Napoleon was short
He was actually 5' 7". The confusion comes from him being listed at 5' 2" at this death, but that was measured in French feet and inches, which was slightly larger than Imperial units.
Don't Swim after Eating
Going swimming after eating might make you short of breath if you have a full stomach, but it won't cause cramps. Alcohol can cause cramps when swimming, though.
Salty Water Boils Quicker
No it doesn't. And depending on the amount of salt, it can take longer to boil.
Oil Stops Pasta from Sticking
No it doesn't. Stirring the pasta stops it from sticking. Any added oil just sits there floating on the top of the water, regardless of how roiling the boil.
Three Wise Men visited Jesus the Day He was Born
The belief is that three kings, all wise men from the east, rode atop camels and followed a star to Bethlehem, bearing gifts for the newborn Christ child who lay in a manger. Yeah, well, Matthew doesn't say how many wise men came from the east, doesn't mention their names, and doesn't provide any details about how they made their journey. All Matthew says is that an unknown number of wise men visited Jesus in a house, not in a stable.
The Great Wall of China
No, it can't be seen from space. Not without a telescope or high magnification binoculars.
Toilets Down Under
No, toilets do not flush counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. In either hemisphere, the water rotates in the direction of the water jets exiting the holes in the bowl rim.
Humans Co-existed with Dinosaurs
41% of US adults believe that. Humans and dinosaurs actually missed each other by 64 million years.
The Five Senses
Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, Smell. This is a major diss to the 21 other senses, including balance, pressure, temperature, pain, and motion.
Vaccines cause Autism
Go to Staples or Office Depot or even Walmart and buy a ream of printer or copier paper. Open it up and closely examine every piece of paper. On those pages you will discover all of the scientific evidence that vaccines cause Autism.
Don't Touch Baby Birds
Most birds have virtually no sense of smell, and will not abandon a baby that "smells" of humans. Bison, on the other hand...
Alcohol Kills Brain Cells
It doesn't kill them, but it does damage them.
Missing Persons and 24 hours
You really don't have to wait 24 hours before filing a police report for a missing person. Well, you do on TV and in the movies, but not at real police stations.
Different parts of the Tongue taste different things
No. All parts of the tongue have the same taste receptors. They all taste the same bitter, sour, salty, sweet, and savory.
We only use 10% of our Brain
That's so wrong it's laughable. The brain represents three percent of the body's weight and uses 20 percent of the body's energy. We use 15% of the brain just to regulate involuntary actions like heartbeat, breathing, digestion, growing hair, etc. Open your eyes and let the light in and 5-9% of the brain is used just to process the information coming through the lenses. The total percentage of the brain firing at any given moment is task dependent, but at the end of the day we use pretty much every part of the brain at some point or another. Same as every other body part we have.
Body Heat and your Head
Only in infants is the most heat lost through the head. For toddlers on up it's the body not the head.
Blind as a Bat
Bats can see almost as well as humans. And just like humans, they can't see very well in the dark. And in the dark, hearing becomes much more important than sight, for both humans and bats. Bat have echolocation. Humans do not. Humans have flashlights.
Caffeine is a Diuretic
Only if you rarely consume caffeine. A tolerance against the diuretic effect happens quickly, within a few days of one daily cup of coffee.
Shaving Thickens Hair
No, it just grows back with a blunt tip, making it feel more coarse or thicker. Mowing grass doesn't make it thicker, either.
7 Years to Digest Gum
The chewy base of gum is indigestible and passes right through, same as corn, within a day or three.
Vikings had Horns on their Helmets
Horned helmets was an invention of an 19th costume designer for a Wagner opera. Prior to that Wagner performance, Vikings never wore helmets with horns.
Alcohol Warms you Up
Alcohol dilates the small blood vessels near the skin, lowering your body temperature.
Vomitoriums were used as Regurgitation Chambers
The Latin word vomitorium, plural vomitoria, derives from the verb vomo and vomere, which means "to spew forth" and from -orium which means place for a particular function. Hence, the place to spew forth. In ancient Roman architecture, vomitoria were designed to provide rapid egress for large crowds at amphitheaters and stadiums, just as they do today in modern sports stadiums and large theaters. A vomitorium is simply a large entrance/exit.
Sugar = Hyperactivity in Kids
Hyperactive kids, or poor or rowdy behavior, is exactly the same whether hopped up on sugar or on sugar-free diets.
Bulls Hate Red
Bull, like dogs, are color blind, ya know.
Bagpipes are Scottish
Sorry John and Braveheart fans. Origins are from the Middle East, with the earliest know evidence being a sculpture of bagpipes on a Hittite slab at Euyuk in Turkey and is from about 100 BC. Ancient Greeks played a kind of flute attached to a wine skin bag tucked under the arm pit. Bagpipes may have been introduced to the British Isles during the Roman rule in about 300 AD, but there is no evidence of them being in the region until early in the second millennium.
Toads Cause Warts
Humans can only catch warts from other humans, such as when shaking hands, turning doorknobs, or typing on keyboards. Warts are caused by viruses in the human papillomavirus, or HPV, family, which frogs and toads don't have. The only thing you are likely to catch from a frog, toad, or an other reptile or amphibian, is Salmonella.
