Hi, I’m John Green, and welcome to a fun journey through some common misconceptions! Let’s dive into some surprising facts that might just blow your mind.
Did you know that Vikings never wore helmets with horns? This idea only came about in 1876 during a performance of Wagner’s opera “The Ring of the Nibelung.”
Iron maidens, those scary medieval torture devices, are actually fictional. They never existed in real life!
Marie Antoinette never said “Let them eat cake” when she heard about starving peasants. It’s just a myth!
Anne Boleyn, a famous French royal, did not have eleven fingers. Most historians agree this is just a rumor.
The American Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776. It was actually signed on August 2, 1776.
The U.S. Constitution wasn’t written on hemp paper. It was written on parchment.
Napoleon wasn’t short for his time. He was about five feet seven inches tall, which was slightly above average back then.
Albert Einstein didn’t fail math in school. In fact, he mastered complex math like calculus before he was fifteen!
When John F. Kennedy said “Ich bin Ein Berliner,” he didn’t call himself a jelly doughnut. People in Berlin understood what he meant.
Sushi doesn’t mean raw fish. It actually means “sour rice.”
Putting metal in a microwave is a bad idea, but it doesn’t ruin the microwave. Just don’t try it at home!
The word “crap” doesn’t come from Thomas Crapper, who helped develop indoor plumbing. It actually comes from Latin.
The number 420 isn’t a police code for marijuana possession. It actually means juvenile disturbance.
The Great Wall of China isn’t the only man-made object visible from space. In fact, it’s not visible from space at all!
There’s no such thing as an elephant graveyard. Elephants don’t go to a special place to die.
Despite what some people think, sharks can get cancer, and using shark cartilage doesn’t cure cancer.
Chameleons don’t change color just to blend in. They do it to regulate their temperature and communicate.
Throwing rice at weddings doesn’t cause birds to explode. This has never happened!
Cutting an earthworm in half doesn’t create two worms. Usually, both halves die, or only one survives.
Humans have more than five senses. We can sense time, acceleration, and even the position of our limbs.
Shaving doesn’t make hair grow back thicker or coarser. That’s just a myth.
Your fingernails don’t keep growing after you die. It’s just an illusion.
If you swallow gum, it won’t stay in your stomach for seven years. It passes through like everything else you eat.
We use more than 10% of our brains. The idea that we don’t is just a misunderstanding.
You can’t catch warts from toads. Warts come from viruses, not toads.
A penny dropped from the Empire State Building won’t kill someone. It doesn’t fall fast enough to be deadly.
Abner Doubleday didn’t invent baseball, and he never claimed to.
Caesar salad wasn’t named after Julius Caesar. It was created by Caesar Cardini in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924.
The song “Puff the Magic Dragon” isn’t about marijuana. The creators have confirmed this.
Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson,” and no one said “Play it again, Sam” in Casablanca.
Sarah Palin never said, “I can see Russia from my house,” and Al Gore never said, “I invented the Internet.”
Ron Burgundy never said, “Well, that escalated quickly.” He actually said, “Boy, that escalated quickly.”
Danish pastries actually come from Austria, not Denmark.
Humans didn’t evolve from chimps. We share a common ancestor but evolved separately.
It’s called a “chest of drawers,” not “chester drawers.”
If you can replace “you’re” with “you are,” use the contraction. Otherwise, use “your.”
In Byron’s poem, Don Juan is pronounced to rhyme with “ruin.”
You wouldn’t explode in the vacuum of space. It’s a misconception from movies.
No one was burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials. People were hanged or crushed, but not burned.
Fortune cookies are actually from California, not China.
Blondes and redheads aren’t going extinct. That’s just a myth.
No one died during the chariot race scene in the movie Ben Hur.
Mussolini didn’t make the trains run on time. It’s a myth about his leadership.
Storing batteries in the freezer doesn’t improve their performance.
You don’t need to refrigerate peanut butter unless it’s all-natural or organic.
Walt Disney isn’t cryogenically frozen. That’s just a rumor.
Fidel Castro was never given a tryout by any baseball team, including the Washington Senators.
Dr. Ruth wasn’t a sniper in the Israeli army. This is just a myth.
Julia Child wasn’t a spy for the United States during World War II.
Hope you enjoyed learning these fascinating facts! Remember, not everything you hear is true, so always be curious and keep exploring!
Choose one of the misconceptions from the article and research its origins. Create a short presentation to share with the class, explaining why the misconception exists and what the truth is. Use visuals to make your presentation engaging!
Form two teams and pick a misconception from the article. One team will argue why the misconception might be believable, while the other team will present the facts. This will help you practice critical thinking and public speaking skills.
Draw a comic strip that humorously illustrates one of the misconceptions and its correction. Use your creativity to make it both educational and entertaining. Share your comic with the class!
Work in groups to create a trivia game based on the misconceptions from the article. Write questions and answers, and then challenge your classmates to see who can identify the most misconceptions correctly.
Pick a misconception not covered in the article and write your own myth-busting piece. Include research and evidence to support your claims. Share your article with the class or publish it in the school newsletter.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
Hi, I’m John Green, and this is mental_floss.
1. Vikings never wore horns on their helmets—at least not until an 1876 staging of Wagner’s opera “The Ring of the Nibelung.”
2. You know iron maidens? The medieval torture device that inspired a famous heavy metal band? Yeah, they were fictional.
3. Marie Antoinette never said “Let them eat cake” when told peasants were starving due to lack of bread.
4. And while we’re on the topic of French royal women who lost their heads, Anne Boleyn did not have eleven fingers, or at least most historians don’t think so.
5. The American Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4, 1776. It was signed on August 2, 1776.
6. Also, the U.S. Constitution was not written on hemp paper but on parchment.
7. Napoleon did not have a Napoleon Complex, as he was five feet seven inches tall, slightly above average height for his time.
