitic propagandist in the 1920s. Webster hated the Jews so much that she took every chance she could to say they were responsible for all of history’s atrocities. Of course, this is impossible. There is no way any group could be responsible for all of the horrific things in history… unless there was an overelaborate interconnected network of secret societies spanning the globe controlling everything… But that still wouldn’t work. She couldn’t just make up a cult and everybody would believe it, right? And one day, she heard of The Illuminati. The Illuminati was founded in 1776 to oppose superstition, dogma, and indoctrination. The society was outlawed and disbanded…. nine years later. The Illuminati existed on Earth for nine whole years. That’s it. Webster combined her hatred of Jews with this group, saying that the Jews had secretly resurrected the society. This idea was easy to believe, as there was already a conspiracy that the Illuminati caused the French Revolution. She didn’t make up The Illuminati. You can find records of them in history books. However, Webster concocted the idea that The Illuminati secretly rule the planet. The idea of The Illuminati controlling the world has only been around for less than a century. Nobody thought that even when The Illuminati existed! Since the group collapsed, the real Illuminati couldn’t defend themselves. This was easier to believe than anyone can imagine. The Average-Joe doesn’t know the difference between different secret societies so a lot of conspiracy theorists assume societies like The Freemasons, The Opus Dei, and The Illuminati are all interconnected.

VIDEO GAMES 1466. The most successful video game ever is Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. has sold 40 million units. Although that’s a lot, Tetris has sold over 12 times that much with a whopping 495 million units. 1467. Video games have no purpose in the real world. People are nine times better at absorbing information if it is visually simulated rather than by reading it. Exercise-based games have been proven to help the elderly, especially those with Parkinson’s. Modern shoot-em-ups develop multi-tasking skills. Shooting and evading enemies makes the player mind learn how to deal with several tasks simultaneously. Video games develop the “precision” part of the brain, which is used in delicate jobs like surgery. Surgeons who played games were 37% less prone to errors and 27% faster than those who didn’t. Video games have millions of colors, which helps younger children develop their cerebral cortex, enabling them to decipher color shades. 1468. The Tetris song was created for the game. This song is an Old Russian folk tune called Korobeiniki. It is over a century old but it will forever be immortalized as “The Tetris Theme Song.” 1469. Space Invaders ships intentionally get faster as you progress through the game. If there is too much information on a screen at once in Space Invaders, the computer will lag and slow down. How the ships move at the end of a level is how they should’ve moved in the beginning. The ships get faster because every time one of them is destroyed, there is less data on the screen. It was never intentional. The designers were frustrated by this design flaw but players assumed the game was adapting to their skill and it helped make Space Invaders the most successful video games of its time. Now every video

game in the world has the “difficulty learning curve” and Space Invaders invented it by accident. 1470. Nintendo is about 35 years old. Nintendo is over a century old. The company started in 1889 by producing handmade playing cards. In the 1960s, it veered into the toy industry and the video game industry in the 1970s. 1471. When old video games didn’t work, you needed to blow into the cartridge to make it work Blowing into a video game cartridge does what is known in scientific terms as Absolutely Nothing. Your childhood was a lie. 1472. Micro transactions are a recent video game development. What to unlock a secret character? Pay $5. Want to skip to the next level of Candy Crush? Pay $1.99. Can’t play the rest of the game unless you pay? Pay $9.99. Micro transactions seem like an infuriating recent addition to computer games but they have existed since 1990. In the arcade version of Double Dragon 3, you could access better weapons and characters if you put in more money. 1473. 90% of video game players are male. 43% of video game players are female. 31% of video game players are female adults. 1474. The Super Mushroom in Super Mario Bros. is a reference to drugs. Gamers believe the Super Mushroom is based on the Siberian fungi called Amanita Muscaria. Eating these mushrooms makes the consumer feel like they are growing in size, just like how Mario grows when he touches a Super Mushroom in the game. However, Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, said the idea that a mushroom makes the player more powerful is based on ancient folklore. 1475. Samus Aran from the Metroid series was the first female video game character.

The intergalactic bounty hunter, Samus, debuted in Metroid on August 6th 1986. The first female video game character was Ms. Pac-Man in her own titled game, which was released on January 13th 1982. 1476. The Nintendo Wii invented motion-controlled computer consoles in 2006. The Atari and Commodore consoles had motion-controlled sensors in 1983. They used a stick called… Le Stick. It didn’t use light or weight sensors like the Wii or the Kinect. Instead, it used motion detectors. Le Stick didn’t do well because the sensors were powered by mercury. In case you don’t know, mercury kind of gives you lethal diseases like ataxia and Minimata if it comes into contact with your skin. People preferred not to die so they didn’t use Le Stick. 1477. Video games are bad for your vision. Video games are obviously bad for your vision if you play in a darkened room for hours on end. However, playing video games moderately is good for your vision because your eyes have to concentrate on multiple things simultaneously, which allows video game players to track 30% more items than a non-video game player. 1478. Pong was the first video game. The first video game, Tennis for Two, was created by Michael Higinbotham in 1958. Although Pong was created in 1972, it became far more popular because it was the first game that could be played at home when it was imported to the Atari 2600 console in 1977. 1479. The first home console that Nintendo made was the NES in 1983. The first home console made by Nintendo was the Color TV in 1977. It only had one game – Pong. 1480. The first arcade game created by Nintendo was Donkey Kong. The first arcade game created by Nintendo was Computer Othello. It is based on the classic board game, Reversi.