SOS = Save Our Ship
SOS actually stands for SOS, which was selected as a Morse Code distress signal because it's easy to transmit, and because it is the only nine-element signal in Morse Code, with no other elements being more than eight elements.
Adam and Eve Ate an Apple
Nowhere in the entirety of Genesis does it say the Tree of Knowledge was an apple tree.
Sleepers Swallow Eight Spiders a Year
That's exactly eight more than you actually swallow in a year, and probably in your lifetime.
Mount Everest is the Tallest Mountain
Depends. It is if measured above sea level. Mount Everest is 29,035 feet above sea level. Mauna Kea is just 13,796 feet in altitude, but measured from its base it rises 4,000 feet from the ocean floor. So, Mount Everest has a higher altitude, and Mauna Kea is "taller," however, because the Earth is not a perfect sphere, it is an oblate spheroid and bulges in the middle along the Equator, Chimborazo in Ecuador has an altitude of 20,703 feet, but is 1.2 miles father from the center of the Earth than is Mount Everest. And despite being on the Equator, Chimborazo has a permanent ice cap.
Vincent Van Gogh Cur off His Ear for a Lover
He cut off a small portion of the ear lobe during a violent argument with fellow painter and extremely, very close close, maybe a little too close close for heterosexual comfort, friend Paul Gauguin. He didn't cut it off on purpose. He told the police he cut if off by accident while flailing around a razor during the argument. Van Gogh also had a small cut on his neck that would be explained by Gauguin, an expert fencer, slashing off the ear lobe and nicking the neck, probably by accident. He did give the lobe piece to a girl, a prostitute down the street, and then immediately returned home whole still bleeding profusely. The girl alerted the police the next day, who found Van Gogh in his bed, still bleeding and nearly dead, unconscious. The fight was over Gauguin telling Van Gogh that he was leaving him, for good. When Van Gogh awoke in the hospital he asked to see Gauguin, who refused to see him, and left town the next day and went back to Paris. Some weeks later Van Gogh wrote to Gauguin and said, "I will keep quiet about this and so will you." And they kept quiet, so we will never know the full complexity of the cutting off of the ear.
The Pilgrims Landed at Plymouth Rock
No prudent mariner would try to bring a ship alongside a boulder on a heaving December sea when a sheltered inlet beckoned from near by. The Pilgrims landed at present-day Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod in November 1620 before moving to Plymouth, according to contemporaneous journals written by the actual Pilgrims. The notion of landing at Plymouth Rock came about 121 years after they landed, much like the descendants of Betsy Ross coming up with her sewing the first flag - there's a whole tourist cottage industry built around it, including the Betsy Ross House where she did the actual sewing (despite her never having lived there and the house having been built after the first flag was made).
Kim Kardashian (or Some Other Story) Breaks the Internet
The Internet has never been shut down since it first went into operation. That would require the breaking of millions of computers and routers all at the same time.
Slaves Built the Pyramids
There may have been some slave labor in the construction, but in general working on the Pyramids was considered a great honor only given to skilled workers, and they were highly paid according to the records of the buildings themselves.
Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey as our National Symbol
Actually, when designing the national seal, he proposed an image of Moses as the National Symbol. Franklin was against the Eagle as our nation's symbol, being that the eagle is "a Bird of bad moral Character… Besides he is a rank coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our country…" Franklin was not pleased with the artist's conception of the eagle on the seal, saying that it looks more like a turkey, and, "for the truth, the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.” But Franklin never actually proposed the turkey as our national symbol.
Ninjas Wore Black
In the movies they do, but in real life they wore whatever helped them blend in to daily life so they didn't stand out at all.
You Can Make Money with a Cargo Van in Expediting
Again, so wrong as to be laughable.
He was actually 5' 7". The confusion comes from him being listed at 5' 2" at this death, but that was measured in French feet and inches, which was slightly larger than Imperial units.
Don't Swim after Eating
Going swimming after eating might make you short of breath if you have a full stomach, but it won't cause cramps. Alcohol can cause cramps when swimming, though.
Salty Water Boils Quicker
No it doesn't. And depending on the amount of salt, it can take longer to boil.
Oil Stops Pasta from Sticking
No it doesn't. Stirring the pasta stops it from sticking. Any added oil just sits there floating on the top of the water, regardless of how roiling the boil.
Three Wise Men visited Jesus the Day He was Born
The belief is that three kings, all wise men from the east, rode atop camels and followed a star to Bethlehem, bearing gifts for the newborn Christ child who lay in a manger. Yeah, well, Matthew doesn't say how many wise men came from the east, doesn't mention their names, and doesn't provide any details about how they made their journey. All Matthew says is that an unknown number of wise men visited Jesus in a house, not in a stable.
The Great Wall of China
No, it can't be seen from space. Not without a telescope or high magnification binoculars.
Toilets Down Under
No, toilets do not flush counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. In either hemisphere, the water rotates in the direction of the water jets exiting the holes in the bowl rim.
