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Factlets & Fallacies
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14-01-2010, 15:56
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Factlets & Fallacies
all taken from
Ultimate Top 10 Lists - Listverse 1. Pareidolia is the psychological phenomenon in which people see shapes or hear sounds which they consider to be significant when they are not (and in some cases, don’t exist at all). The most common example of this is the alleged hearing of phrases when playing records backwards. This is also frequently the cause of so-called miracles in which religious figures appear in toast, or clouds, or stains on every day objects. 2. Gleeking is the odd term used to describe the ejection of saliva from beneath the tongue either accidentally (when yawning, for example) or intentionally (the intentional forcing of saliva from the glands requires much practice). According to Wikipedia, gleeking can be induced by pressing the underside of the tongue against the palate, then pushing the tongue forward while simultaneously closing the lower jaw and moving it slightly forward. Despite practice I seem to fail at this – if anyone manages it let us know. 3. The Hawaiian language requires only twelve letters (and the apostrophe symbol which refers to the glottal stop in words like Hawai’i – this is called the ‘okina.) 4. Believe it or not, it is possible to accidentally plagiarize something. Cryptomnesia is a memory bias in which a person believes they have conceived of a new idea when in fact they are simply remembering someone else’s idea. Sometimes this even finds its way into literature: “Friedrich Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra includes an almost word for word account of an incident also included in a bookpublished about 1835, half a century before Nietzsche wrote. This is neither considered to be purposeful plagiarism nor pure coincidence. Nietzsche’s sister confirmed that he had indeed read the original account when he was 11 years old.” 5. Clinical lycanthropy is the very rare psychological disorder in which a person believes they have been transformed into an animal. This can result in the person experiencing hallucinations and mimicking the actions of the animal they think they have become. 6. Did you know that santa has a special friend that travels with him? His name is krampus and he beats people with sticks – especially females. The story of the krampus has been used for centuries to frighten children into behaving before Christmas. 7. A surprisingly large number of people believe in the Ancient Astronaut theory in which aliens are said to have come to earth in pre-history and given man knowledge (or, in some cases, to have bred with man to give us intelligence). Some proponents of the theory believe that all major religions on earth were started by these visiting space-creatures. 8. Mary Toft was an English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. According to contemporary reports, “[Male midwife John Howard] delivered “three legs of a Cat of a Tabby Colour, and one leg of a Rabbet: the guts were as a Cat’s and in them were three pieces of the Back-Bone of an Eel … The cat’s feet supposed were formed in her imagination from a cat she was fond of that slept on the bed at night.” Later Toft seemingly became ill again, and during the next few days delivered more pieces of rabbit.” Her deception was eventually uncovered and both she and the medical profession were ridiculed. 9. Hyperthymesia is a condition (known to exist in only four humans so far) in which a person retains an almost perfect memory of everything they have experienced. A hyperthymestic person can be asked a date, and describe the events that occurred that day, what the weather was like, and many seemingly trivial details that most people would not be able to recall. 10. Intrusive R and Linking R are pronunciations of the letter ‘r’ in English dialects that don’t generally pronounce a final ‘R’ (such as New Zealand English). For example, in these dialects, when saying “don’t go far” – the word “far” has a silent ‘r’ – but the ‘r’ is pronounced in the sentence “he is far away”. This linking ‘r’ smooths out the phrase. Intrusive ‘r’ is when an ‘r’ is added where one doesn’t exist at all – as in the case of “Africa or England” – this would be pronounced “Africar-or-England” 11. Zebroids are hybrid animals involving a zebra and either a donkey or a horse. Zebroids physically resemble their non-zebra parent, but are striped like a zebra. The stripes generally do not cover the whole body, and might be confined to the legs or spread onto parts of the body or neck. Depending on the hybrid, they take different names such as zorse, zonkey, zebrass, zedonk (pictured above), etc. 12. Crikey steveirwini (an air-breathing land snail) is the only species in the genus Crikey. The specific name steveirwini is in memory of wildlife expert Steve Irwin. The genus name is a favorite exclamation of Steve Irwin’s, “crikey!” being an Australian minced oath. 13. Shingō village (Japan) claims to be the last resting-place of Jesus, buried in the “Tomb of Jesus.” According to the local lore, Jesus traveled to Japan at the age of 21, where he studied theology for 12 years, after which he returned to Judea at the age of 34. He did not die on the cross at Golgotha. Instead his brother, Isukiri, took his place on the cross, while Jesus fled across Siberia, Alaska, and finally to Mutsu Province, in northern Japan, where he became a rice farmer, married, and raised a family near what is now Shing ō. 14. The Swedish Empire (which included Finland at the time) planned to change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar beginning in 1700 by omitting leap days for the next 40 years. Although the leap day was omitted in February 1700, the Great Northern War began later that year, diverting the attention of the Swedes from their calendar so they did not omit leap days on the next two occasions, causing 1704 and 1708 to remain leap years. To avoid confusion and further mistakes, the Julian calendar was restored when, in 1712, one extra leap day was added, thus giving that year a 30th of February. 15. For our final entry we have a sentence – but it is a special sentence. Most people are familiar with the famous “buffalo buffalo buffalo….” sentence – but here is another one: “James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher” – this is a completely legitimate English sentence. My challenge to you is to put in the correct punctuation to make it understandable. I also challenge you to not look it up! 
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14-01-2010, 15:59
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. Hello wasn’t always the first thing people said when they answered the phone. After the first proper phone service was started in the US in 1878, people said “Ahoy”.
2. Bagpipes were invented in Iran and then brought to Scotland by the Romans. 3. In medieval Japan, it was fashionable for women to sport black teeth. 4. Apollo 11 had 20 seconds of fuel left when it landed. 5. The Chinese used “the fingerprint technique” as a means of identification as far back as AD700. 6. Charles Dickens earned as much for his lectures as he did for his twenty novels. 7. When the Mayflower was no longer of use, they took it apart and recycled it as a barn (pictured above). 8. In English gambling dens in the 18th century, there was a person who was hired solely to swallow the dice in the event of a police raid. 9. The gold ring that many sailors wore were often used to pay for a decent burial after their deaths. 10. A model named Grace Robin was the first person to demonstrate contact lenses in 1930. 11. In ancient Rome, a person with a crooked nose was considered to have great leadership potential. 12. In 1915 William Wrigley Jr. Sent chewing gum to everyone in the phone book. 13. In 18th Century Britain, you could take out insurance against going to hell. 14. The youngest parents in recorded history were eight and nine and lived in china in 1910. 15. In 17th Century England, a woman had, on average 13 children. 16. Out of the 266 men who have been appointed Pope, 33 have died in violent circumstances. 17. Olive oil was once used for washing the body in some Mediterranean countries. It is still, however, a lot more seldom practiced today. 18. India was one of the richest countries in the world until the British invasions in the 17th Century. 19. In ancient Egypt, noblewomen were given a few days to ripen after death in order to remove “temptation” from embalmers. 20. George Washington’s false teeth were actually carved from cows teeth and hippopotamus ivory and were fixed together with metal springs.
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14-01-2010, 16:03
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
The error: We have five body senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. These are the traditional five senses, but there are in fact many more – some say up to 21. Obvious additions to the list are balance, pain, and temperature. Furthermore, we have internal senses which traditionally number four: imagination, memory, common sense (not to be confused with commonsense which many people lack!), and the estimative power. Wikipedia has a very interesting article which covers the large number of senses seldom mentioned. You can read that here.
