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32 Trivia Tidbits That Go Against Conventional Wisdom

There are facts buried deep inside these myths. We just know it!

32 Trivia Tidbits That Go Against Conventional Wisdom

June 01, 2024

How these sneaky little myths snowballed into full-blown misconceptions is beyond us. Maybe they infiltrated our minds before a quick Google search could extinguish their little lie fires? Or maybe, we’re all a little too quick to believe anything we hear.

Well, after this latest batch of myths, we’ll be fact-checking every statement from now on! If our mom says “I love you,” we’ll be on Google immediately to see if it’s true!

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

32

Shaving

Shaving Thickens Beards CRACKED.COM Unfortunately, no amount of Bic'ing will get you closer to viking glory. Shaving is purely a surface of the skin activity, and doesn't affect hair growth. If you want a thick beard immediately, you're gonna have to knock Santa off your roof, just like Tim Allen did. — Source

31

The Empire State Building

Death By Penny Drop agh GRAGKED.COM No, dropping a penny off the Empire State Building won't kill someone, 6th grade bully on a field trip. Thanks to drag, that penny would top out at 25 miles per hour. Real New Yorkers know it's the lazily installed window A/C units you have to look out for. — Source

30

Nail Growth

Nails Grow After Death CRACKED.COM A common myth says nails (and hair) keep growing after death. Retracting skin may make nails and hair appear longer, but they cannot continue to grow without glucose. Ancient cultures may have come up with this myth to explain why corpses look so fabulous. — Source

29

Medieval Lifespan i'm fine CRACKED.COM No, medieval people didn't all die before the age of 40. The average lifespan from that time is just that: an average. One that's heavily skewed by high child mortality rates. Plenty of people lived well past 30, allowing them to fully appreciate Steely Dan. — Source

28

CRACKED J.K. ROWLING'S MIDDLE NAME JK Rowling doesn't actually have a middle name. Her publishers used her initials as a way to make her books more attractive to boys, who might not want to read books by someone called Joanne Rowling, the thinking went. — Source

27

Palm Trees

CRACKED PALM TREES ARE NATIVE TO L.A. It's a common misconception that palm trees are from Los Angeles. In reality, most of the palm trees in L.A. were brought in from other places and planted to make the city more beautiful and attract more people. с DESER SP KEE adidas HOLTYWO VEN Sterlins 2

26

Military-Grade

CRACKED MILITARY GRADE = TOP QUALITY People often think that products labeled as military grade are the best quality, but that's not the case. These products are just the cheapest option that meets the minimum requirements for durability. — Source

25

Sushi

CRACKED SALMON SUSHI IS AUTHENTIC JAPANESE FOOD Before the Norwegian salmon industry got involved, sushi made with salmon wasn't something that was eaten in Japan. They even had to be convinced to give it a try. — Source

24

Diamonds

CRACKED DIAMONDS = COMMITMENT The diamond engagement ring seems like it's been around forever - but actually, it was created in the late 1800s by diamond mining company De Beers as part of a clever advertising strategy. — Source

23

CRACKED YOU NEED ALL THE TOOTHPASTE YOU CAN FIT ON THE BRUSH The toothpaste industry has been telling us that we need to use a ton of toothpaste to get our teeth clean, but that's not true. A pea-sized amount is all you need to get your teeth sparkling. — Source

22

Breakfast

CRACKED BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY It's been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it's important for our health. In actuality, this phrase was created by cereal companies in 1944 to help sell more cereal. Club FREE Price! MILK 1000 AUTHORINE FREE 10 SLE CRAIN FIBER - 10PR S = Kellogg's FREE 1640 WIN INSTA FIRE WHOLE GRAIN Kellogg's Kellogg's Kellogg's Kellogg's Kello Kellogg's FROOT FR OT HONEY FROOT HO Raisin LOOPS SMACKS LOOPS LOOPS SMA Bran Two Scoups! TEX INTERNATIONAL SAAD - Vigrist 4a Club - 30 CLUB Pacet — Source

21

Guinness

CRACKED AN ELABORATE RITUAL FOR POURING GUINNESS Guinness has spread the idea that their beer needs to be poured in a very particular way, taking almost two minutes, to get the perfect pint. This is total nonsense - you can pour it any way you want and it tastes the same. — Source

20

Martin Luther King

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Martin Luther King Jr. was a beloved leader during his life. King was an incredibly famous yet divisive figure. At the year of his death, he had an unfavorable rating of 63%. The FBI even attempted to blackmail him to commit suicide. Within civil rights circles, he was criticized for both being too radical and not radical enough. — Source

19

Betsy Ross

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Betsy Ross created the first American flag There's no evidence to suggest this, aside from her grandson's account. Historians have confirmed that she made flags for the Pennsylvania State Navy Board. — Source

18

The Supreme Court

CRACKED.COM MYTH: The Supreme Court has always had nine justices The number of justices is set by Congress. At its founding, the Supreme Court only had six members. To help cement anti-slavery, Abraham Lincoln helped to add a tenth seat. In the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt even proposed raising the number to 15. — Source

