20 Things You Thought Were True But Aren’t

It’s the job of your teachers, parents, and elder, to teach you the ways of the world. But what happens when everything you learned growing up was a lie? There is a huge amount of things that you were taught to believe but aren’t actually true at all. This list covers 20 things that you’ve probably spent your entire life believing and turns them upside down. If you want to impress your friends in conversation next time be sure to read all of these great factoids.

The Blood In Your Body Is Never Blue

Your blood is either dark red or light red. The term blue blood comes from medieval times in which wealthy people were believed to have blue blood. Your blood might appear blue, but that is only because the fat and skin makes it look that way.

Cracking Your Knuckles Doesn’t Cause Arthritis

You were always told that if you cracked your knuckles they would grow and you’d end up with arthritis. According to a handful of studies that’s not true, so crack away.

Excessive Sugar Does Not Lead To Hyperactivity

According to research, there is not such thing as someone getting a ‘sugar rush’. The relation between an excessive amount of sugar and hyperactivity is simply a placebo.

You Can’t Really See The Great Wall Of China From Space

You know the expression, but it’s not true. There is a ton of manmade structures that you can see from space, but the Great Wall of China is not one of them. It is possible to see the wall, but it’s not easily visible.

Adult Birds Don’t Abandon Their Babies

If you ever come across a baby bird alone, a vague memory of your mother might have popped into your head telling you not to touch it because the mother would abandon the baby. Mom was wrong. Birds have a terrible sense of smell and probably wouldn’t know if a human touched them or not.

Gum Doesn’t Stay In Your Body For Seven Years

Your parents always told you to never swallow your gum because it would take seven years to digest. Wrong! You actually can’t digest gum so It passes straight through your system.

Your Hands Don’t Wrinkle From Over Exposure To Water

After a long day in the pool, you may notice that your hands are really wrinkly. Most people believe that it is from the overexposure to water, but that’s not true. It’s actually due to our “autonomic nervous system” and it is something that has evolved from our ancient ancestors.

420 Has Nothing To Do With Marijuana

Believe it or not, but the term “420” has absolutely nothing to do with smoking marijuana. It’s actually a Police code in Los Angeles that means “juvenile disturbance.”

Your Nails And Hair Do Not Keep Growing When You Die

The myth that your hair and nails continuing growing after you die is totally false. Once your heart stops beating it only take about seven minutes for your nerve cells to die. Once they die, your hair and nails will stop growing. The basis of believing hair and nails grow after you die, is due to the skin surrounding them shrinking.

Most Fish Have Good Memories

In Finding Nemo, the character Dory is a fish with a terrible memory. Believe it or not, but that is an exaggerated example. Fish actually have better memories than people give them credit for.

The Forbidden Fruit Was Not An Apple

This is something that probably got lost in translation over the years. The word apple was never written in the Bible. Many scholars believe that the infamous fruit was actually a fig.

The Five Second Rule Is A Joke

The next time you drop your food and someone yells “Five Second Rule”, you’d be better off ignoring them. It takes less than one second for something like Salmonella to transfer to your food.

Some Of Our Ancestors Knew The Earth Was Round

In school, you were always taught that for the longest time people thought that the world was flat. This is partially true. Though some people thought that to be the case, most schcolars knew that the world was in fact round.

You Don’t Get Cramps From Swimming Within An Hour Of Eating

When you were growing up you were always warned that you have to wait at least an hour after eating before you go swimming. There is no truth behind this statement. There is no scientific evidence that links eating before you swim and cramps.

Viking Helmets Never Had Horns

This one is tough to believe. In all forms of media, Vikings are usually depicted wearing horned helmets but they actually never wore them. That idea originated from an 1876 painting.

The Earth Doesn’t Revolve Around The Sun

This one might be the hardest to believe. It’s become common knowledge that the Earth revolves around the Sun, or does it? Impress your friends when you tell them that the Earth is actually revolving around the Barycenter of our solar system.

Humans Have More Than Five Senses

Even though you might not realize it, you actually have a variety of senses that aren’t commonly discussed. Pain, temperature, balance, and many others are all examples of these extra senses.

Dogs Are Not Color Blind

The myth that dogs are color blind has been around for awhile, but it turns out they’re not as color blind as we thought. Our four legged friends can actually see a variation of different colors, just not to the extent that we do.

Orange Got Its Name From The Fruit

This is a great little factoid. Before the 15th century, orange was considered a variation on the color red. It eventually got its own category when it took the name from the fruit.

Chameleons Don’t Change Colors To Blend In

This one is a real shocker. Rather than use their color changing abilities to hide from predators, they are actually changing color to display aggression and many other types of emotions.