25 Commonly Known Facts That — Wait A Minute — Are Not Facts At All

1.I'm sure you've heard the warning that if you dropped a penny from the top of the Empire State Building, it could kill someone on the street below.

This is simply false. It would not be able to gain enough velocity.

2.If your dog has ever been sprayed by a skunk, you probably washed them in a bath of tomato juice.

However, tomato juice does nothing to counteract the smell, and it is as ineffective as using any other strongly scented item.

3.Many ships and planes have ~mysteriously~ vanished in the Bermuda Triangle...

...but not significantly more than any other well-traveled waterways and oceans, as it turns out.

4.Has your mom ever told you to stock up on vitamin C during cold or flu season?

Well, tell your mom she was wrong, because vitamin C supplements have little to no effect on preventing or shortening a cold.

5.If you're Christian, you probably celebrate Christmas, aka Jesus' birthday.

Except it's not. The Bible references shepherds watching over their flocks during Jesus' birth, suggesting it was summertime (or at the very least not winter). There is no reference to any date — and certainly not December 25. In fact, no historical sources confirm that Christmas was celebrated then until 336 AD. It seems the date was chosen to appropriate the winter solstice — a pagan holiday — for Christian purposes, as it was around that time.

6.Also, Jesus would not have been white, nor is there any evidence that he had long hair.

7.You've probably heard the belief that dogs and cats age seven years for each human year...

...which may be somewhat true for cats, but is pretty inaccurate for dogs.

8.Someone has likely told you that the volcano in Yellowstone is overdue for an eruption.

If you're counting the average years between explosions, we still have 100,000 years to go — however, these numbers are largely meaningless, as volcanic eruptions are unpredictable.

9.Another common belief is that worms become two worms when they're cut in half.

The half with the head may be able to grow back its tail and survive, but the half with the tail can't grow into a new worm and will die.

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However, flatworms can regenerate into two worms when cut in half.

10.I'm sure you know the hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bob Marley.

Except...he didn't sing the song. Bobby McFerrin did. In fact, it was written seven years after Marley's death.

11.Sticking with music, you've probably heard Phil Collins was inspired to write the song "In the Air Tonight" after witnessing someone drown and wanting to confront an onlooker who could've stopped it.

This is nothing more than an urban legend. Collins himself has stated that he wrote the song about his divorce.

12.Ah, the beautiful yellow sun...oh, wait a minute. It's not yellow at all.

It's actually white, which you can tell from space. It only appears yellow because we're looking at it through the atmosphere.

13.One of my favorite creepy facts is that people's hair and fingernails continue to grow after they die.

Which is why I was pretty saddened to find out it wasn't a fact at all! In actuality, skin around fingernails and hair follicles dry up and retract, which can make stubble and nails appear to have grown, even though they have not.

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14.One of the coolest things about snakes is that their jaws can unhinge.

Except...they can't, actually. The lower bones of their jaws do not connect and are attached with a stretchy ligament that allows them to open their mouths super wide — but they aren't unhinging their jaws.

15.Did your mom ever tell you to eat carrots to improve your vision?

'Cause that's totally false! In fact, the idea was actively invented by the British government to spread misinformation that would hide the existence of their radar systems during World War II.

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16.Cremating is a nice way to turn bodies into ashes, right?

Wrong! It leaves behind bone fragments, which are basically put into a blender until they fit in with the other ashes.

17.You may have been told you were a "left brain" person or a "right brain person."

However, abilities are not actually separated in this way. There are not "left brain dominant" or "right brain dominant" people, and most cognitive skills — like math, and even language (though dominant on the left) — rely on both sides of the brain.

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18.You've probably heard that female praying mantises eat their male partner after mating.

This does happen, but not every time, and not with every species. In the species where this does happen, up to 28% of males are eaten by their partner.

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19.You've probably heard of a "beer blanket" — aka the belief that you get warmer after drinking.

However, beer doesn't make you any warmer. You might feel like you're warmer — or you're at least distracted from the cold — but if anything, it's actually making you colder.

20.What's also false? That alcohol kills brain cells.

21.And that drinking liquor before beer prevents nausea/a hangover. That's right, folks: "Beer before liquor, never sicker; liquor before beer, in the clear" has no basis in reality.

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Your hangover will be just as bad either way!

22.Babies used to not be given any sort of pain-relieving drugs during surgery because people were taught that babies couldn't feel pain, and you may have been led to believe this, too.

But, uh...they definitely do. Now, there are ways to provide pain relief for infants, although some surgeries do proceed without it.

23.If you're babysitting or around any kids, their parents might've told you not to give them sugar because they get hyper.

However, sugar doesn't actually increase hyperactivity in kids!

24.You also might've heard parents talking about keeping their kids away from violent video games.

However, numerous studies have shown that violent video games don't make kids violent.

25.And finally, we've all heard about the G-spot...but there is no solid proof that the G-spot even exists.

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