Myth: James Doohan was Scottish. In fact, Doohan was actually Canadian and a very successful voice actor before his role in Star Trek. When he was auditioning for the role of the ship’s engineer on Star Trek, he went over various accents for Gene Roddenberry for the character. After he finished, Roddenberry asked him which he liked best and he […]
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Myth: sign languages generally resemble the spoken language from the area they originated. In other words, in the majority of cases, the various sign languages used were not developed from spoken languages. For example, American Sign Language resembles Chinese in form more than it does English in terms of a single gesture often represent a phrase or whole idea, rather […]
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Myth: redheads turn into vampires when they die. In real life, they are Vampires from birth. *note: My wife is a redhead. What causes red hair.
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Myth: TNT and Dynamite are the same thing. In fact, TNT and dynamite are not the same thing at all, contrary to what the Road Runner and Wiley coyote would have you believe. Dynamite doesn’t actually contain TNT, but rather is comprised of an absorbent mixture soaked in nitroglycerin, which is extremely sensitive to shock, unlike TNT; this is then […]
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Myth: the last period of the “S.O.S” brand was left off due to an error in the trademark submission. In fact, they meant to leave it off because “S.O.S.” could not be trademarked thanks to the SOS distress signal often being written as “S.O.S.”, even though it’s not actually an acronym. By leaving the last period off, it made the […]
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Myth: Native Americans were first introduced to “firewater” by Europeans. In fact, Native American tribes had numerous different types of alcoholic beverages that they brewed long before the “white man” came to the Americas. Sources and the Origin of the Word “Booze”
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Myth: Honey Bees Don’t Sleep. Honey Bees do in fact sleep, though there is always significant activity in the hive 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Research done in 1988 shows that, occasionally, Honey Bees will take rest and become relaxed, their body temperature drops, and they become unresponsive. Their sleep is not exactly like human sleep, but […]
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Myth: slaves likely built the pyramids of Giza. In fact, it is no longer thought that the pyramids of Giza were built by slaves. Archeological evidence shows that the worker’s town comprised of whole families, not just men as would have been the case if they were slaves. Further, the people were extremely well taken care of including the highest […]
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Myth: Searing meat seals the juices in. In fact, water in seared meat evaporates at either the same rate or higher, in some cases, than non-seared meat. What searing does do is play a role in browning, which can affect the flavor. But, in this case, the browning is caused by caramelization of sugars combined with a chemical reaction with […]
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Myth: Velcro was invented by NASA for the space program. In fact, Velcro was already commercially available before being used by NASA. It did receive a huge boost in popularity after being used by NASA on parts of astronaut’s space suits as well as used to allow astronaut’s to store things along the walls of their space craft. Because of […]
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Myth: a cocoon and a chrysalis are the same thing. In fact, the chrysalis is a butterfly pupa, which is a hard skin which appears after the caterpillar’s final shedding of its skin when it’s attached to a leaf via a silk pad spun by the caterpillar. A cocoon is just a constructed silk casing used by moths and certain […]
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Myth: Women Don’t Have Adam’s Apples. In fact, it’s actually not that terribly uncommon if you were to look close enough to most women’s throats, though “man sized” Adam’s Apples are somewhat rare in women. The “Adam’s Apple” is really just an enlarged larnyx which becomes big enough to be visible in your neck. For those of you who don’t […]
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Myth: Ben and Jerry, from Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, are a couple. In fact, Jerry was dating his eventual wife when Ben and Jerry were roommates. He also left the company for a few years to help his future wife, Elizabeth, pursue her Ph.D. in psychology. The rumor that Ben and Jerry are gay received a huge boost when […]
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Mr. Rogers famously didn’t mind if people recorded his show with a VCR, arguing for people’s right to do so in a 1979 case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. At the time, it was being argued by the opposition that this constituted a copyright infringement. Mr. Rogers was one of the few involved in television that […]
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According to a survey done by Crayola in the year 2000 that over 25,000 people voted in, the world’s favorite Crayola crayon color is blue. Crayola Facts
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Tom Cruise’ real name is Thomas Mapother IV. Tom Cruise certainly has a little better ring to it. Interestingly, Cruise actually wanted to be a priest (and not for Scientology). Mapother seems to fit better in that line of work. When he was 14, he even enrolled in seminary. His switch to acting after leaving seminar seems to have worked […]
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Cirroc Lofton, who played Jake Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, is the nephew of six time All Star in the Major Leagues Kenny Lofton. Cirroc starred in Deep Space Nine from 14 years to 20 years old. Outside of Deep Space Nine, he has appeared in The Hoop Life, on Showtime, and Soul Food, also on Showtime. […]
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