17

The Pilgrims

CRACKED.COM MYTH: The Pilgrims definitely landed on Plymouth Rock It wasn't until 121 years after William Bradford & Co. set foot on land that there's any mention of the granite. A son of a Pilgrim told of its signification, but the only surviving firsthand accounts make no mention of it. — Source

16

The Founding Fathers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: The Founding Fathers were Christians. No matter who you include as a Founding Father, not all of them were Christian. Deism (which prioritizes human experience and rationality over religious dogma and texts) had a huge influence during their time. — Source

15

Cowboys

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Cowboys are uniquely American The original cowboys were Mexican cattlemen, known as vaqueros, who predate America cowboys. They taught future American cowboys how to do everything that's now considered classic cowboy, and eventually one in three cowboys were Mexican vaqueros. — Source

14

Sugar

Sugar is not the only thing that causes cavities. You may think that avoiding candy is enough to protect yourself against cavities. However, carbohydrates like pasta and rice also produce bacteria responsible for cavities. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Sugar

Brown sugar is not healthier than regular white sugar. vs The only difference between the two is the taste. Although the difference in taste is caused by brown sugar's containing more minerals, the amount is too small to have any sort of effect. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Ice Cream

Ice cream doesn't cool you down, it warms you up! That's because the body heats up while it digests the ingredients in ice cream. GRACKED.COM — Source

11

Steak

That red puddle under your steak isn't blood. CRACKED.COM Beef carcasses are drained of blood before they are butchered and processed. The red liquid on your plate is really a mixture of water and myoglobin, a protein found in muscle tissue. — Source

10

Butter

Margarine is more healthy than butter, right? Actually, neither is healthier than the other. We switched to margarine hoping to avoid heart disease, but it's been attributed to high consumption of both: butter is high in saturated fat, and while it's gotten better in recent years, margarine has a high level of trans fat. GRACKED.COM — Source

9

CHUN KING CHUN Originally started in China KING CRACKED.COM Chow Mein (all HOOD Serve Six not for less than $100 CHUN KING Shrimp Egg Rolls Donate - CHUN KING SHOW KEIN ... CHOP .... - - ... USA - - - Or somewhere in Asia - or - COOKING POUCH SEALED FLAVOR CHUN KING LUAU Corry CHUN KING - - CMER - Chicken Chow Mein NETWT DE - NOODLES FREITA DE - 2725 At the very least, it was started by an Asian-American, right? wrong Luigino Jeno Paulucci, an Italian-American, started CHUN KING in the 1940s — Source

8

Coffee

Coffee does NOT dehydrate you. The reason you might see an increase in urination is because it's mostly water. It actually helps hydrate you and you can count it toward your water intake. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Fats

Fat does not cause weight gain. Healthy fats-such as eggs, avocados, and nuts-actually help people consume fewer calories, possibly due to the satiating effects of fat. CRACKED COM — Source

6

Fingerprints

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Found fingerprints at the crime scene? Bingo! REALITY: There are no true consensus as to how and if fingerprint forensics really work. The precision and methodologies of fingerprint forensics have been questioned and opposed by a lot of experts (even entire countries). The claim that no two fingerprints are identical has still not been proven, but the error rate has. Point is that it's not an exact science, and shouldn't be believed to be. — Source

5

Serial Killers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Most serial killers had an abusive childhood. REALITY: A whopping 70% of serial killers reported no child abuse. These numbers might include individuals who don't want to admit experiencing a traumatic childhood, but that's still a pretty high number debunking the popular belief. Many of them did however report bed wetting, abusing animals, and setting things on fire. — Source

4

Chloroform

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Chloroform can knock you out in seconds. REALITY: Nope, try five minutes. While chloroform has been used in murder cases, it doesn't have an immediate effect on a damp cloth over one's face. It will take around five minutes to kick in, and there will be a lot of kicking from the victim. In real murder cases, victims were usually tricked into taking the anaesthetic, or giving drugs prior to getting chloroformed. — Source

3

Bonnie and Clyde

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Bonnie and Clyde: The Legendary Bank Robbers. REALITY: They mostly robbed small grocery stores and gas stations. In the four years the Barrow gang targeted banks, they hit less than 15, didn't get away with much money, and a lot of times Bonnie stayed home and wasn't even involved. It was also easier to rob places with lower risk and quicker getaways. — Source

2

Alaska

CRACKED.COM MYTH: State with the most serial killers? Must be Florida, or California. REALITY: It's Alaska. Proportional to its population, Alaska wins this one with around 15.65 serial killings per one million inhabitants. It's followed by Nevada, then Florida. Criminologists speculate that it might be due to the cover of darkness during those long Alaskan winter nights. The isolation of the state's remote locations might also play a part. — Source

1

Serial Killers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Serial killers are geniuses. REALITY It's mostly just the ones they make shows about. The latest studies put the average intelligence of serial killers barely above what's considered below average. One study puts it more clearly, saying that there is almost zero correlation between intelligence and psychopathy. — Source

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