28 Common Untruths It’s Time to for You to Unlearn
Out with the old, in with the new!
![28 Common Untruths It’s Time to for You to Unlearn](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/9/4/983194_320x180.jpg)
We don’t wanna brag or anything, but after gathering up as many facts as we could, our brains are full. We went to compile another list, but our brain’s “manage storage” button popped up. Like a hoarder, we don’t want to make new space, but we are willing to replace some outdated info with some newer, truer particulars.
![MYTH Hyenas are only scavengers who rely on lions to kill for them. TRUTH Hyenas are great hunters who are more likely to have their hunt stolen from them by a lion. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/9/977719.jpg)
![MYTH Roadrunners can outrun those pesky coyotes. TRUTH Roadrunners can run up to 20 mph, but coyotes can run twice as fast. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/7/977717.jpg)
![MYTH Rabbits eat carrots, obviously. TRUTH Carrots should only be rare treats, as rabbits don't eat them in nature. Their main source of food should be hay, grass, greens, and pellets. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/8/977718.jpg)
![MYTH Polar bears and penguins live at the North Pole. TRUTH Polar bears and peguins don't live anywhere near other. Polar bears live in the Arctic Circle region, and penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/6/977716.jpg)
![Killer whales are dolphins Killer whales aren't whales. They're the largest member of the dolphin family. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/5/977715.jpg)
![Giving bonuses for better performance actually decreases performance Surprising researchers, studies show that people who expect to receive a reward for completing a task or for doing that task well don't do as well as people who complete it for no reward. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/4/977714.jpg)
![People who live in cities have smaller carbon footprints Although we imagine living in the middle of the woods to help the environment, using public transport and living in denser housing results in a comparatively smaller carbon footprint. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/3/977713.jpg)
![Dr. Seuss was a beloved children's author. And he didn't like children. Theodor Geisel, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss, not only never liked children, but was actually scared of them. Не never had children of his own, and according to his widow, the reason he didn't like them was that he never knew what their weird child brains would make them do next. Не ventured into children's stories when his publisher tasked him with writing a book even first graders couldn't put down, using a vocabulary of just 250 words. CRACKED.COM http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/politicaldrseuss/film.html](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/2/977712.jpg)
![Leo Fender is a legend who perfected the electric guitar. But he couldn't play, and didn't like rock'n'roll. Despite the fact that his entire business revolved around manufacturing and constantly improving guitars and amps, Fender never actually got around to learning how to play them and didn't have any interest in doing so. When Fender was testing an amp with a guitar, other people in the shop had to go in and tune the instrument when they couldn't take the noise anymore. Yet his creations are the guitar of choice for legends such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/1/977711.jpg)
![Iron Eyes Cody was the tortured face of Native American sadness. But he was Sicilian. Children of the '70s and '80s probably remember the series of PSAs starring Chief Iron Eyes Cody. In them, he was a sad old chief shedding a single tear over pollution in America-the very land his noble people had held stewardship over for eons. But the truth is, Iron Eyes wasn't even a little bit Native American. Не started out as Espera de Corti, the son of Sicilian immigrants. Не wound up playing the noble Indian in over 200 films. All he had to do](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/0/977710.jpg)
![Elvis Presley was the ultimate '50s ladies' man. But Elvis was more into teens and pajama parties. Elvis sure loved the ladies, but he had one very specific type: They had to be young (like, school age). Не met his future wife Priscilla when she was 14 and he was 24. And when he wasn't dating them, Elvis liked to throw pajama parties with teenage girls where he would start pillow fights and teach them to style their hair and put on mascara. Elvis was pretty insecure, so he preferred younger girls because they didn't seem as threatening to him.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/9/977709.jpg)
![Everyone honors St. Patrick by wearing green. But St. Patrick's official color is blue. The earliest depictions of St. Patrick show him clothed entirely in blue, not green, and when George III created a new order of chivalry for the Kingdom of Ireland, the Order of St. Patrick, its official color was a sky blue, known as St. Patrick's Blue. Blue was originally the color of Ireland, and a gold harp on a blue background still appears on the Irish constitution and presidential flag. The color green represents the divide between Ireland and Great Britain. CRACKED.COM http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/should-st-patricks-day-be-blue-180954572/](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/8/977708.jpg)
![JURASSIC PARK'S VELOCIRAPTORS ARE MISSING THEIR FEATHERS. The real Velociraptor was the size of a turkey, with fully-feathered wings. Crichton's famous creatures are more like a predator named the Deinonychus. GRAGKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/6/977706.jpg)