The error: A rainbow has seven colors We are, no doubt, all familiar with the old phrase “Roy G. Biv” used to remember the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. This series of colors was coined by Newton who initially excluded indigo and violet. While a rainbow does appear to have seven colors, it is, in fact, one continuous spectrum of color and it is merely an artifact of human color perception that makes it appear to be a series of bands. There are also things called supernumerary rainbows which have more than 7 bands visible to the human eye The error: Drinking alcohol warms you up This is entirely untrue – yet it is still commonly seen as an antidote to coldness in movies, and people still believe the myth about the St Bernard dogs with casks of liquor around their necks! In fact, when you drink alcohol, your body temperature drops! This is because alcohol allows more blood to reach the surface of the body, and more heat is radiated or conducted away. Any feeling of warmth experienced afterdrinking alcohol is explained by the fact that this flow of blood to the surface warms the skin and the ends of the sensory nerves in the skin, and these convey to the brain a sensation of warmth. The fact that alcohol actually lowers thetemperature of the body was first announced by Sir B. Ward Richardson in 1866 to the British Association. [ Source] The error: Small earthquakes can reduce the chance of a big one There is a common myth (particularly in New Zealand where earthquakes are common) that if you have a lot of small earthquakes, it helps to alleviate the pressures building up that can cause a big one. But this is not true. Seismologists have observed that for every magnitude 6 earthquake there are 10 of magnitude 5, 100 of magnitude 4, 1,000 of magnitude 3, and so forth as the events get smaller and smaller. This sounds like a lot of smallearthquakes , but there are never enough small ones to eliminate the occasional large event. It would take 32 magnitude 5’s, 1000 magnitude 4’s, 32,000 magnitude 3’s to equal the energy of one magnitude 6 event. So, even though we always recordmany more small events than large ones, there are never enough to eliminate the need for the occasional large earthquake. [ Source] The error: You must wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming While there is a theoretical concern based on the fact that the body diverts the circulation of blood to the gut and away from the muscles that this might possibly cause a cramp, no one has ever drowned because they went swimming with a full tummy. Going swimming after eating a big meal might make you uncomfortable, but it won’t cause you to drown. And even if you did get a cramp, in most cases you could easily exit the water before any real damage is done. The error: The earth is dangerously overpopulated or is getting close to being so This is a myth which has been around for quite some time – from the Anglican minister Malthus in the 18th century who said: “The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man” to environmentalists who see humans as evil in comparison to the rest of nature. But, in truth, the world is a big place with plenty of space. So, how much land does it take to hold 6 billion people? To give you an idea, consider the small nation of Japan. It has about 143,000 square miles of area. One square mile has 5280 * 5280 = 27.9 million square feet. Japan has a total of about 4 trillion square feet, enough to give each person of the earth 670 square feet. If we housed people in families of four in simple two-level buildings (8 people per building, one family of four per level), each building could be on a lot of over 5300 square feet. If we used the American average of 8,000 square feet to four people, the entire population of the planet would fit into a space as big as Texas and Nevada combined – leaving the rest of the land for food production and entertainment venues. I should also mention that many countries in the west are now in a period of population implosion as families are getting smaller. The error: Using a cellphone on a plane can cause interference and, consequently, a crash. The FAA has tested all sorts of electronic devices for 25 years, at 100 times the RF interference levels—and nothing happened. The FAA simply states that no link between operating the devices has been proved. It’s been left up to the airlines to determine their own policy—and that policy is to put away your Blackberry. By using your cellphone during flight, you risk interfering with a flight crew—but the plane won’t crash. Consequently, some airlines are now allowing the use of cellphones during flights. [Source] The error: When you get older, you become bad tempered A recent study found that our personalities don’t change much after age 30. So, if you’re cheerful and gregarious in your 40s, you can expect to be the same in your 80s. Marked personality changes some seniors experience are due not to normal aging but to some related disease like dementia or stroke. This is something worth considering when you are planning to marry in your thirties – your future spouse probably behaves now the same way he or she will for the rest of his or her life. [Source] The error: Sushi is raw fish Sushi does not mean raw fish, and not all sushi includes raw fish. The usual Japanese term for raw fish is sashimi. The term sushi actually refers to the way the rice is prepared with a vinegary dressing. Toppings for the rice may traditionally include raw fish—but also cooked seafood, fish roe, egg, or vegetables such as cucumber, daikon radish, or ume plum. The dish constituting sushi and other fillings wrapped in a seaweed is referred to as makizushi, not sushi.
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14-01-2010, 16:03
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
The error: We have five body senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. These are the traditional five senses, but there are in fact many more – some say up to 21. Obvious additions to the list are balance, pain, and temperature. Furthermore, we have internal senses which traditionally number four: imagination, memory, common sense (not to be confused with commonsense which many people lack!), and the estimative power. Wikipedia has a very interesting article which covers the large number of senses seldom mentioned. You can read that here.
The error: A rainbow has seven colors We are, no doubt, all familiar with the old phrase “Roy G. Biv” used to remember the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. This series of colors was coined by Newton who initially excluded indigo and violet. While a rainbow does appear to have seven colors, it is, in fact, one continuous spectrum of color and it is merely an artifact of human color perception that makes it appear to be a series of bands. There are also things called supernumerary rainbows which have more than 7 bands visible to the human eye The error: Drinking alcohol warms you up This is entirely untrue – yet it is still commonly seen as an antidote to coldness in movies, and people still believe the myth about the St Bernard dogs with casks of liquor around their necks! In fact, when you drink alcohol, your body temperature drops! This is because alcohol allows more blood to reach the surface of the body, and more heat is radiated or conducted away. Any feeling of warmth experienced afterdrinking alcohol is explained by the fact that this flow of blood to the surface warms the skin and the ends of the sensory nerves in the skin, and these convey to the brain a sensation of warmth. The fact that alcohol actually lowers thetemperature of the body was first announced by Sir B. Ward Richardson in 1866 to the British Association. [ Source] The error: Small earthquakes can reduce the chance of a big one There is a common myth (particularly in New Zealand where earthquakes are common) that if you have a lot of small earthquakes, it helps to alleviate the pressures building up that can cause a big one. But this is not true. Seismologists have observed that for every magnitude 6 earthquake there are 10 of magnitude 5, 100 of magnitude 4, 1,000 of magnitude 3, and so forth as the events get smaller and smaller. This sounds like a lot of smallearthquakes , but there are never enough small ones to eliminate the occasional large event. It would take 32 magnitude 5’s, 1000 magnitude 4’s, 32,000 magnitude 3’s to equal the energy of one magnitude 6 event. So, even though we always recordmany more small events than large ones, there are never enough to eliminate the need for the occasional large earthquake. [ Source] The error: You must wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming While there is a theoretical concern based on the fact that the body diverts the circulation of blood to the gut and away from the muscles that this might possibly cause a cramp, no one has ever drowned because they went swimming with a full tummy. Going swimming after eating a big meal might make you uncomfortable, but it won’t cause you to drown. And even if you did get a cramp, in most cases you could easily exit the water before any real damage is done. The error: The earth is dangerously overpopulated or is getting close to being so This is a myth which has been around for quite some time – from the Anglican minister Malthus in the 18th century who said: “The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man” to environmentalists who see humans as evil in comparison to the rest of nature. But, in truth, the world is a big place with plenty of space. So, how much land does it take to hold 6 billion people? To give you an idea, consider the small nation of Japan. It has about 143,000 square miles of area. One square mile has 5280 * 5280 = 27.9 million square feet. Japan has a total of about 4 trillion square feet, enough to give each person of the earth 670 square feet. If we housed people in families of four in simple two-level buildings (8 people per building, one family of four per level), each building could be on a lot of over 5300 square feet. If we used the American average of 8,000 square feet to four people, the entire population of the planet would fit into a space as big as Texas and Nevada combined – leaving the rest of the land for food production and entertainment venues. I should also mention that many countries in the west are now in a period of population implosion as families are getting smaller. The error: Using a cellphone on a plane can cause interference and, consequently, a crash. The FAA has tested all sorts of electronic devices for 25 years, at 100 times the RF interference levels—and nothing happened. The FAA simply states that no link between operating the devices has been proved. It’s been left up to the airlines to determine their own policy—and that policy is to put away your Blackberry. By using your cellphone during flight, you risk interfering with a flight crew—but the plane won’t crash. Consequently, some airlines are now allowing the use of cellphones during flights. [Source] The error: When you get older, you become bad tempered A recent study found that our personalities don’t change much after age 30. So, if you’re cheerful and gregarious in your 40s, you can expect to be the same in your 80s. Marked personality changes some seniors experience are due not to normal aging but to some related disease like dementia or stroke. This is something worth considering when you are planning to marry in your thirties – your future spouse probably behaves now the same way he or she will for the rest of his or her life. [Source] The error: Sushi is raw fish Sushi does not mean raw fish, and not all sushi includes raw fish. The usual Japanese term for raw fish is sashimi. The term sushi actually refers to the way the rice is prepared with a vinegary dressing. Toppings for the rice may traditionally include raw fish—but also cooked seafood, fish roe, egg, or vegetables such as cucumber, daikon radish, or ume plum. The dish constituting sushi and other fillings wrapped in a seaweed is referred to as makizushi, not sushi.
