The 1900s
105 entries on file
Things people believed and taught during the 1900s.
The Edwardian decade was confidently right about a lot of things that turned out to be wrong, including patent medicines containing heroin, the assumption that aeroplanes were a temporary craze, and the idea that the immutable law of physics was Newtonian. Einstein published special relativity in 1905. Eugenics was a respectable academic discipline. Cigarettes were doctor-recommended. The medicine cabinet was a horror show. The science was about to break wide open and almost nobody saw it coming.
We only use 10% of our brains
We use nearly 100% of our brains; all regions serve functions
'SOS' Stands for 'Save Our Souls' or 'Save Our Ship'
The acronym was actually chosen for its distinctive Morse code pattern
The Brontosaurus Is an Invalid Dinosaur Name
Brontosaurus restored as valid genus in 2015
Humans Have Only Five Senses
Humans have at least nine distinct sensory systems
Ostriches Bury Their Heads in Sand
Ostriches dig holes for eggs and lower their heads to tend them
Humans Descended from Monkeys
Humans and other primates share a common ancestor; we evolved together
Camel Humps Store Water
Humps store fat; water is stored in blood and tissues
Hair Can Turn White Overnight from Shock
Hair cannot change colour quickly; whitening takes months
George Washington Had Wooden False Teeth
Washington's dentures were made of ivory, gold, and human teeth
Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis
Research shows no connection to joint damage
Hair Grows Back Thicker After Shaving
Shaving has no effect on hair thickness or growth rate
Bulls Are Enraged by the Colour Red
Bulls are colour-blind to red; movement triggers aggression
Tilt your head back to stop a nosebleed
Head tilting sends blood down the throat; proper first aid is leaning forward
Bed rest is the best treatment for back pain
Bed rest can worsen back pain; gentle movement and physical therapy are more effective
Eating sugar directly causes diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance from multiple factors including genetics and lifestyle
Blood is blue inside your body and red when exposed to air
Blood is always red; oxygen changes shade but not base colour
Goldfish only live 3 seconds and have no memory
Goldfish live 10-30 years with good care; have functional memories
Cracking knuckles does not cause arthritis
Cavitation sound is harmless; long-term studies show no arthritis link
Full moon causes changes in human behaviour and mood
Multiple studies find no reliable behavioural or mood changes linked to moon phases
T. rex was a pure apex predator that only hunted live prey
Evidence suggests T. rex was an opportunistic feeder, scavenger and hunter
'Irregardless' Isn't a Real Word
A non-standard term that earned dictionary legitimacy through widespread use
'Chinese' Is a Single Language
Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and others are mutually unintelligible languages, not dialects
Sign Language Is Universal Across Countries
Over 300 distinct sign languages exist with no mutual intelligibility
Catherine the Great Died Having Sex With a Horse
A posthumous smear invented by her rivals. She died of a stroke, in her own bed, in 1796.
Greenland Is About the Same Size as Africa
The map lied to you; Africa is roughly fourteen times larger
The Sahara Is the Largest Desert in the World
A desert is about dryness, not sand, and Antarctica is far bigger
Summer Happens Because Earth Is Closer to the Sun
It is the tilt of the axis, not the distance, and the hemispheres prove it
The Dark Side of the Moon Is Always Dark
The far side gets just as much sunlight; we simply never see it
Romans Had Special 'Vomitoriums' for Vomiting During Feasts
A vomitorium is an exit passage in a stadium, not a room for being sick
Roman Gladiators Always Fought to the Death
Most bouts were not fatal; trained fighters were expensive to replace
Napoleon's Soldiers Shot the Nose Off the Sphinx
The nose was already long gone, recorded missing decades before Napoleon arrived
Ninjas Wore All-Black Outfits
The black bodysuit is a stage convention; real shinobi dressed to blend in
Koalas Are a Type of Bear
They are marsupials; calling them 'koala bears' has never been right
A Dog's Mouth Is Cleaner Than a Human's
It is just differently dirty; the bacteria are mostly different, not fewer
The Red Juice in a Rare Steak Is Blood
It is myoglobin and water; the blood was drained at slaughter
Left-Handedness Can Be Trained Out
Handedness is neurologically determined and difficult to change
Eating Spicy Food Causes Ulcers
Bacteria and acid, not spice, cause ulcers
Carrots Are Naturally Orange
Orange carrots were bred in the 1600s
Nails and Hair Continue Growing After Death
Skin shrinkage creates the illusion of growth
Bats Are Blind and Must Use Echolocation
Bats have functional eyes and use vision too
Wet hair causes colds or pneumonia
Viruses cause colds, not temperature or wet hair
Some people are 'double-jointed' with extra joints
Flexibility is from loose ligaments, not extra joints
Glass is a liquid that slowly flows over time
Glass is amorphous solid; it doesn't flow at room temperature
Dinosaurs lived during the Ice Age
Dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago; Ice Ages were recent
Staring at the sun causes immediate blindness
Sun exposure causes gradual retinal damage and photochemical burns
Brain freeze from ice cream can cause permanent damage
Brain freeze is temporary pain; no damage occurs
T. rex had tiny, useless arms
T. rex arms were powerful and likely used for gripping and feeding
Peptic Ulcers Are Caused Only by Stress and Spicy Food
Helicobacter pylori bacteria is the primary cause
Drinking Cold Water Is Bad for Your Digestion (Germany)
Cold water doesn't impair digestion; German health culture maintains this unfounded belief
English Is the Most Complex/Hardest Language
Linguistic complexity is relative to the speaker's native language
'Fair Dinkum' Comes from Aboriginal English
It's English. From the Lincolnshire dialect. Imported with gold-rush miners.
Kangaroos Physically Cannot Walk Backwards
They can. They don't usually. There's a difference.