![BELIEF: Women were burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials. TRUTH: The accused died in prison, were hanged, or, in one case, were pressed to death.. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/1/977701.jpg)
![Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world, a representation of Paradise and a symbol of love. However, the nearby banks of the Yamuna River are covered in garbage which creates a perfect ground for insects to thrive. Slime and air pollution are slowly damaging the mosaics and marble surface of the monument. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/3/977703.jpg)
![Gladiator fights weren't a gory free-for-all, but had strict rules and referees. One gladiator's tombstone inscription complains that a bad referee call killed him. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/2/977702.jpg)
![SURGERY during the CIVIL WAR was not as painful as typically depicted. In fact, 95% of surgical procedures involved anesthesia by the use of chloroform. GRAGKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/7/977707.jpg)
![BELIEF: Many stock brokers jumped out of windows when the market collapsed. There were two jumping TRUTH: suicides between the crash and 1929. The myth of the common Wall Street suicide originated with a comedian's quip. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/5/977705.jpg)
![GRACKED.COM If planing a trip to Egypt, don't expect your views of the Pyramids of Giza to be like this. Giza is a modern city and the Great Pyramids are right in the كم middle of it. You can even get a good view from inside Pizza Hut.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/9/977699.jpg)
![Cowboys of the Wild West typically wore Bowler style hats. Stetson style cowboy hats were only popularized at the end of the 19th century. ORACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/4/977704.jpg)
![One in four cowboys were African-American. In the aftermath of the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the most popular professions among former slaves. Although they still faced discrimination, they were well-respected among cowboys. CRACKED COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/8/977698.jpg)
![MYTH: It takes time to trace a call, so keep that kidnapper talking! FACT: Calls are automatically, instantly traced. Thanks to enhanced 9-1-1, land line calls are instantly paired to an address. That's so emergency responders will immediately know where an urgent call is coming from, in case the caller is unable to speak. And cell phones aren't any more secure, because today the FBI can track down and remotely turn on any cell phone, and even use it as a microphone to spy on people. CRACKED.COM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_9-1-1](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/6/977696.jpg)
![When you think of ancient Romans, you think of orgies. That's a rumor started by Christians. Ancient Romans were actually super prudish. Early Christian writers appealed to that prudishness by making up stories about non-Christians being depraved and nasty. CRACKED.COM Gillian Clark, 2004 Christianity and Roman Society](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/0/977700.jpg)
![MYTH: YOUR TONGUE IS zoneD BY FLAVOR TYPE. BITTER SALTY SALTY SOUR SOUR SWEET FACT: YOUR WHOLE TONGUE TASTES THINGS. The myth about your tongue being able to taste different flavors with different areas started with a mistranslation of an old German study. Turns out all areas in the tongue are about equally good at detecting different flavors. It's not an evenly distributed democracy of taste buds, but every tongue has different patterns of strength and weakness. CRACKED.COM http://www. livescience.com/7113-tongue-map-tasteless-myth-debunked.html](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/7/977697.jpg)
![MYTH: SITTING CLOSE TO THE TV HURTS YOUR eyes! FACT: THERE'S no science TO BACK THAT UP. If there is a correlation between bad eyesight and sitting too close to the TV set, it's the other way around: People who sit close to the set do so because they already have poor vision. Staring at a screen for long periods of time can make your eyes tired and irritated, but that's because when you focus super hard, you forget to blink. CRACKED.COM https://www.aao.org/eyecare-america](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/5/977695.jpg)
![MYTH: ROLLING YOUR TONGUE IS A Genetic TRAIT. FACT: TONGUE ROLLING IS SOMETHING YOU LEARN. Elementary school science teachers like to use tongue rolling as an example when they're teaching about genetics. But it actually isn't an inherited trait. It's learned. It turns out that kids who can't roll their tongues aren't unable to- they just haven't figured out how, yet. And once they know about the trick, they figure it out pretty quickly. CRACKED.COM http://udel.edu/-modonald/mythtongueroll.html](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/4/977694.jpg)
![A cloud may look fluffy and lighter-than-air but an average cumulus cloud weighs 1.1 million pounds or 500,000 kilograms. That's more than twice the weight of the Statue of Liberty. GRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/3/977693.jpg)
![MYTH: A STRONG immune SYSTEM FIGHTS COLDS. FACT: A COLD IS YOUR immune SYSTEM. Despite the rhetoric of the immunity-booster industry, a strong immune system won't keep you from getting a cold. Those annoying symptoms are caused by your immune system, and not the cold virus itself. In fact, the cold virus is actually mostly harmless, except for the fact that it causes your immune system to go bananas. CRACKED.COM https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/pg-fcg102408.php](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/2/977692.jpg)