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14-01-2010, 16:07
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
President Washington never owned a set of wooden teeth. He did however own a set of hippopotamus ivory teeth, a set of horse teeth, donkey teeth, and human teeth (from various sources), a set of 18kt gold teeth (he tried 24kt but they were too malleable), and a set of lead teeth, which were not particularly good for him. These four sets of dentures (the human and animal teeth were mixed) are in the National Museum of Dentistry. No other dentures of Washington have been discovered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amazingly, many Christians believe that Satan is sitting on a throne in Hell, laughing at all the agony of the poor damned souls, while his imps and demons run around with pitchforks. None of this is Biblical. Satan is quite frequently described as living on Earth, and doing what he does best, corrupting mankind. The tradition of a ruler in Hell comes from the Greek god Hades, at least, and perhaps even earlier with the Egyptians. Hades sits on the throne of the Underworld, just as Zeus, his brother, sits on the throne of Olympus. The Biblical description of Hell is clearly anarchic. No one is in charge. Everyone is screaming and writhing, etc., in a lake of fire. Satan has never been there, and will not go until the end when he loses his fight against God. The Christian tradition of Satan ruling Hell comes largely from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n,” Satan says, in Book I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is a very common myth about psychology in which people believe they will alleviate their anger by “letting it out”. This is such a popular concept that many therapies have grown up around it – things like punchbags, squeeze balls, etc. In fact, the opposite is found to be true. When a person expresses their anger regularly, it becomes habit forming. While there may appear to be a temporary relief from the anger when you smash a plate against the wall, ultimately your fits of anger will become an addiction and you will begin to seek out more reasons to become angry – in order to achieve that nice feeling. So ultimate, the best thing to do: bottle it up! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Absinthe was never any more poisonous than whiskey. The myth goes back at least to the 1800s, and claims that it causes hallucinations, as potently as LSD, and fries the brain. Not true. Absinthe is manufactured from Artemisia absinthium, a plant which has no poisons in it. It is very bitter, like the Greek Ouzo, and the distillation process routinely results in absinthe proofs of 100 to 180 (50% to 90% alcohol by volume). This is significantly stronger than the average whiskey, but will not affect the drinker in any way other than drunkenness. The truth, though, is that during the Moulin Rouge days of Toulouse-Lautrec and van Gogh, starving artists liked getting drunk, and couldn’t afford the good stuff. So they bought absinthe from cheap street vendors, who did not care to sell uncontaminated products. Cyanide and strychnine were found in this absinthe, and caused hallucinations. Today, it is legal in the U. S., and perfectly safe to drink if bought commercially. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The myth has gone on for years now that Shakespeare invented about 1,700 words still common in English. Not true. He Anglicized many Latin and Greek words, among other languages, thus coining new English words. But to beinvented, a word must have no etymology before a single person imagines it. He is said to have invented “assassination,” but what he did was derive it from the Medieval Latin “assassinare,” which means “to kill an important person.” All of the words he is reputed to have invented can be explained this way. He did, however, devise first name uses for quite a few words, including Viola, Jessica, and Adrian. The first is Latin, the second Hebrew, the third Greek. Sidenote: Sir Isaac Newton Anglicized “gravitas,” which is Latin for “weight,” into “gravity.” As he was the first to discover the mechanism and its properties, how they work, he had to come up with a word for it. No one else had ever called gravity anything. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debaters on both sides are grossly misinformed. Darwin never states in his book On the Origin of Species that humans evolved from apes. He states, quite differently, that apes and humans both evolved from a common ancestor. This seems somewhat less offensive to fundamentalists, and if both sides were to consider it, it might smooth the relationship between fundamentalists and science. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This story of how the kangaroo got its name is unfortunately not true. It states that Captain James Cook first landed on Australia, near modern day Sydney, and met the Gweagal tribe of Aborigines on the beach. At this moment, a kangaroo hopped out of the forest with its joey in its pouch and the Europeans, having never seen such a strange animal, asked the Aborigines, “What in the world is that?!” The Aborigines turned to each other, then shrugged, and one of them said, “Kangaroo!” which is Gweagal for, “I don’t understand what you’re saying!” Well, the truth is much more banal. “Kangaroo” is derived from the Guugu Yimidhirr (another Aborigine tribe) word “gangurru,” which means…”kangaroo.”
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14-01-2010, 16:09
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. In the game of Chess, the word “checkmate” comes from the Persian phrase “shah mat” and it means “the King is dead”.