1481. Nintendo created Pokémon Go. Pokémon Go became so successful, it made over a billion dollars per day. Per day! That never happens. Nintendo made $10 billion in less than a week. Several employees probably choked on how much money they had. But Nintendo didn’t earn most of this money from the profits of the game. The success of the game caused their stock price to rise by over 50% because players assumed Nintendo made Pokémon Go, which they didn’t. If you have this game, load it up on your phone right now. When the game starts, what company’s name appears? The Pokémon Company and Niantac. Okay, but surely Nintendo had something to do with it, right? Apart from licensing the Pokémon characters, Nintendo had next to nothing to do with programming the game itself.

WAR 1482. World War I was called The Great War until World War II happened. World War I was called The Great War while it was happening. In 1918, it became known as World War I. This was over 30 years before World War II started. The title, The Great War, was already used for what we now know as The Napoleonic War. (History is so confusing.) The reason why it was referred to as World War I before it ended was because society believed a Second World War was inevitable. 1483. World War I ended on the November 11th 1918. World War I officially ended on the October 3rd 2010, when Germany finished paying the reparations owed under the Treaty of Versailles. So stop asking your great-grand parents what it was like to live through a World War. Most children alive now have technically lived through it. 1484. World War II ended on the September 2nd 1945. The USSR never signed a peace treaty due to the Cold War. They officially agreed to peace on the October 3rd 1990. This means that WWII ended before WWI. 1485. Adolf Hitler was vegetarian. Hitler tried vegetarianism because he had a terrible digestive system. He still ate meat from time to time though. 1486. Hitler refused to shake Jesse Owens’ hand at the Olympics because he was black. Hitler envisioned a Master Race of white people. Then he watched a young African-American called Jesse Owens win four medals at the Olympics. Hitler was meant to shake his hand but he refused and stormed out of the stadium. It is true that Hitler didn’t want to shake Owens’ hand but that’s because he didn’t want to shake anyone’s hand except the German winners.

The Olympics Committee refused, saying that Hitler had to either shake every winner’s hand or none of the winners. Hitler thought it was in Germany’s best interests to shake nobody’s hand. Ironically, Owens became friends with a German athlete called Luz Long and said he was treated with more respect at the Olympics than in his normal life before and after the games. 1487. Hitler was a military and strategic mastermind. Hitler was charismatic and theatrical. He was a master at public speaking. To quote one comedian, “You can’t compare George W. Bush to Hitler. Hitler was a great public speaker.” However, Hitler wasn’t as popular in Germany as you would believe. He only received 30% of the vote when he ran for office. In the runoff, he got 37%. His opponent, Paul von Hindenburg, received 53% of the vote even though he was not interested in a second term. Hindenburg only ran in the first place because he didn’t want Hitler in office. Also, Hitler couldn’t control an army to save his life and made every wrong decision he could possibly make. Germany could have had assault rifles earlier in the war but Hitler rejected them. Hitler had a “no retreat” policy. If you are running into certain death, running away isn’t a sign of cowardice. It’s common sense. Stalin couldn’t control an army either. The difference was he knew that and left it to his generals. 1488. Nazis goosestep. Nazis did goosestep but nowhere near as often as you may think. They stopped almost immediately after World War II began. Russians still goosestep today. North Korea, China, Cuba, Chile, Vietnam, and Iran have a much longer history of goose-stepping than Germany ever did. 1489. Concentration camps were created in Germany. The Spanish devised concentration camps in 1895 to control civilians. It wasn’t as horrific as what was seen in Germany or Poland, but Spain was the first nation to create concentration camps. 1490. The swastika is a symbol of evil created by the Nazis.

The swastika has been a part of countless cultures for over 3,000 years. Dharmis view the swastika as a symbol of God. Tibetans believed the emblem represented eternity. Navajo used the “whirling logs” of this insignia for healing rites. Greece, Malta, Japan, China, Celts, Aztecs, Christians, and the Jews have used the swastika. 1491. The Nazis hated all life that didn’t agree with their Master Race vision. Nazis loved animals. They were so pro-animal rights that they banned all animal tests in Germany during WWII. They banned tests that are acceptable now! Hunting animals was banned. The Nazis were considered to have one of the strictest pro-animal rights policies worldwide. They even jailed scientists for carrying out tests on worms. 1492. Germans who supported Hitler called themselves Nazis. Nazis never referred to themselves as “Nazis.” The term was first used by Germans who fled the country. Nazis called themselves National Socialists. 1493. Friedrich Nietzsche was an anti-Semitic Nazi-lover. Nietzsche famously said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” He also talked about how not all people are born equal and some people are superior to others. It is a well-known idea that Nietzsche’s books inspired Hitler to commit atrocities during WWII. This concept has become common knowledge after comedian, Ricky Gervais, discussed it in one of his sketches. But this is utter hogwash. Nietzsche wasn’t anti-Semitic. The only people he hated were anti-Semites. Nietzsche despised them so much that he refused to go to his sister, Elizabeth’s wedding when she married an Aryan supporter called Bernhard Forster. Nietzsche had a mental breakdown near the end of his life and so, Elizabeth had to look after him. During this time, she and her husband had his book drastically edited. This book poisoned the minds of countless Nazis and made millions of people misinterpret Nietzsche’s beliefs throughout history.