8. Albert Einstein didn’t fail math in school, and when he was shown a newspaper column claiming he had, Einstein responded, “Before I was fifteen, I had mastered differential and integral calculus.”
9. John F. Kennedy did not say, “I am a jelly doughnut” when he said “Ich bin Ein Berliner.” No one in Berlin was confused on that day about what Kennedy was saying.
10. Sushi does not mean raw fish; it means “sour rice.”
11. Placing metal in a microwave doesn’t ruin the microwave. I mean, it’s definitely a bad idea, but look, we just microwaved this tin foil and now in the smoldering remains, I am microwaving a hot pocket.
12. The word “crap” is not derived from Thomas Crapper, who helped give us indoor plumbing. Sadly, “crap” just comes from Latin, like many other words.
13. 420 is not the Los Angeles police code for marijuana possession. Police Code 420 just means juvenile disturbance, which only sometimes involves marijuana possession.
14. The Great Wall of China is not the only man-made object visible from space. Many man-made objects are visible from space, and the Great Wall is not among them.
15. There’s no such thing as an elephant graveyard where old elephants go to die. When elephants are ready to die, they just do it, like the rest of us.
16. The 1992 book “Sharks Don’t Get Cancer” led to an increase in people using ground-up shark cartilage to treat cancer, but that doesn’t work, and sharks do get cancer.
17. Chameleons don’t primarily change color to camouflage. It helps them regulate their temperature and is a way of communicating.
18. Throwing rice at weddings does not lead to birds eating that rice and then the rice expanding in their stomachs and the birds exploding. This has just never happened in all of human or bird history.
19. An earthworm does not become two earthworms when you cut it in half. If it’s lucky, the part with the mouth survives, and you’re left with one smaller earthworm. But most likely, you’ll end up with two dead earthworms.
20. Humans have more than five senses, including a sense of time, acceleration, and limb position. The five senses were made up by Aristotle, and as usual, he was wrong.
21. Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser, no matter where you’re shaving.
22. Your fingernails don’t keep growing after you die.
23. If you swallow your gum, it will not stick in your stomach for seven years. It goes through your body just like anything else you eat. Except batteries. Don’t eat batteries.
24. People don’t use only 10% of their brains. William James seems to have coined this one, but he was speaking figuratively.
25. You can’t catch warts from toads. But you can get warts from other people, which is why I always say: Only socialize with toads.
26. A penny dropped from the Empire State Building will not kill someone if it lands on their head. The terminal velocity of a penny is between 30 and 50 miles per hour, not fast enough to kill anyone.
27. Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball and in fact never claimed to have invented baseball.
28. Caesar salad was not invented by Julius Caesar but for its inventor, Caesar Cardini, who supposedly invented the salad in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924.
29. “Puff the Magic Dragon” is not about marijuana. As Mary of Peter, Paul, and Mary put it, “Believe me, if he wanted to write a song about marijuana, he would’ve written a song about marijuana.”
30. Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson,” nor did anyone ever say “Play it again, Sam” in Casablanca.
31. Sarah Palin never said, “I can see Russia from my house,” and Al Gore never said, “I invented the Internet.”
32. For the love of God, Ron Burgundy never said, “Well, that escalated quickly.” He said, “Boy, that escalated quickly.”
33. Danishes are from Austria, not Denmark.
34. Humans didn’t evolve from chimps; we share an ancestor, but we did evolve.
35. It’s a chest of drawers, not a chester drawers, as I learned when I was 28 years old.
36. If you can replace “you’re” with “you are,” contract; otherwise, don’t.
37. The Italian libertine is Don Juan, but in Byron’s epic poem, he is Don Juan, rhymes with ruin.
38. You would not explode in the vacuum of space.
39. No one was burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials; 19 people were hanged and one was crushed with stones, but no burning.
40. Chinese fortune cookies are Californian, not Chinese.
41. Neither blondes nor redheads are about to go extinct.
42. No one died during the chariot race sequence of Ben Hur.
43. Mussolini didn’t make the trains run on time.
44. Storing batteries in the freezer does not improve their performance.
45. There is no need to refrigerate peanut butter unless it’s all-natural or organic.
46. Walt Disney is not cryogenically frozen.
47. Fidel Castro was never given a tryout by the Washington Senators or any other baseball team.
48. Famed sexologist Dr. Ruth was not a sniper in the Israeli army.
49. Julia Child was not actually a spy for the United States during World War II.
—
Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Vikings – Seafaring Scandinavian warriors and traders who raided and settled in many parts of Europe from the late eighth to early eleventh century. – The Vikings were known for their longships, which allowed them to travel great distances across the sea.
Helmets – Protective headgear made of hard material to safeguard the head, often used in battle or dangerous activities. – During medieval times, knights wore helmets to protect themselves during combat.
Independence – The state of being free from control or support by another country or organization. – The American colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776.
Constitution – A set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. – The United States Constitution was signed in 1787 and outlines the framework of the government.
Evolution – The process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth. – Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how species adapt over time through natural selection.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs. – Learning about history helps us understand how past societies have shaped the world today.
Myths – Traditional stories, especially those concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, typically involving supernatural beings or events. – Ancient Greek myths often involve gods and heroes and explain natural events like thunderstorms.
Sharks – A group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. – Sharks have been around for millions of years and are considered one of the ocean’s top predators.
Cancer – A disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. – Scientists are researching new treatments to help fight cancer and improve patient outcomes.
Space – The vast, seemingly infinite expanse that exists beyond the Earth and its atmosphere, where stars, planets, and other celestial bodies are found. – The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope has provided us with incredible images of distant galaxies.