2. In 1835, John Batman settled in what was to eventually become Melbourne, Australia. He named it “Batmania”. Two years later it was renamed Melbourne in honor of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. 3. A cannulated cow, also referred to as a cow with a window, is a cow that has been surgically fitted with a cannula, a porthole-like device which allows access to its rumen. Cows undergo this procedure so that their nutritional needs and digestive processes can be more easily studied. [Picture above] 4. The rabbit test was an early pregnancy test developed in 1927 by Bernhard Zondek and Selmar Aschheim. The test consisted of injecting the tested woman’s urine into a female rabbit, then examining the rabbit’s ovaries a few days later, which would change in response to a hormone only secreted by pregnant women. Modern pregnancy tests use the same principle but no longer require an animal to discover the presence of the pregnancy hormone. 5. While most male birds do not have “external genitalia”, some ducks have penises up to 14 inches long!!!! They commonly rape the females who have adapted by developing a vagina with three paths, two of which are “dead ends”. They have the ability to close off the true vaginal canal and send a rapist’s sperm into a dead end at will. If the rapists sperm does make it into the true vaginal canal, it is shaped like a coil and can be compressed to turn away unwanted insemination. 6. A flatulist is a performer who receives payment for farting in an amusing and/or musical manner. Saint Augustine in City of God (14.24) mentions some performers who did have “such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at will, so as to produce the effect of singing.” 7. The six-hour clock is a traditional timekeeping system used in Thailand alongside the official twenty-four-hour clock. Like the other common systems, it counts twenty-four hours in a day, but divides the day into four quarters, counting six hours in each 8. Organ2/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) is a musical piece composed by John Cage and is the subject of one of longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. The current organ performance of the piece at St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, began in 2001 and is scheduled to have a duration of 639 years, ending in 2640. 9. A pyrophone, also known as a “fire/explosion organ” or “fire/explosion calliope” is a musical instrument in which notes are sounded by explosions, or similar forms of rapid combustion, rapid heating, or the like. The instrument is extremely unusual and makes music which is quite spooky. You can see one in action in the clip above. 10. Mistakes (due to mishearing) in songs are called mondegreens. Most people have at one time or another inadvertently made a mondegreen when singing songs without knowing the correct lyrics. Here is an example: ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy (from a lyric in the song “Purple Haze”, by Jimi Hendrix: “‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky”). 11. Ferret legging is a sport that seems to have been popular among coal miners in Yorkshire, England. The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English defines it as “an endurance test or stunt in which ferrets are trapped in pants worn by a participant”. The male-only contestants put live ferrets inside their trousers; the winner is the one who is the last to release the animals. Reg Mellor, a retired miner from Barnsley, holds the world record at five hours and twenty-six minutes, a feat he achieved in 1981 at the age of 66. 12. In Japan, Street names are seldom used in postal addresses (except in Kyoto and some Hokkaidō cities such as Sapporo), and most Japanese streets do not have names. Addresses are written from largest area to smallest (the opposite of the Western method) and each district, block, and house is numbered. These numbers are what determine a specific residence. [Picture above] 13. The glass delusion was an external manifestation of a psychiatric disorder recorded in Europe in the late middle ages (15th to 17th centuries). People feared that they were made of glass “and therefore likely to shatter into pieces”. One famous early sufferer was King Charles VI of France who refused to allow people to touch him, and wore reinforced clothing to protect himself from accidental “shattering”. 14. The miracle fruit, or miracle berry plant (Synsepalum dulcificum), produces berries that, when eaten, cause sour foods (such as lemons and limes) subsequently consumed to taste sweet. Needless to say this gives rise to some great party tricks. 15. The Forer effect is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This is the effect which makes fortune telling and horoscopes appear so accurate when they are, in fact, entirely fabricated.
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14-01-2010, 16:13
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
2. 2×4 (4×2 to the British) is not. 2×4 is the name used to refer to a common size of timber, but what most people don’t realize is that it is actually 1.5×3.5. The reason for this is that the named measurement refers to the size of the rough lumber before drying and planing.
3. Hippopotamuses – incredibly dangerous creatures – have a very unique ability: instead of sweating, they exude a pink liquid which is a natural sun block. This, and their ability to spend an indefinite amount of time in the water helps to keep them safe from the blistering sun. 4. Kangaroos can’t fart. They convert the small quantity of methane they produce into an energy source which their body reuses. Scientists hope that they will be able to transfer the bacteria that causes this in kangaroos to cows, to reduce methane emissions to save the world from the latest fashionable catastrophe: global warming. 5. During the Cold War, the US military developed a rifle that fired nuclear war heads. It was called the Davy Crocket and production of this smallest nuclear weapon began in 1956, with a total of 2,100 being made. The weapon was deployed with U.S. Army forces from 1961 to 1971. 6. Have you ever noticed that when you have a bowl of nuts, the bigger ones make their way to the top? This event actually has a scientific name: the Brazil Nut Effect. The term refers to the phenomenon in which the largest particles end up on the surface when a granular material containing a mixture of objects of different sizes is shaken. 7. Have you ever had a dream in which you wake up and go about your daily routine – only to discover that you are actually still asleep? This can be incredibly frustrating as you realize you need to re-do everything you have already done (in the dream). It is extremely realistic and most people experience it. This event is called a “false awakening” or a “dream within a dream”. It is even possible to have multiple cases of false awakenings in one dream. This is used to good effect (though perhaps it is a bit cliched now) in movies. 8. Rhode Island is the smallest state with the longest name. The official name, used on all state documents, is “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” 9. In the course of seeking cures for mental illness, some very bizarre methods have been tried. In 1650 Athanasius Kircher (a Jesuit scholar) invented a musical instrument to cure melancholy. The instrument was called a “katzenklavier” and it consisted of a line of cats fixed in place with their tails sticking out underneath a keyboard. When they keys were struck the cats would meow in pain. The concept never caught on. [Picture above] 10. In 1859 a solar storm hit the earth (the largest in recorded history). It was caused by massive sunspots and solar flares. It was so intense that auroras were seen around the earth (even in the caribbean) and the ones over the Rocky Mountains were so bright that gold miners thought it was morning. It knocked out the telegraph systems of Europe and North America. If you wish to look it up for more information, it is called the “Solar storm of 1859″ or “Carrington Event”. 12. When correcting a person’s grammar on the Internet, invariably you make a grammatical error of your own. This is called Muphry’s Law (intentionally misspelt). Just remember that next time the grammar nazi in you decides to show its ugly head. 13. It is possible to get drunk in prison thanks to a special thing called “prison wine” or “pruno”. It is an alcoholic liquid variously made from apples, oranges, fruit cocktail, ketchup, sugar, and possibly other ingredients, including bread. Pruno originated in (and remains largely confined to) prisons, where it can be produced cheaply, easily, and discreetly. The taste is described as vomit flavored wine cooler. 14. The PhD is not the highest degree a person can receive. There is also a Doctor of Sciences (DSc/ScD) and Doctor of Letters (DLitt/LittD) which is normally awarded in Britain, Ireland, and the commonwealth nations though it is occasionally awarded in the United States. It is normally awarded for a substantial and sustained contribution to the art to which it applies – for example science and literature. Mark Twain was awarded a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University. Just to add to the confusion, there is also a PhB which is a bachelor of philosophy which is equal to a Masters degree despite its name. 15. Have you noticed that some people seem to have very appropriate (and entirely coincidental) names? Names such Usain Bolt (Jamaican sprinter), Lord Brain (brain surgeon), or Alto Reed (saxophonist). This is called an “aptronym” as in “aptly named”. Some people believe that the name can influence life decisions leading a person to work in a field relating to their name. This is called nominative determinism.
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14-01-2010, 16:16
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. The Hundred Years’ War did not last for 100 years but 116. It was actually a series of separate campaigns and battles which continued for 116 years (from 1337 to 1453).
2. The Blitz was not a blitzkrieg, it was an example of strategic bombing. A blitzkrieg is “a headline word applied retrospectively to describe a military doctrine of an all-mechanized force concentrating its attack on a small section of the enemy front then, once the latter is broken, proceeding without regard to its flank.” 3. In golf, the clubs commonly referred to as “woods” are usually made of metal. The club heads for “woods” were formerly made predominantly of wood. 4. An egg cream is really chocolate flavored syrup with seltzer and milk. It typically contains neither eggs nor cream. [Pictured above] 5. Head cheese is actually a meat product. 6. Anti-semitism usually refers to hatred of jews. But the fact is, semites refers not just to jews, but to all semitic peoples which includes Arabs. The proper term for what is normally regarded as anti-semitism would be anti-jewish. 7. An inchworm is neither an inch long, nor a worm. 8. Tear gas is not a gas, but a (solid) crystalline substance. 9. The East River is not a river, but a tidal strait. 10. The titmouse is a bird, not a mouse. [Pictured above] 11. Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and little to do with artichokes. Jerusalem derives from Girasole, the Italian word for sunflower, by folk etymology. The taste of the tuber of a Jerusalem artichoke merely resembles the taste of the leaves of the Globe Artichoke. 12. Arabic numerals originated in India, though they came to be associated with the Arab world. 13. Panama hats are made in Ecuador, but are associated with Panama as they were widely worn during construction of the Panama Canal. 14. French fries did not originate in France. There are some doubts about their origin, but they most likely were invented in Belgium. They’re called “French” because vegetables sliced in that manner are called “julienned”, which sounds French. [Pictured above] 15. Mongolian barbecue is neither Mongolian in origin nor barbecue. It has its origins in Taiwan and actually derives from Japanese-style teppanyaki which was popular there at the time. 16. White chocolate is not actually considered chocolate by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States and other bodies, even though it contains cocoa butter. 17. The term “tidal wave” is often applied to tsunamis, even though they are not caused by tides. 18. Sugar soap contains neither sugar nor soap. 19. An egg roll is an appetizer usually made by wrapping a combination of chopped vegetables, not eggs. 20. Chinese checkers did not originate in China (or even Asia). It was invented in Germany in 1893 under the name “Stern-Halma”, as a variation on the older American game of Halma.