1494. Americans had the most casualties during World War II fighting the Nazis. Fewer than 420,000 Americans died during WWII. Although some would see Russia as an enemy during World War II, 20 million Russians died trying to stop the Nazis. 1495. Old Americans were in favor of the Vietnam War and young Americans were against it. According to a poll conducted by Gallup in 1965, 76% of adults under 30 supported the war and 51% of adults over 49 supported it. In 1970, 41% of adults under 30 still supported the war. 1496. War deaths are rising. Combat deaths are at their lowest in a hundred years. According to data compiled by researchers at Peace Research Institute Oslo, the last decade had fewer deaths than any other decade in the past century. Unsurprisingly, World War II accounts for the most deaths in war. This had far more deaths than the wars in Afghanistan, Korea, Vietnam, or Kuwait combined. Annually, the Iraq War had about a hundred thousand deaths in the past decade. That may sound horrific, but it can’t compare to nearly 20 million people per year during WWII. 1497. During the American Civil War, the North was anti-racist. History has simplified the American Civil War so the South appears to be composed of racist bigots and the North was composed of people who were against slavery. It is true that the North had many passionate abolitionists, but the black community was barred from many basic rights even after the abolition of slavery. Lynch mobs and riots were common in the North at the time. Also, the North had the most violent race riot in the history of the United States. The riots in the North got so dangerous that, two years after slavery was abolished, the black community plunged to its lowest number in 45 years. 1498. There were no wars during the Cold War.

There was no war between Russia and America during the Cold War, which lasted from 1945 to 1990, However, the Korean, Vietnamese, and Afghan Wars were going on during that time. 1499. France is terrible at war. In all mediums, France is satirized for surrendering in every battle. However, France is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to battle. Out of the 168 major wars they have fought since 387 BC, France have won 109, drew in 10, and lost 49. 1500. The Zulus used primitive weapons. The movie, Zulu, shows the tribe fighting with spears and shields against the English. In reality, the Zulus killed entire battalions in spite of their inferior weaponry thanks to their great numbers. The Zulus were observant and understood that the English possessed far superior weaponry. Zulus stole most of the guns from those they kidnapped and used them in battle. 1501. The 100 Years War lasted 100 years. The only thing worse than a boring historic title is a boring and inaccurate historic title. The 100 Years War lasted 116 years. 1502. 300 Spartans fought a million Persians. As hard as it is to believe, the movie, 300 is not historically accurate. 7,000 people from Greece (including 300 Spartans) fought against 180,000 Persians. 1503. The Trojan War happened. Troy was founded in 3000 BC in the area known as Tevfikiye, Canakkale Province in Turkey. It was abandoned in 500 AD. There is no evidence that there was a great war as is depicted in The Iliad or The Odyssey stories. 1504. Samurais mainly used swords. Samurais used swords as a last resort. They believed the sword required no skill. A bow and arrow was the real weapon of a samurai. Drawing a sword carried a stigma because it implied that the samurai was too lazy to use his bow. In rare occasions, samurais used guns.

1505. A samurai took his own life if he failed his emperor. Despite what the movie, The Last Samurai depicts, samurais rarely took their own lives by stabbing themselves with their own swords. Emperors discouraged it because they relied on having as many men in their army as possible. 1506. Samurais were the most efficient killers in Ancient Japan. Japanese infantry nearly always won wars. Samurais are better remembered because they looked really cool. People have this idea that samurais never ran from battle. They did. If they knew they were going to lose, they had no choice. 1507. Samurais were honorable. Samurais weren’t as honorable as is often depicted. Samurais killed for money. They killed their employers if they didn’t get paid enough. They betrayed their emperor and switched sides if it worked to their advantage. Samurais were portrayed as noble warriors as a marketing campaign to make Japan look awesome. And it worked.

WEAPONS 1508. Silencers exist. Silencers change the sound of a gun being fired from a deafening bang to a…pretty loud bang. In the real world, a “silencer” is a “suppressor,” since it only minimizes the bang. You might think, “Surely you can suppress the bang by using a cushion or a pillow, right?” A gunshot is 165 decibels in volume. To help you gauge how loud that is, a motorcycle engine is 100 decibels. 120 decibels is so loud that it is painful to the human ear. Once you reach 140 decibels, you risk permanent hearing damage. This means you would suffer irreparable damage if you were beside a gun being fired. If you fire a gun into a cushion, do you know how loud it would be? 145 decibels… so cushions do pretty much nothing to silence gunfire. 1509. If there is a hostage situation with an armed man, snipers try to shoot the assailant in the head. Snipers try to shoot the assailant in the top lip. Behind the top lip is the part of the brain that controls reflexes. Shooting someone in this spot will prevent the assailant firing his or her gun on reflex. 1510. The most powerful bomb detonation was in Hiroshima in World War II. The most powerful bomb detonation was carried out by the Soviet Union in the Arctic on October 30th 1961. This 27-ton Tsar Bomb was used to prove that the Soviets were a force to be reckoned with. Upon detonation, it unleashed the force of 50 million tons of high explosives. That’s 3,800 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The force shattered windows 600 miles away in Finland and the shockwave traveled around the Earth three times. Ironically, the Soviets could’ve made it twice as powerful, but they thought that was overkill. (Because 50 million tons of explosives sounded perfectly reasonable to them for some reason.)

