Things Your Teacher Got Wrong
12 entries on file
Facts taught in schools for decades that turned out to be complete rubbish. Your teacher believed them too.
The Tongue Has Separate Taste Zones
All taste buds detect all flavors equally
Blood Is Blue Until It Hits Air
Blood is always red due to iron oxyhemoglobin
Sydney Is the Capital of Australia
Canberra is the capital; Sydney is the capital of New South Wales
Modern Attention Spans Are Shorter Than a Goldfish's
The number is fake; the goldfish is fake; the source is a Microsoft slide deck citing a citation that cites itself
Cane Toads Were a Good Pest Control Idea
Introduced in 1935 to control beetles, cane toads became one of Australia's worst ecological disasters
'Kangaroo' Means 'I Don't Know' in Aboriginal
Cook asked, Guugu Yimithirr answered, the answer was the actual word for the actual animal
Waltzing Matilda Is a Cheerful Song About a Swagman
It's about a sheep thief drowning himself in a billabong rather than face arrest
Ned Kelly Was a Folk Hero Fighting Government Injustice
Ned Kelly was also a murderer and criminal; the reality is far more morally complex
The First Fleet Was Just Convicts
Of the 1,400-odd people on board, around 750 were convicts; the rest were marines, officers, free settlers, sailors, and their families
Kangaroos Physically Cannot Walk Backwards
They can. They don't usually. There's a difference.
Aboriginal Australians Invented the Boomerang
Throwing sticks have been used independently across at least four continents for tens of thousands of years