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14-01-2010, 16:19
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. Armadillos of the Dasypus genus give birth to four genetically identical quadruplets. This is the only reliable manifestation of polyembryony (two or more embryos developing from a single fertilized egg) in mammals.
2. Of the entire human body, around 3 pounds of the weight is microbial life; in other words, parasites and the like. Many of these are essential to the functioning of the body. 3. The germs in feces can pass through up to ten layers of toilet paper. Don’t forget to wash your hands! 4. Earwigs can fly. They have membranous wings folded underneath short forewings which they can use for limited flight. They are not particularly good at it but sufficiently good to move about if necessary. Contrary to popular belief, earwigs don’t transmit diseases amongst humans. 5. Cuttlefish have eyes shaped like the letter ‘w’ (pictured above). Although they cannot see color, they can perceive the polarization of light, which enhances their perception of contrast. They have full use of their eyes before they are born. 6. The pyramids were originally covered with a highly polished white limestone so they would glisten from a distance. Some of these (albeit worn) are still visible at the top of the Pyramid of Khafre (pictured above). 7. Female koala bears (which are marsupials not bears) have two vaginas. Male koalas have a forked penis. No doubt their mating practices would be similar to those of these two humans who had the most bizarre relationship in history. 8. Human eyes contain a blind spot. The brain fills in with surrounding detail and with information from the other eye, so the blind spot is not normally perceived. To see the blind spot in action, go here. 9. The avocado is a ghost of evolution. It was originally consumed by large creatures in the Pleistocene period (when modern humans appeared). Creatures the size of wooly mammoths would have eaten the avocado whole, and excreted its seed in their dung. As these giant creatures died off, man cultivated the avocados for his own use and it is this cultivation which meant the avocado survived extinction. 10. Many traffic lights and lift buttons are actually placebo buttons – in other words, they do nothing at all when pressed. They exist to give the presser the feeling of control. 11. When tickled, rats laugh. is an excellent video clip demonstrating this fact. 12. At certain points on Mercury’s surface, an observer would be able to see the Sun rise about halfway, then reverse and set before rising again, all within the same Mercurian day. Having said that, one day on Mercury is 176 earth days. [Source] 13. In his lifetime, Adolf Hitler had four relationships (three confirmed and one suspected). Of those relationships, all four women attempted suicide at least once, and two succeeded. 14. Sand sharks have a very unique gestation. A mother shark develops two embryos when impregnated. The stronger of the two embryos eats the other before it is born. This is called “intrauterine cannibalism”. It will also eat any other eggs that exist in the mother at the time. 15. The center of a rainbow is the shadow from your head. A primary rainbow is always somewhere on an arc 42 degrees around the shadow of your head (called the anti solar point). So brightly illuminated rain must be in this direction away from you to see a rainbow. [Source]
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14-01-2010, 16:23
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
Humpty Dumpty was first printed in 1810. At the time, a humpty dumpty was a clumsy person, so the nursery rhyme was meant as a riddle. It doesn’t actually state that Humpty Dumpty is an egg, so the aim of the reader is to guess what he really is. Of course there is not a person who knows the tale these days that doesn’t know he is an egg. There is speculation that the nursery rhyme had an underlying meaning – in which Humpty Dumpty represents King Richard III of England and the wall his horse. Others have suggested that it refers to the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey at the hand of King Henry VIII.
Sing a song of sixpence dates back to at least the eighteenth century. In the original, the tale ends with a blackbird pecking off the nose of the maid in the garden; in the mid-nineteenth century this was sanitized with the addition of a final verse in which a doctor sews it back on. While interpretations vary wildly, the four and twenty blackbirds are most likely simply a reference to a common practice in the sixteenth-century in which large pies were baked then filled with live birds which would escape when the pie was cut. This stems from the fact that a meal was meant not just as nourishment, but entertainment. Originally titled ‘Hushabye Baby’, this nursery rhyme was said to be the first poem written on American soil. Although there is no evidence as to when the lyrics were written, it may date from the seventeenth century and have been written by an English immigrant who observed the way native-American women rocked their babies in birch-bark cradles, which were suspended from the branches of trees, allowing the wind to rock the baby to sleep. An alternative interpretation states that the baby is the son of King James II of England, who was widely believed to be someone else’s child smuggled into the birthing room in order to provide a Catholic heir for James. In thisinterpretation, the cradle represents the Stuart monarchy. The first recorded version of Little Jack Horner comes from the eighteenth-century but it is most likely to have be known since the seventeenth. In the nineteenth century the story began to gain currency that the rhyme is actually about Thomas Horner, who steward to Richard Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury Abbey before the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII of England. The story is reported that, prior to the abbey’s destruction, the abbot sent Horner to London with a huge Christmas pie which had the deeds to a dozen manors hidden within it and that during the journey Horner opened the pie and extracted the deeds of the manor of Mells in Somerset. It is further suggested that, since the manor properties included lead mines in the Mendip Hills, the plum is a pun on the Latin plumbum, for lead. The current owners of Mells Manor have stated that they doubt thisinterpretation. The earliest record of this rhyme is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children’s game called “Bo-Peep”, from the sixteenth century, including one in Shakespeare’s King Lear (Act I Scene iv), but little evidence that the rhyme existed. The additional verses are first recorded in the earliest printed version in a version of Gammer Gurton’s Garland or The Nursery Parnassus in 1810, making this one of the most modernnursery rhymes on the list. Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary has been seen as having religious and historical significance, but its origins and meaning are disputed as is often the case. The most commoninterpretation identifies “Mary” with Mary I of England. The “How does your garden grow?” may make mocking reference to her womb and the fact that she gave birth to no heirs, or to the common idea that England had become a Catholic vassal or “branch” of Spain and the Habsburgs, or may even be a punning reference to her chief minister, Stephen Gardiner (“gardener”). “Quite contrary” could be a reference to her attempt to reverse ecclesiastical changes made by her father Henry VIII and her brother Edward VI. The “pretty maids all in a row” could be a reference to miscarriages or her execution of Lady Jane Grey. Capitalizing on the Queen’s portrayal by Whig historians as “Bloody Mary”, the “silver bells and cockle shells” could be colloquialisms for instruments of torture. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep is an eighteenth century nursery rhyme sung to the same tune as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. It is possible that this rhyme is a description of the medieval ‘Great’ or ‘Old Custom’ wool tax of 1275, which survived until the fifteenth century. Contrary to some commentaries, this tax did not involve the collection of one third to the king, and one third to the church, but a less punitive sum of 6s 8d to the Crown per sack, about 5 per cent of the value. In the 1980s the theory was advanced that it made reference to slavery, but most scholars disagree. The nursery rhyme was first published as an original poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830, and was inspired by an actual incident. As a girl, Mary Sawyer (later Mrs. Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb, which she took to school one day at the suggestion of her brother. A commotion naturally ensued. Mary recalled: “Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Mr. Roulstone was studying with his uncle. The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem…”
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14-01-2010, 16:27
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. An iceberg contains significantly more total heat energy than a burning match. The reason is the sheer size of the iceberg. [Source]