1511. Bomb detonators have visible digital timers. This is a great way to build tension in a movie but bombs in real life don’t have visible timers. 1512. If you get shot, you are as good as dead. As long as your heart is still beating when you arrive in a hospital, there is a 95% chance you will survive a gunshot wound. This is according to former chief medical examiner, Dr. Vincent J. M. DiMaio, who is the author of many books about gunshot wounds. Many people think a person who has been shot will be fine once the bullet has been removed. However, digging the bullet out of a gunshot wound is unnecessary and dangerous. The heat from the bullet sterilizes the wound, preventing the spread of infection. Removing the bullet could sever blood vessels. Some people have bullets inside them decades after being shot since removing it could kill them. However, surviving a gunshot wound causes other problems… 1513. “Flesh wounds” are harmless. Despite what Monty Python says in the movie, The Holy Grail, flesh wounds are no laughing matter. A study done on 58 patients with gunshot wounds to the shoulder found that four months after the initial injury, 51 of them were suffering from constant pain due to vascular damage. Half of them ended up with partial or complete loss of mobility in their arms. 1514. Six guns carried six bullets. These were the guns that cowboys used in Western movies. These old guns didn’t have safety catches like guns today. A cowboy would never risk shooting himself when his gun was not being used so they would always have five bullets in their gun instead of six so they could rest the gun on the empty chamber. 1515. Gunfights were rampant in the Wild West. Most people living in the west died from disease rather than in a gunfight. The most people murdered in a town during the Wild West was five. I haven’t seen Once Upon a Time in the West in a few years but I’ll assume

more people die in the first 20 minutes. Even the legendary Billy the Kid only killed four people. Most towns enacted strict gun control to make sure that fights didn’t get out of hand. The very few cowboys who had guns rarely used them. Guns aren’t fully reliable nowadays. Even a sophisticated gun can still get jammed. How often do you think that happened when people were still figuring out how guns worked? Cowboys would’ve considered armwrestling before they considered a duel. 1516. A mace is a clubbed weapon with spikes on the head. If you look at the Wikipedia page, you will see six different types of mace; none of which look anything like a spiked-club. Spiked-clubbed maces did exist but the pointed tips were knocked out easily so the user were left with a blunt club. Most maces looked more like fancy spears. The most devastating type was the flanged mace. This was the weapon Sauron uses in the beginning of The Lord of the Rings. Although this weapon is bladed, it looks nothing like those depicted in most films and television shows. 1517. The flail was a mace-weapon attached to a chained handle. Many medieval films such as Braveheart depict this weapon. Although you may have seen a flail in a museum or two, some historians believe they never existed as weapons; only as a decoration. A flail would prove impractical in a fight. It’s impossible to control without running the risk the user of impaling himself. 1518. Swords were the most common weapon during medieval times. Spears were a preferred choice during medieval times according to Medieval Military Technology by Kelly DeVries and Robert Douglas Smith. At first, this seems to make sense. A lot of metal is needed to forge a sword and it takes a long time to form properly. Not only were spears cheaper but they proved to be more efficient weapons than swords. They were lighter, which allowed nimbler movements than a heavy sword. Also, swords became blunted, even while practicing. A spear had far longer range, which made it less likely that the user would be disarmed. On top of that, spears could be hurled at enemies as a ranged weapon if needed.

1519. A medieval archer carried a quiver on his back. Almost every literary archer is equipped with a back-quiver. Legolas from The Lord of the Rings. Hawkeye from The Avengers. The titular character from Robin Hood However, if you look at any medieval artwork, you will see that archers carried the quiver on a belt on their side. 1520. The katana is the greatest sword in the world. This idea has been popularized thanks to many samurai movies (and Pulp Fiction.) There is no “best” sword. It depends on the craftsmanship. If a sword strikes a solid object a few dozen times, it will be rendered useless. 1521. Movies depict sword-making accurately. The most iconic sword-forging scene in movie history is from Conan the Barbarian. Most films show the sword-forging process the same way – you heat the metal, bash it into the shape of a sword, and then wait for it to solidify. Forging swords isn’t that easy. Making one sword takes at least 40 hours but it can take over three days. And that’s just the blade. That’s not including the handle, the guard, or the pommel. Forging a single dagger can take 50 hours. Movies like Conan the Barbarian show swords starting off as a boiling liquid. That technique hasn’t been used since the Bronze Age. (Who would ever have thought a movie where the villain turns into a snake would be inaccurate?) Melting metal weakens its chemical bonds. You need to start with solid metal to forge a sword nowadays. 1522. Nail guns can be just as dangerous as guns. Nail guns are weapons of death in many movies – Lethal Weapons 2, Final Destination 3, Casino Royale, etc. But nail guns have a safety mechanism so they can’t be fired unless they’re pressed against a hard, flat surface. They cannot be fired across a room. If nail guns were as effective as they seem in movies, they would replace guns as the most effective weapon of choice. 1523. Flamethrowers are illegal in America.

They’re not. Go nuts. 1524. A car door will stop a bullet. A car door is so ineffective at stopping a bullet, it might as well be made of cardboard. 1525. A gun can go off if it is dropped. Gun regulations require extensive drop safety tests, to prevent this from happening. 1526. You can aim two guns at once. It looks really cool to aim two guns at once but your eyes aren’t designed to aim and fire at two targets simultaneously. Also, how would you reload? 1527. Soldiers often run out of bullets when using their guns. In movies, people empty their clips at the most pivotal moment to build tension in the scene. In reality, soldiers are constantly reloading their guns every opportunity they have. Why wouldn’t they? It’s a life or death situation! That’s like not refueling your car until it runs out of gas! 1528. If you are a good shooter on the gun range, you will be a good shooter in combat. There is little psychology when shooting on a gun range. There is always psychology when shooting in combat since you can die. A study examined more than two hundred violent encounters and showed no connection between prowess on the gun range and combat effectiveness. A perfect marksman on the range can become a whimpering mess when they know their life is in danger. 1529. The whip was used as a weapon. Although it looks awesome when Indiana Jones uses a bullwhip, there is no evidence it was ever used as a weapon. The only thing remotely close to a weapon like this is a Chinese chain whip that was used as a ceremonial weapon for important officials. However, this was used as a last resort and it was only effective because it was made from a chain.