'Ye Olde Shoppe' Was Pronounced 'Yee Oldee'
The Y is a printer's stand-in for an old letter, and it was always 'the'
Julius Caesar Was Born by Caesarean Section
His mother lived for decades after, which the surgery of the time ruled out
Mount Everest Is the Closest Point on Earth to Space
The Earth bulges at the equator, so a volcano in Ecuador wins
The North Star Is the Brightest Star in the Sky
Polaris is useful, not dazzling; it ranks around 50th for brightness
Mercury Is the Hottest Planet Because It's Closest to the Sun
Venus is hotter, and it is not even close
The Sun Is Yellow
It emits roughly all colours at once, which our eyes read as white
The Sun Is a Giant Ball of Fire
There is no burning; it shines by nuclear fusion, which needs no oxygen
The Declaration of Independence Was Signed on 4 July 1776
Congress adopted the text that day; most delegates signed weeks later
Abner Doubleday Invented Baseball
A committee made it up in 1907; the game evolved from older bat-and-ball games
Alexander Graham Bell Single-Handedly Invented the Telephone
He won a bitter patent race; others got there at nearly the same moment
The Wild West Was a Lawless Place Full of Daily Gunfights
Most frontier towns were quiet; the shoot-em-up image came from dime novels
Mrs O'Leary's Cow Started the Great Chicago Fire
The reporter who wrote it later admitted he made the cow up
Elephants Are Terrified of Mice
There is no good evidence; they are wary of sudden movement, not rodents
Sloths Are Lazy and Sleep Most of the Day
They move slowly to survive on leaves, and sleep less than the myth claims
Goldfish Only Grow to the Size of Their Tank
A small bowl stunts them through stress and bad water, not natural sizing
Drinking Milk Soothes a Stomach Ulcer
Milk briefly calms, then triggers more acid; ulcers are mostly bacterial
A Shot of Whisky Warms You Up in the Cold
It makes you feel warm while actually dropping your core temperature
Lactic Acid Makes Your Muscles Sore the Day After Exercise
Lactate clears within an hour; next-day soreness is tiny muscle damage
The Appendix Is a Useless Leftover Organ
It appears to be a safe house for good gut bacteria
Peanuts Are Nuts
They are legumes, closer to peas and beans than to almonds
Beer Before Liquor, Never Sicker
The order of your drinks does not change how drunk or hungover you get
'Hair of the Dog' Cures a Hangover
Another drink only postpones the hangover; it does not cure it
If a Snake Bites You, Cut the Wound and Suck the Venom Out
It removes almost no venom and can make things worse; stay still and get help
Put Butter on a Burn to Soothe It
Butter traps heat and invites infection; use cool running water
Evolution Is a Ladder of Progress Toward Higher, Better Beings
Evolution has no goal or direction; it just fits organisms to their environment
Water Conducts Electricity
Pure water is a poor conductor; the dissolved minerals do the conducting
Rusty Nails Give You Tetanus
Tetanus comes from a soil bacterium, not from rust itself
Mirrors Reverse Left and Right
Mirrors reverse front-to-back, not left-to-right; perception bias causes confusion
Holding Your Breath Cures Hiccups
This might work due to distraction or breathing control
You can burn your tongue more easily than other mouth tissues
All mouth tissues have similar heat sensitivity
Icebergs are all made of fresh water that could be used for drinking
Most icebergs contain salt water; brine pockets make them unsuitable
Drinking water immediately after eating harms digestion
Water does not interfere with normal digestion
Burning your tongue temporarily destroys taste buds
Taste returns within days; taste buds are replaced quickly
Ancient Egyptians had electricity from Baghdad Battery
Baghdad Battery was a decorative jar; insufficient capacity for practical use
Neanderthals were stupid and incapable of complex thought
Neanderthals had similar brain size and showed signs of culture
T. rex had smooth scales like modern lizards
Recent skin impressions show varied texture; many theropods had feathering
N-Rays Are a New Form of Radiation
N-rays were a false discovery, never replicated
Acquired Characteristics Become Hereditary
Neo-Lamarckism failed to explain inheritance
N-Rays: A New Form of Radiation Emitted by Living Organisms and Metals
N-rays were an experimental artifact; no physical phenomenon corresponds to the claimed effect
Aboriginal Australians Invented the Boomerang
Throwing sticks have been used independently across at least four continents for tens of thousands of years
The White Australia Policy Ended in 1973
It was dismantled in stages from 1949; by 1966 the racial bar was already gone, and 1973 was a final tidy-up
Vikings Drank From the Skulls of Their Enemies
A 17th-century mistranslation turned drinking horns into skulls
Centipedes Have Exactly 100 Legs
The name promises 100, but they almost never have exactly that
Opossums Sleep Hanging Upside Down by Their Tails
Adults are far too heavy; the tail is a steadying aid, not a hammock
Houseflies Only Live for 24 Hours
Adult houseflies usually live two to four weeks
Earwigs Crawl Into Your Ear and Burrow Into Your Brain
They have no interest in your ears, and the name is just an old superstition
If Someone Swallows Poison, Make Them Throw Up
Inducing vomiting can cause more harm; call poison control first
Men Have One Fewer Rib Than Women
Both sexes have the same number; the idea comes from the Adam and Eve story
A Vein in the Ring Finger Runs Straight to the Heart
Every finger has similar blood vessels; the 'vein of love' is a romantic myth
Drinking Cold Water with Meals Prevents Digestion
Water temperature doesn't significantly affect digestion
The Man in the Moon Was Created Intentionally
Moon features are natural geological formations
Humans cannot see infrared light at all
Some humans perceive near-infrared at extreme intensities
Meteorite strikes on Earth are extremely common
Meteorite strikes are rare; most burn up in atmosphere