2. Caves breathe. They inhale and exhale great quantities of air when the barometric pressure on the surface changes, and air rushes in or out seeking equilibrium. [Source] 3. While the chances of being struck by a meteor are extremely slim, there have been a number of documented cases: On June 21, 1994, Jose Martin of Spain was driving with his wife near Madrid when a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor crashed through his windshield, bent the steering wheel and ended up in the back seat. Martin suffered a broken finger while his wife was uninjured. [Source] 4. When a new queen bee emerges in a hive, she “pipes” (repeatedly sings a G# or A note) to incite her worker bees to fight for her if another queen in the hive needs killing. You can listen to the piping in the youtube clip above. All bees pipe the same note – but Africanized bees pipe more frequently and louder. You can hear another clearer example here. The difference in pitch between the video clip and the sound file is cause by compression and quality of recording devices. 5. There is a current scientific hypothesis that the sun has a companion which is currently about 1-1.5 light years away. It is believed that it has an elliptical orbit which, every 26 million years, sends matter towards the earth causing mass Extinction events. It was the discovery of these seemingly regular events that gave rise to the hypothesis in the first place. The star is predicted to be most likely a red or brown dwarf and has been named Nemesis or “Death Star”. [More] 6. Fulgurite is the name for fossilized lightning. They are natural hollow glass tubes formed in quartzose sand, or silica, or soil by lightning strikes and are formed when lightning with a temperature of at least 1,800 degrees Celsius instantaneously melts silica on a conductive surface and fuses grains together. The image above is a fulgurite. 7. When Anders Celsius (1701–1744) created the celsius scale, he invented it upside-down with 0 ℃ being the boiling point of water and 100 ℃ being the freezing point. It was reversed in the year of Celsius’ death by Carolus Linnaeus. 8. When dropped on a very hard, rigid surface, glass balls and steel balls will bounce higher than rubber ones. The reason is that rubber balls deform significantly on impact, flattening onto the surface, and then springing back. In the process of this squashing, some energy is lost. [Source - physics.illinois.edu] 9. 65 Million years ago, a meteor impact in Chicxulub, Mexico caused megatsunamis thousands of feet high. It is believed by some scientists that this impact was the single cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. [More] 10. Sound travels much faster through a steel than it does air: Sound travels at 5100 m/s through steel, 1480 m/s through water and 330 m/s through air. 11. Most icebergs are salt-free water caused by mainland glaciers. Some sea-water icebergs do exist – they are green. When an icebergs pics up sea-water, it can create green stripes. Additionally, normal water that freezes more rapidly in the ‘berg can cause blue stripes. These are quite stunning to see and the picture above is a good example of this effect. Click the image above for a larger view; and no, it isn’t photoshopped. Here’s proof. 12. The cracking sound of a whip is actually a sonic boom – this is because the tip of the whip travels faster than the speed of sound. The whip is the first man made device capable of exceeding the sound barrier. 13. At this moment, the earth is in the middle of an ice age which began around 2.58 million years ago. We are in an interglacial period which started between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago and may last for a further 50,000 years before global glaciation begins again. [Source - NASA] 14. The Nintendo gaming software company first opened its doors to business in 1889 as “Nintendo Koppai”. Its first product? Playing cards. [Why is this item on the list? Computer science.] 15. The world’s first nuclear reactor was built in a squash court beneath a Chicago football stadium on December 2, 1942. While it only generated enough power to light a flashlight, it proved that nuclear power was feasible.
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14-01-2010, 16:30
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. The Romans used to use asbestos in their cloths for daily use – such as dish-towels, napkins, and table cloths. Pliny the Elder (a Roman naturalist) said that they could be cleaned whiter than normal cloth by simply throwing them in the fire. He also noted that the slaves who wove the mineral for cloth often suffered from lung disorders.
2. In Ancient Egypt, the heart was considered to be the seat of intelligence – not the brain. Egyptians thought the brain was just a stuffing for the head. For this reason they scraped it out of the head during embalming and discarded it, while treating the heart with special care. 3. During the plague in the Middle Ages, some doctors wore a primitive form of biohazard suit called “plague suits” (pictured above). The mask included red glass eyepieces, which were thought to make the wearer impervious to evil. The beak of the mask was often filled with strongly aromatic herbs and spices to overpower the miasmas or “bad air” which was also thought to carry the plague. 4. During the last 3,500 years, it is estimated that the world has had a grand total of 230 years in which no wars took place. That is enough to make one wonder whether there is any benefit at all to the “peace movement”. 5. In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia ordered men to shave off their beards, and in 1705 levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporaryWestern Europe. 6. The best selling book of the 15th century was an erotic book called The Tale of the Two Lovers – it is even still read today. The author of this book was none other than Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini – otherwise known as Pope Pius II (pictured above) who reigned from 1458 – 1464. 7. In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered sacred. When a family pet cat died, the entire family would shave off their eyebrows and remain in mourning until they had grown back. 8. The model for Uncle Sam on the famous 1917 post “I want you” is the face of the painter, James Montgomery Flagg. For effect he aged his own portrait and added the goatee beard. Flagg used his own picture in order to avoid the need to find a model. 9. There is no such thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1862, Lincoln signed into law a resolution creating a “Medal of Honor” which is the official and only title for what most people think is the “Congressional Medal”. 10. In 200 BC, when the Greek city of Sparta was at the height of its power there were 20 slaves for every citizen. Imagine how tidy their houses must have been! 11. Andorra declared war on Imperial Germany during World War I, but did not actually take part in the fighting. It remained in an official state of belligerency until 1957 as it was not included in the Versailles Peace Treaty. 12. Only two people signed the Declaration independence on 4 July 1776 – John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The majority of the other members of Congress signed on 2 August, although the final signature wasn’t added for another five years. 13. As a restorative medicine in ancient Rome, people would drink a mixture of wine and the dung of wild boars. 14. During the Western Schism (1378 to 1417), three men simultaneously claimed to be the legitimate Pope. When the cardinals didn’t like the Pope they originally elected, they elected a second (invalidly). This caused great troubles in the Church which lead to the election of a third Pope by the council of Pisa (also invalidly). Thus there were three claimants to the throne: Pope Gregory XII, Antipope Benedict XIII, and Antipope John XXIII. It was finally ended when the original election was considered the only valid one of the lot. 15. Sir William Paterson (pictured above), founder of the Bank of England, is suspected to have been a pirate in his years before founding the bank. 16. In 1904, tea bags were invented accidentally. The inventor, Thomas Sullivan (a tea merchant) decided that it was cheaper to send small samples to prospective customers in silk bags – rather than boxes. The recipients mistakenly believed they were meant to be dunked and soon Sullivan was inundated with orders for his “tea bags”. 17. The oldest parachute design appears in an anonymous manuscript from 1470s Renaissance Italy (over 400 years before the airplane), showing a free-hanging man clutching a cross bar frame attached to a conical canopy. As a safety measure, four straps run from the ends of the rods to a waist belt. 18. In the late 1700s, a tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient’s rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum (machine pictured above). 19. Income tax, along with many other taxes imposed during the Civil War, was repealed after 1865 because the government simply had no need for the extra revenue. The majority of federal income came from taxes on tobacco and alcohol, which were hot commodities at war’s end. 20. In Rome, there were people who specialized in armpit plucking. Somewhere around 1 AD, Roman aristocrats interested in fashion, removed all of their body hair. Requirements for the profession were tweezers, a strong arm and the ability to deal with their customer’s pain.