1530. Bulletproof vests are effective against guns. A bulletproof vest will stop a handgun bullet but it will sting like hell. Sadly, it’s useless against any machine gun. 1531. Bullets can hit you through water. Although this is a really cool effect in movies, a bullet’s acceleration is drastically diminished once it comes into contact with water and will not be able to kill a human being over any distance beyond a few feet. 1532. Landmines activate when a person steps off them. When a person steps on a landmine in a movie like 24: Legacy or Kingsman: The Golden Circle, they hear a click that alerts them that they are dead the second they take their foot off the landmine. Landmines in real life don’t work this way. After a mine has been stepped on, it takes about four seconds for it to shoot in the air and explode in a shower of shrapnel. Weirdly, the only film I can think of that portrays this accurately is the 2008 comedy, Tropic Thunder. 1533. The force of being shot would knock you back. Despite what action films depict, getting shot wouldn’t hurl you across the room. You would only stumble a little bit. 1534. Death by firing squad hasn’t been practiced in the United States in a century. Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last person to be put to death via firing squad in the US in 2010. 1535. A flamethrower is an effective weapon. Although it looks awesome, a flamethrower is probably the most impractical weapon that a human being can carry. Not only does it weigh 70lbs, it will run empty after ten seconds. Also, it can only be used when a person is standing out in the open, leaving them completely vulnerable to attack. 1536. You can shoot a lock off a sealed door with a gun. This wouldn’t work at point-blank range on a basic lock.

1537. Laser beams are visible. Lasers are invisible. This doesn’t make a laser beam as visually stunning as in sci-fi movies but makes it a far more dangerous and stealthier weapon. 1538. You would die if you were hit with an arrow. If you got shot, the bullet would lodge in your body and leave a hole for blood to seep out. An arrow does the opposite. It can’t go in too deep because the force isn’t as powerful as gunfire and the shaft of the arrow seals the wound. Pulling it out will be more dangerous because it allows blood to pour out. 1539. Iraq has the most landmines. Iraq has ten million undetonated landmines. Afghanistan, Iran, and even Angola have more. However Egypt has the most landmines with a grand total of 23 million. 1540. Al-Qaeda goes out of its way to kill white Christians. Between 2006-2008, Muslims were 54 times more likely to be killed by AlQaeda than Westerners. 1541. Snipers use a laser to aim at their target. Snipers rarely do this. Why would a sniper give away his position? 1542. Snipers shoot people by aiming at them through their scope. Snipers usually don’t aim directly at their target. A sniper’s greatest enemy is wind resistance. A strong gust of wind can change a bullet’s direction by 50ft. Matt Hughes was a Royal Marine sniper in Iraq in 2003 who attempted to shoot a man over half a mile away. Calculating how much the wind would affect the curvature of his bullet, he aimed 56ft to the left and 38ft above his target. He then saw his bullet curve and hit his target perfectly. Whoever thought math could be cool? No one. No one thought that.

1543. You can survive a bomb blast so long so you are not too near the blast radius. In movies, you’ve seen action heroes get up straight after an explosion so many times that you don’t register how impossible it is. Explosions make steel crumble like wet tissue paper. You wouldn’t stand a chance if you were near a bomb detonation. The shockwave from a blast would cause your lungs to implode. You can be hundreds of feet from a detonation and easily risk irreparable damage to your bowels, ears, and eyes. 1544. The guillotine hasn’t been used in centuries. Not only were criminals still doing guillotine executions in the 20th century in France but they were publicly displayed until 1939. However, that doesn’t mean guillotine executions stopped then. People were just not killed in the public eye. (That’s better, I guess.) Guillotine executions were legal in France all the way up until 1977. That means when Star Wars came out, the French were still executing people with this barbaric device. 1545. Assault rifles shoot all of their bullets in a few minutes. In three seconds, an assault rifle is empty. There is no machine gun that can fire constantly for a long period of time. 1546. France doesn’t use nuclear weapons. France has done more nuclear weapons testing than the UK, China, Pakistan, India, and North Korea. Combined. 1547. We can all die in nuclear war. You probably have heard that there are enough nuclear weapons to kill everyone on Earth ten times over. Sadly, that’s true. The chances of surviving a nuclear detonation is… pretty good according to the 2010 Department of Homeland Security study. This study says that if a nuke exploded in the heart of Los Angeles, about 7% of the population would die (apart from the people caught in the blast radius who would be vaporized instantly. In this study, 93% would survive without needing to seek shelter. So, the other 7% is the maximum death toll of those outside the blast radius if a

nuke detonated in a large city. Shelter will decrease the death toll from 7% to 3%. If the survivors were to get to a basement in time, it’s possible to reduce the death toll to almost 1%. If the buildings were heavily insulated, the death toll outside the blast radius would be nearly 0%. 1548. Boomerangs are weapons that return after you throw them. Boomerangs aren’t effective at hitting people or animals. Nor are they reliable at returning to the thrower since the wind can make them unpredictable. Even if the boomerang returned, the catcher would need impossible reflexes to grab it without losing a few fingers. Boomerangs were used to lure hawks into nets. A boomerang moves similarly to a hawk, so it would lure the bird out of curiosity. This would allow the boomerang-thrower to catch the hawk in a net. 1549. Sword fights are portrayed accurately in movies. In the movie, Kill Bill, The Bride fights a group called the Crazy 88. This is a battle no one could win and it has nothing to do with skill. A sword becomes less sharp with every strike. After using it on ten people, the sword would be coated in so much blood (and entrails) it would become as effective as a wooden stick. Swords can easily break after only a few strikes. In real sword fights, Vikings and pirates did everything in their power to ensure their swords never collided to avoid breaking them. 1550. A nuclear bomb looks like a huge missile. The nuke used in World War II was a 6ft tall sphere covered in hundreds of cable wires. It looked like a random piece of machinery or an extremely old computer. You would have no idea it was a weapon, not to mention one capable of killing hundreds of thousands of people in seconds. 1551. Death duels haven’t been performed in well over a century. The last duel was as recent as 1967. It was between two politicians in France called Gaston Deffere and Rene Ribiere. Deffere complained that Ribiere was fidgeting too much in mid-debate and so Ribiere challenged him to a duel. No one died but that doesn’t make it less ridiculous.

1552. You can’t tell if a gun is empty. How many movies have you seen where the bad guy is given an empty gun and he believes it’s full? Bullets are metal. Metal is heavy. A gun with no bullets is noticeably lighter than a gun with a full clip. It’s pretty easy to tell the difference between a handgun with no bullets and one with bullets. 1553. If you shoot the tank of a car, it will explode. You would need to shoot a car with exceptional precision at a spot which will vary from car to car, tank to tank, and gun to gun. There is no magical spot on all automobiles that makes them explode. 1554. The most effective way to tell if someone’s fired a gun is to check for fingerprints. At least 90% of fingerprints are wiped off a gun as soon as it’s put in the person’s pocket. The best way to tell if a person has fired a gun is to detect if there’s any powder residue on their clothing. 1555. Gangsters hold their guns sideways because it looks cool. Originally, actors playing cowboys held their gun sideways so the camera could see the person’s face and the gun in the same shot. Gangsters saw this in movies like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and liked how it looked and so, the style was popularized.

WORDS 1556. “I’ll be back in a jiffy” means, “I’ll be back very soon.” A jiffy is an unit of measurement. You are saying, “I’ll be back before light has traveled one centimeter (which is 33 picoseconds or one trillionth of a second). That doesn’t have the same ring to it. 1557. “Wikipedia” is pronounced like “wi-ki-pee-dee-a.” “Wee-kee-pee-dee-a” is the correct way to pronounce “Wikipedia.” I only pronounce it this way when I am explaining this fact. 1558. “Chronic” means “painful.” “Chronic” means “long-term.” A chronic back pain is a permanent ache. 1559. “I haven’t seen you in yonks” means “I haven’t seen you in ages!” A yonk is British slang for “donkey’s year.” Donkey lives are about 3½ times shorter than a human’s. So a yonk is 365÷3.5 = 104 days. So, three months and 14 days is one yonk. I have to calculate a donkey’s mortality using mathematics to comprehend a British slang word. How did this become my job??? 1560. The words “graveyard” and “cemetery” are interchangeable. A graveyard adjoins a church. A cemetery doesn’t. 1561. “Mano-a-mano” means “man-to-man.” If a guy picks a fight with you and he says, “You and me, outside now. Mano-a-mano. Man-to-man,” you should correct him by saying, “Sorry. ‘Mano-a-mano’ means ‘hand-to-hand’ in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. Not man-to-man.” The guy who’s about to beat you to a pulp will probably appreciate you correcting him. 1562. Mt. Everest is pronounced “Ever-est.” Mt. Everest is named after George Everest who surveyed the mountain when Tenzing originally climbed it. His name was pronounced “ee-ver-

est.” 1563. “Nimrod” means “idiot.” Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the Bible. In a Looney Tunes cartoon, Elmer Fudd tried to shoot Bugs Bunny and missed. Bugs sarcastically said, “Nice shooting Nimrod!!” Kids didn’t have a clue what this obscure reference meant so they assumed “Nimrod” meant “idiot.” 1564. “Larvae” is pronounced “lar-vay”. The word can be pronounced “lar-vai” or “lar-vee” but never “lar-vay” even though I have never heard it pronounced any way except the wrong way. 1565. “Quadrilogy” means “four-part story.” The correct term is “tetralogy.” “Tetra” derives from Ancient Greek and means “fourth.” It’s where the video game, Tetris, gets its name because each block is made of four units. 1566. “Vegetarian” means “vegetable eater.” The word “vegetarian” is derived from the Latin word “vegitas” which means “fresh and lively.” In ancient times, people noticed that who anyone avoided eating meat were energetic and healthy and the word “vegetarian” became eternally linked. 1567. To help you spell, remember the rule - “i” before “e” except when there’s a “c”. There are 923 exceptions to the rule including heist, weird, glacier, deity, foreign, height, weight, vein, sovereign, society, neither, science, species, freight, seize, and caffeine. In fact, there are more exceptions to the rule than there are words that obey the rule so this is no longer taught in schools. 1568. A Japanese person cutting his or her own gut open with a sword is performing “hara-kiri.” Japanese soldiers killed themselves by cutting open their gut if faced with imprisonment during war. This process is called “seppuku” which means

“belly-splitting.” To rob the enemy of the pleasure of killing a soldier by taking his own life is called “hara-kiri.” There are lots of examples of this. Suicide bombers are committing hara-kiri. 1569. “Enormity” means “a gigantic calamity.” Despite the fact the word looks like “enormous,” it means “atrocity.” 1570. The creator of The Cat in the Hat, Dr Seuss, pronounced his name as “Soose.” Dr Theodor Geisel’s pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, is pronounced “Soice.” He wanted it to rhyme with “rejoice.” 1571. “Cryogenics” means “to freeze people.” “Cryogenics” is the study of what happens to things under extreme cold. The study of freezing living things is called “cryonics.” 1572. “Hello” is a universal greeting. “Hello” was originally said as a way to express a nice surprise. When the phone was invented, conversations sounded like this – Man 1: Who’s this? Man 2: It’s John. Man 1: Hello, John! Lovely to hear from you! That seems normal but he’s not saying “hello” as a greeting. He’s saying “hello” because he now acknowledges the person he is talking to is his friend John. So “hello” was said often as a reassuring surprise until it eventually became part of every conversation. 1573. “Snapshot” is slang for a quick camera picture. “Snapshot” was originally a hunting term that meant “to fire at a fastmoving target without aiming properly.” 1574. Sushi translates as “Raw fish.” It means, “sour rice.” 1575. “Decimate” means destroy.