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14-01-2010, 16:34
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
The Myth: An Old Religion was practiced in rural Europe until it was stamped out by the witchcraft persecutions, which killed millions of women. [Source]
The Witch-cult is the term for a hypothetical pre-Christian, pagan religion of Europe that allegedly survived into at least the early modern period. The theory was postulated by some 19th and 20th century scholars based upon the conspiracy theory that the European witchcraft which had been persecuted in the witch-hunt had been a part of a Satanic plot to overthrow Christianity, and indeed most of the evidence for the theory was compiled by studying the accounts of the persecutors in the witch trials in Early Modern Europe. The theory notably gave rise to several neopagan religions, such as Wicca and Stregheria in the 20th century. In fact, there was no “old religion” and modern day Wicca originated in the 20th century and was popularized by Gerald Gardner in 1954. The Myth: Starvation was rife in the Great Depression It is very common when hearing about the Great Depression to imagine hoards of families starving to death due to lack of food and money, but while money was, indeed, scarce, most people were able to survive through resourcefulness and charity. The depression meant hunger, malnutrition, overcrowding, and poor health. It gave rise to widespread poverty and suffering. While virtually no one died from starvation, many did not have enough to eat. People searched garbage dumps for food or ate weeds. It is the resourcefulness that people learnt during this time that helped to make rationing easier on the British during the Second World War. The replacement of a hands-off approach to the economy with a more regulated one by President Roosevelt has been blamed by many for the current economic crisis. The Myth: Cleopatra was Egyptian Though Cleopatra bore the ancient Egyptian title of pharaoh, the Ptolemaic dynasty (of which she was a part) was Hellenistic (Greek), having been founded 300 years before by Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great (depicted by Anthony Hopkins in the Oliver Stone film: Alexander). As such Cleopatra’s language was the Greek spoken by the Hellenic aristocracy, though she was reputed to be the first ruler of the dynasty to learn Egyptian. She also adopted common Egyptian beliefs and deities. According to tradition, saddened by the loss of her lover Mark Antony, she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. The Myth: Slaves built the pyramids We have all seen the movies and heard the tales of slaves captured by Egyptian military excursions being used to build the pyramids and temples of Ancient Egypt, but, in fact, they are all completely wrong. Contrary to popular belief, excavated skeletons show that the pyramid builders were actually Egyptians who were most likely in the permanent employ of the pharaoh. Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams “Friends of Khufu,” “Drunkards of Menkaure,” and so on—names indicating allegiances to pharaohs. The Myth: The inquisition saw the slaughter of tens of thousands The modern day notion of a unified and horrible “Inquisition” is an assemblage of the “body of legends and myths which, between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries, established the perceived character of inquisitorial tribunals and influenced all ensuing efforts to recover their historical reality”. It was the relatively limited persecution of Protestants, mostly by the inquisitions in Spain and Italy, that provoked the first image of “The Inquisition” as the most violent and suppressive vehicle of the Church. Under the rule of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and threatened with military attacks from Spain, England found a new surge of nationalism being fueled by anti-Catholic propaganda centered on a series of books and pamphlets that detailed the horror of the “Spanish Inquisition”. But the reality? No more than 2,000 people who were tried by the Inquisition were executed. The Spanish Inquisition (which should not be confused with the Office of Inquisition which still exists in the Church as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) ceased operating on the 15th July 1834. The Myth: Emperor Caligula made his horse a consul (a figurative head of the republican government) Caligula’s love for his horse, Incitatus, was well known in his time and in present times, but the modern love of a good myth has promoted the horse to a far greater position than in reality. About seventy years after Caligula died, the historian Seutonius wrote of Caligula and Incitatus: “Besides a stall of marble, a manger of ivory, purple blankets and a collar of precious stones, he even gave his horse a house, a troop of slaves and furniture, for the more elegant entertainment of the guests invited in his name: and it is also said that he planned to make him consul.” The fact that this was not a first hand account (hence saying: “it is also said”) the report is dubious. There are no other records that indicate that Caligula did ever indicate that he planned to raise Incitatus to such an important place – let alone do it. The Myth: Catherine the Great died whilst having sex with a horse While this myth is very amusing (no doubt the reason for its popularity), Catherine died in bed of illness; there were no equines involved and a Catherine/horse nexus was never attempted. So how did the myth arise? During past centuries the easiest way for people to offend and verbally attack their female enemies was sex. Catherine the Great was always going to attract rumours about her sex life, but her voracious sexual appetite – while modest by modern standards – meant that the rumours had to be even wilder. Historians believe the horse myth originated in France, among the French upper classes, soon after Catherine’s death as a way to mar her legend. [Source] The Myth: Spanish flu came from Spain The Spanish flu pandemic (the same virus as Swine flu) lasted from March 1918 to June 1920, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 100 million people were killed worldwide, or the approximate equivalent of one third of the population of Europe. Although the first cases of the disease were registered in the continental US and the rest of Europe long before getting to Spain, the 1918 Flu received its nickname “Spanish Flu” because Spain, a neutral country in WWI, had no special censorship for news against the disease and its consequences. Hence the most reliable news came from Spain, giving the false impression that Spain was the most—if not the only—affected zone. So thanks to the honesty of Spain, they are now marred forever by the title of the worst flu epidemic in modern history. The Myth: Amazons were women who cut off one breast so they could use a bow and arrow better Considering how ridiculous this story is, it is hard to believe that so many people believe it. This element of the Amazon myth was invented in the 5th century B.C. The poor Amazons had to start mutilating themselves because some big boob thoughtlessly dabbled in the dark art of etymology without the proper equipment. Hellanicus of Lesbos imagined the name was derived from the Greek prefix a- (“without”) and mazos, a variant of mastos (“breast”). He was surely wrong, but his folk etymology is still firmly embedded in the collective consciousness after more than two dozen centuries. There was no hint before his time, either in writing or art, that the Amazons had anything other than usual complement of breasts, so we can safely assume that the one-breasted image we have of them flowed from the (false) etymology and not vice versa. [Source] The Myth: Jesus spoke Hebrew First of all, Jesus probably did have a knowledge of Hebrew, but he didn’t speak it. The language spoken by Jesus (and the apostles) was Aramaic. Aramaic is a semitic language and it was the day-to-day language of Israel from 539 BC – 70 AD. In fact, contrary to popular belief, some parts of the Bible were never written in Hebrew – but rather Aramaic – chiefly Daniel and Ezra. It is also likely that Jesus was fluent in Greek as this was the secondary language of the region and it was the language of the common version of the Bible used by the Jews at the time. Even one of the most well know sayings of Jesus upon the Cross is Aramaic: “Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani?” meaning “My God, my God, for what have you forsaken me?”