Decimation was a punishment in Ancient Rome where one in ten men were killed. “Decimate” means destroying 10% of something. 1576. “Judgment” is spelt “J-U-D-G-E-M-E-N-T.” There is no “e” between the “d” and the “g.” My favorite film is Terminator 2: Judgment Day and I didn’t notice that for 25 years. 1577. “Recur” and “reoccur” mean the same thing. “Recur” is something that happens over and over. “Reoccur” is used to show that something has happened again. 1578. People use the word “literally” inaccurately. When someone says, “I was so embarrassed, I literally died” it is clear the person should’ve used the word “figuratively” instead of “literally.” However, this is not a recent concept. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character is described at one point thus, “He literally glowed.” Unless Gatsby is suffering from radium poisoning, I believe Fitzgerald meant “figuratively.” Many renowned writers, like Mark Twain, also used “literally” this way. So, am I suggesting people nowadays are using it incorrectly? Not exactly. The word “literally” is used in this way so often that it now has two definitions, according to Webster’s dictionary 1. “in a literal sense or manner.” 2. “For effect.” 1579. “Peruse” means to “skim over or browse something.” It has the opposite definition. It means “to read with thoroughness or care.” 1580. Tsunami means “large tidal wave.” A tsunami is any large displacement of water. 1581. “Pristine” means “spotless” or “as good as new.” It means “in the same state as it was originally in.” 1582. Charles Dickens invented the word, “humbug” in his story, A Christmas Carol. This word had been in use for over a century before this book was written.

1583. “Bemused” means “amused.” No. We already have a word for that known as “amused.” Why would we make up another word that is spelt and pronounced almost the same? “Bemused” is defined as “a state of bewilderment and confusion.” 1584. “Nonplussed” means “unperturbed” or “unworried.” It means the opposite. You feel nonplussed when you are utterly perplexed and confused. 1585. “Ultimate” means “the best.” “Ultimate” was a Latin word that meant “the last one.” However, I will use it in the right context by saying this misconception is the ultimate fact in this chapter.

The 10 Most Bizarre Misconceptions 1586. You can make thousands of combinations with a deck of cards. Every time you shuffle a deck of cards, you have made a combination nobody has ever made in history. But how? How many combinations can there be? Millions? Billions? Trillions? Not even close. There are 80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,27 7,824,000,000,000,00 combinations. That’s 70 numbers. The actual word for this number is 80 vigintillion. If you are wondering how this is possible, here’s a simple way to understand it. There are 52 cards in a deck. There are 26 letters in the alphabet. How many different stories have been created from those 26 letters? So, if you ever feel like you haven’t accomplished anything unique in your life, shuffle a deck of cards and you have done something that has never happened ever. Unless you don’t know how to shuffle. Which I don’t. 1587. The most dangerous sport is American Football. Although American Football has caused horrific injuries over the years, it is not the most dangerous sport. Is it rugby? Ice hockey? Wrestling? No, no, and no. Kite-flying? Yes. By far. As you may know from the book and movie, The Kite Runner, kite-flying is a big deal in Pakistan and India. In these countries, kites are effectively weapons since they are coated with steel and glass. In the last ten years, kites have injured thousands of people and approximately 500 people have died when players have had their throats cut open by kite strings or they have been impaled by the metal. 1588. Fish exist. Stephen Jay Gould spent decades studying fish and discovered that they are genetically so different from each other that they are not a single species but

thousands of separate species. A salmon has more genetic similarities to a camel than a hagfish. When we think of a fish, we mean, “any vertebrate that lives underwater that isn’t a mammal or reptile.” But this is a huge oversimplification. It’s like saying every animal that lays an egg is a bird including all reptiles, the platypus, and…. fish. 1589. We understand how bicycles work. Nobody in history has ever understood the science behind how a bicycle works. Not cyclists. Not bicycle makers. Not scientists. Not NASA. Not physicists. Not Lance Armstrong. (Ok, that’s a bad example.) For decades, scientists believed the answer to how a bicycle works lay in understanding the gyroscopic effect. This is the force the keeps a moving object from falling over (like a spinning top or dreidel.) However, that idea went out the window when a mechanical engineer called Andy Ruina discovered that the gyroscopic effect has nothing to do with keeping a bike up. This means that we are now less certain how a bicycle stays upright than we were 50 years ago. So, there you are. Mankind split an atom before we could explain to a toddler how his or her bike works. 1590. In the UK, you can drink alcohol when you are 18 years old. You can drink alcohol in the UK when you are five. And no, you didn’t misread that. In the UK, you are not allowed to consume alcohol until you are 18 at the bar. It is completely legal for someone else to buy you alcohol if you are underage and you can consume it in your home as long as you are five or older. But not four years old…because that would be silly. 1591. No one knows what makes people gay. The template of a human fetus is female. Six to eight weeks after conception, the fetus is blasted with male hormones called androgens which will decide if the fetus will be male or female. A second dose of androgens occurs after another six to eight weeks. This dosage will decide the fetus’ sexual orientation.

A fetus with a small amount of androgens will remain female, and another small amount of androgens will give the fetus a female-structured brain. A fetus with a large amount of androgens will become male, and another large amount of androgens will give the fetus a male-structured brain. However, as a pregnancy advances, complications can happen. Stress, anxiety, diet, physical health, exercise, and even the weather can alter a pregnant woman’s hormones and her androgens. So, if a fetus receives a lot of male hormones and becomes male, it may not receive enough androgens later because of complications and thus, be left with a female structured brain. It’s rare for the first dose to be less than the second because complications tend to happen as the pregnancy progresses, which is why there are statistically fewer lesbians than gay men. 1592. Evolution is too slow to observe accurately. Elephants are not as commonly killed as before because they are evolving without tusks. If an elephant is tuskless, it is useless to a poacher. The absence of tusks guarantees its survival. Skinks used to lay eggs but now they give birth. Pepper moths were white but now they are nearly all black. Since Asian crabs have been introduced to Europe, mussels in the UK have developed harder shells to survive. Even human evolution can be observed. The Sherpa of Nepal (the group who help people climb Mt. Everest) can survive living 13,000ft high. 2,000ft make people feel dizzy and ill. No one can survive 13,000ft for very long except the Sherpa. This is the fastest human evolution on record. They’ve only been living there for 3,000 years. 1593. Slavery has been illegal in the UK for decades. Slavery was legal in the United Kingdom… until April the 6th 2010! The status of slavery had never existed under common law in England. As a result, slavery couldn’t be illegal if it didn’t legally exist. Section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 has now made it illegal. 1594. Gandhi was a saint. Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been synonymous with sainthood. He is often depicted as an incredibly moral man who would stop

at nothing to live in a world where everyone is treated equally. However, author, GB Singh, gathered 20 years of Gandhi’s notes, speeches, and documents for his book, Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity, and concluded that Gandhi was not what he seemed. Gandhi passionately discriminated against Africans and called them “raw kaffirs.” A “kaffir” is a derogatory term that many Africans find the most insulting term that can be bestowed upon a human being. This accusation of Gandhi is irrefutable because he wrote about his racism in 16 columns in his own newspaper called Indian Opinion. Just to make sure everybody knew how much he despised Africans, Gandhi wrote it in four languages. Unfortunately, Africans were not the only people Gandhi detested. He told a biographer that during World War II, “the Jews should have willingly offered themselves to the butcher’s knife.” He even gave up on his own people. During World War II, Gandhi said that India should be “left to anarchy.” Gandhi cheated on his wife countless times (despite the fact that he claimed to have taken a vow of celibacy.) Most of the girls he slept with were teenagers. One of them was his own cousin. He prevented his children from being educated. When his son, Harilal, said that Gandhi “had forgotten his family” Gandhi disowned him and banned any of his family members to speak to him. When one of his sons defended Harilal, Gandhi banished him from the house. The Mahatma barred his wife, Kasturba, from accepting gifts and said he hated looking at her because she had the face of a “meek cow.” When Kasturba suffered a hemorrhage, Gandhi told the doctors not to give her penicillin because “If God wills it, he will pull her through.” After months of agony, Kasturba died. I could write a hundred other horrible truths about the supposed saint but I will save you time – Gandhi was not a nice man. And the final misconception is…

1595. All of these facts are true. I mentioned earlier that the oldest battery discovered was from 200 BC but what happens if we find out that it was a fake? Or what if we find a battery from 1000 BC? Some facts are constantly changing. The number of moons that Jupiter has changes every few years as it keeps absorbing more moons into its gravity. Some facts change according to convenience like the way we have eight planets now just to make the Solar System diagram more convenient. I mentioned that George Washington is the first American president due to a technicality. The movie, Jurassic World, was released in 2015. Historians discovered that dinosaurs had feathers two years after Jurassic Park was released. Dinosaur feathers have been discovered encased in amber. Did the director make sure that the dinosaurs had feathers this time? Of course not. Because it would ruin our childhood. Audiences wouldn’t like it because it’s different. We believe what we like or what’s convenient, not the truth. I mentioned that Nikola Tesla discovered superior electricity to Thomas Edison. However, Edison’s electricity was favored because he used bullying tactics and insisted his technology was superior. If we had used Nikola Tesla’s form of electricity, technology would have leapt ahead 50 years. That arrogance set us back half a century. This is why we cannot reject the truth. No matter how much we want to be right, the purpose of knowledge is to allow us to leap forward as a species. If you dismiss anything in this book, research it. You might be right. You might be wrong. I might be wrong. There is no shame in being wrong. There is shame in following an idea blindly. Let’s look at an example. In the previous fact, I mentioned GB Singh, who wrote Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity. Singh isn’t just researcher; he was a former follower of Gandhi’s teachings. So why did Singh turn against the man he admired? The answer is simple – to learn. If you were Christian, you would naturally dismiss any information that looks at Christianity in a negative light.

But Singh didn’t think like this. He followed Gandhi’s teachings for years, until he read an article denouncing Gandhi in 1983. Singh didn’t believe the article was true at first but he wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. If he was going to follow the teachings of Gandhi, Singh had to make sure there was no doubt that Gandhi was as pure as he claimed to be. Singh believed that you cannot follow any idea blindly, even if the idea has nothing but good intentions. It turned out that the article was right and Singh’s life changed forever. Questioning ideas is not a bad thing. It helps us understand them better. That constant questioning is how we got to where we are today. There is no shame in not knowing. There is shame in not finding out.