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14-01-2010, 16:34
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
The Myth: An Old Religion was practiced in rural Europe until it was stamped out by the witchcraft persecutions, which killed millions of women. [Source]
The Witch-cult is the term for a hypothetical pre-Christian, pagan religion of Europe that allegedly survived into at least the early modern period. The theory was postulated by some 19th and 20th century scholars based upon the conspiracy theory that the European witchcraft which had been persecuted in the witch-hunt had been a part of a Satanic plot to overthrow Christianity, and indeed most of the evidence for the theory was compiled by studying the accounts of the persecutors in the witch trials in Early Modern Europe. The theory notably gave rise to several neopagan religions, such as Wicca and Stregheria in the 20th century. In fact, there was no “old religion” and modern day Wicca originated in the 20th century and was popularized by Gerald Gardner in 1954. The Myth: Starvation was rife in the Great Depression It is very common when hearing about the Great Depression to imagine hoards of families starving to death due to lack of food and money, but while money was, indeed, scarce, most people were able to survive through resourcefulness and charity. The depression meant hunger, malnutrition, overcrowding, and poor health. It gave rise to widespread poverty and suffering. While virtually no one died from starvation, many did not have enough to eat. People searched garbage dumps for food or ate weeds. It is the resourcefulness that people learnt during this time that helped to make rationing easier on the British during the Second World War. The replacement of a hands-off approach to the economy with a more regulated one by President Roosevelt has been blamed by many for the current economic crisis. The Myth: Cleopatra was Egyptian Though Cleopatra bore the ancient Egyptian title of pharaoh, the Ptolemaic dynasty (of which she was a part) was Hellenistic (Greek), having been founded 300 years before by Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great (depicted by Anthony Hopkins in the Oliver Stone film: Alexander). As such Cleopatra’s language was the Greek spoken by the Hellenic aristocracy, though she was reputed to be the first ruler of the dynasty to learn Egyptian. She also adopted common Egyptian beliefs and deities. According to tradition, saddened by the loss of her lover Mark Antony, she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. The Myth: Slaves built the pyramids We have all seen the movies and heard the tales of slaves captured by Egyptian military excursions being used to build the pyramids and temples of Ancient Egypt, but, in fact, they are all completely wrong. Contrary to popular belief, excavated skeletons show that the pyramid builders were actually Egyptians who were most likely in the permanent employ of the pharaoh. Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams “Friends of Khufu,” “Drunkards of Menkaure,” and so on—names indicating allegiances to pharaohs. The Myth: The inquisition saw the slaughter of tens of thousands The modern day notion of a unified and horrible “Inquisition” is an assemblage of the “body of legends and myths which, between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries, established the perceived character of inquisitorial tribunals and influenced all ensuing efforts to recover their historical reality”. It was the relatively limited persecution of Protestants, mostly by the inquisitions in Spain and Italy, that provoked the first image of “The Inquisition” as the most violent and suppressive vehicle of the Church. Under the rule of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and threatened with military attacks from Spain, England found a new surge of nationalism being fueled by anti-Catholic propaganda centered on a series of books and pamphlets that detailed the horror of the “Spanish Inquisition”. But the reality? No more than 2,000 people who were tried by the Inquisition were executed. The Spanish Inquisition (which should not be confused with the Office of Inquisition which still exists in the Church as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) ceased operating on the 15th July 1834. The Myth: Emperor Caligula made his horse a consul (a figurative head of the republican government) Caligula’s love for his horse, Incitatus, was well known in his time and in present times, but the modern love of a good myth has promoted the horse to a far greater position than in reality. About seventy years after Caligula died, the historian Seutonius wrote of Caligula and Incitatus: “Besides a stall of marble, a manger of ivory, purple blankets and a collar of precious stones, he even gave his horse a house, a troop of slaves and furniture, for the more elegant entertainment of the guests invited in his name: and it is also said that he planned to make him consul.” The fact that this was not a first hand account (hence saying: “it is also said”) the report is dubious. There are no other records that indicate that Caligula did ever indicate that he planned to raise Incitatus to such an important place – let alone do it. The Myth: Catherine the Great died whilst having sex with a horse While this myth is very amusing (no doubt the reason for its popularity), Catherine died in bed of illness; there were no equines involved and a Catherine/horse nexus was never attempted. So how did the myth arise? During past centuries the easiest way for people to offend and verbally attack their female enemies was sex. Catherine the Great was always going to attract rumours about her sex life, but her voracious sexual appetite – while modest by modern standards – meant that the rumours had to be even wilder. Historians believe the horse myth originated in France, among the French upper classes, soon after Catherine’s death as a way to mar her legend. [Source] The Myth: Spanish flu came from Spain The Spanish flu pandemic (the same virus as Swine flu) lasted from March 1918 to June 1920, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 100 million people were killed worldwide, or the approximate equivalent of one third of the population of Europe. Although the first cases of the disease were registered in the continental US and the rest of Europe long before getting to Spain, the 1918 Flu received its nickname “Spanish Flu” because Spain, a neutral country in WWI, had no special censorship for news against the disease and its consequences. Hence the most reliable news came from Spain, giving the false impression that Spain was the most—if not the only—affected zone. So thanks to the honesty of Spain, they are now marred forever by the title of the worst flu epidemic in modern history. The Myth: Amazons were women who cut off one breast so they could use a bow and arrow better Considering how ridiculous this story is, it is hard to believe that so many people believe it. This element of the Amazon myth was invented in the 5th century B.C. The poor Amazons had to start mutilating themselves because some big boob thoughtlessly dabbled in the dark art of etymology without the proper equipment. Hellanicus of Lesbos imagined the name was derived from the Greek prefix a- (“without”) and mazos, a variant of mastos (“breast”). He was surely wrong, but his folk etymology is still firmly embedded in the collective consciousness after more than two dozen centuries. There was no hint before his time, either in writing or art, that the Amazons had anything other than usual complement of breasts, so we can safely assume that the one-breasted image we have of them flowed from the (false) etymology and not vice versa. [Source] The Myth: Jesus spoke Hebrew First of all, Jesus probably did have a knowledge of Hebrew, but he didn’t speak it. The language spoken by Jesus (and the apostles) was Aramaic. Aramaic is a semitic language and it was the day-to-day language of Israel from 539 BC – 70 AD. In fact, contrary to popular belief, some parts of the Bible were never written in Hebrew – but rather Aramaic – chiefly Daniel and Ezra. It is also likely that Jesus was fluent in Greek as this was the secondary language of the region and it was the language of the common version of the Bible used by the Jews at the time. Even one of the most well know sayings of Jesus upon the Cross is Aramaic: “Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani?” meaning “My God, my God, for what have you forsaken me?”
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14-01-2010, 16:38
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Re: Factlets & Fallacies
1. Fingernails grow four times faster than toenails
2. Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people 3. If you rub an onion on your foot – within 30 – 60 minutes you will be able to taste it – this is because it travels through the blood stream 4. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath (if you hold it until you go unconscious, you begin to breath normally as soon as you do) 5. On one square inch of human skin there are 20 million microscopic creatures 6. Armadillos are the only creatures apart from men that can catch leprosy – there are known cases of armadillo to human transfers of the disease 7. A snail can sleep for 3 – 4 years – during which period it does not need food 8. Giraffes can live longer without water than camels 9. The songs of humpback whales can change dramatically from year to year, yet each whale in an oceanwide population always sings the same song as the others [Source] 10. The forces required to remove a foot from quicksand at a speed of one centimeter per second would require the same amount of force as “that needed to lift a medium-sized car.” 11. To test if a pearl is real, you can rub vinegar on it – the composition of the pearl will cause it to bubble furiously 12. Goldfish kept in a dark room turn much paler – and if it wasn’t for the color in the food they eat, they would turn completely white 13. Unlike normal bees, the Queen bee’s stinger is not barbed and can be used repeatedly without harming her 14. Quicksand doesn’t directly kill humans as it is usually not very deep at all – it is the fact that it can be incredibly difficult to remove yourself from quicksand that causes death by the environment – such as exposure. 15. Oysters can change between being female or male 16. Men are over 30% stronger than women on average, especially in the upper body, and men’s brains are heavier than women’s [Source, Source]
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