Humans Co-existed with Dinosaurs
41% of US adults believe that. Humans and dinosaurs actually missed each other by 64 million years.
The Five Senses
Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, Smell. This is a major diss to the 21 other senses, including balance, pressure, temperature, pain, and motion.
Vaccines cause Autism
Go to Staples or Office Depot or even Walmart and buy a ream of printer or copier paper. Open it up and closely examine every piece of paper. On those pages you will discover all of the scientific evidence that vaccines cause Autism.
Don't Touch Baby Birds
Most birds have virtually no sense of smell, and will not abandon a baby that "smells" of humans. Bison, on the other hand...
Alcohol Kills Brain Cells
It doesn't kill them, but it does damage them.
Missing Persons and 24 hours
You really don't have to wait 24 hours before filing a police report for a missing person. Well, you do on TV and in the movies, but not at real police stations.
Different parts of the Tongue taste different things
No. All parts of the tongue have the same taste receptors. They all taste the same bitter, sour, salty, sweet, and savory.
We only use 10% of our Brain
That's so wrong it's laughable. The brain represents three percent of the body's weight and uses 20 percent of the body's energy. We use 15% of the brain just to regulate involuntary actions like heartbeat, breathing, digestion, growing hair, etc. Open your eyes and let the light in and 5-9% of the brain is used just to process the information coming through the lenses. The total percentage of the brain firing at any given moment is task dependent, but at the end of the day we use pretty much every part of the brain at some point or another. Same as every other body part we have.
Body Heat and your Head
Only in infants is the most heat lost through the head. For toddlers on up it's the body not the head.
Blind as a Bat
Bats can see almost as well as humans. And just like humans, they can't see very well in the dark. And in the dark, hearing becomes much more important than sight, for both humans and bats. Bat have echolocation. Humans do not. Humans have flashlights.
Caffeine is a Diuretic
Only if you rarely consume caffeine. A tolerance against the diuretic effect happens quickly, within a few days of one daily cup of coffee.
Shaving Thickens Hair
No, it just grows back with a blunt tip, making it feel more coarse or thicker. Mowing grass doesn't make it thicker, either.
7 Years to Digest Gum
The chewy base of gum is indigestible and passes right through, same as corn, within a day or three.
Vikings had Horns on their Helmets
Horned helmets was an invention of an 19th costume designer for a Wagner opera. Prior to that Wagner performance, Vikings never wore helmets with horns.
Alcohol Warms you Up
Alcohol dilates the small blood vessels near the skin, lowering your body temperature.
Vomitoriums were used as Regurgitation Chambers
The Latin word vomitorium, plural vomitoria, derives from the verb vomo and vomere, which means "to spew forth" and from -orium which means place for a particular function. Hence, the place to spew forth. In ancient Roman architecture, vomitoria were designed to provide rapid egress for large crowds at amphitheaters and stadiums, just as they do today in modern sports stadiums and large theaters. A vomitorium is simply a large entrance/exit.
Sugar = Hyperactivity in Kids
Hyperactive kids, or poor or rowdy behavior, is exactly the same whether hopped up on sugar or on sugar-free diets.
Bulls Hate Red
Bull, like dogs, are color blind, ya know.
Bagpipes are Scottish
Sorry John and Braveheart fans. Origins are from the Middle East, with the earliest know evidence being a sculpture of bagpipes on a Hittite slab at Euyuk in Turkey and is from about 100 BC. Ancient Greeks played a kind of flute attached to a wine skin bag tucked under the arm pit. Bagpipes may have been introduced to the British Isles during the Roman rule in about 300 AD, but there is no evidence of them being in the region until early in the second millennium.
Toads Cause Warts
Humans can only catch warts from other humans, such as when shaking hands, turning doorknobs, or typing on keyboards. Warts are caused by viruses in the human papillomavirus, or HPV, family, which frogs and toads don't have. The only thing you are likely to catch from a frog, toad, or an other reptile or amphibian, is Salmonella.
SOS = Save Our Ship
SOS actually stands for SOS, which was selected as a Morse Code distress signal because it's easy to transmit, and because it is the only nine-element signal in Morse Code, with no other elements being more than eight elements.
Adam and Eve Ate an Apple
Nowhere in the entirety of Genesis does it say the Tree of Knowledge was an apple tree.
Sleepers Swallow Eight Spiders a Year
That's exactly eight more than you actually swallow in a year, and probably in your lifetime.
Mount Everest is the Tallest Mountain
Depends. It is if measured above sea level. Mount Everest is 29,035 feet above sea level. Mauna Kea is just 13,796 feet in altitude, but measured from its base it rises 4,000 feet from the ocean floor. So, Mount Everest has a higher altitude, and Mauna Kea is "taller," however, because the Earth is not a perfect sphere, it is an oblate spheroid and bulges in the middle along the Equator, Chimborazo in Ecuador has an altitude of 20,703 feet, but is 1.2 miles father from the center of the Earth than is Mount Everest. And despite being on the Equator, Chimborazo has a permanent ice cap.
Vincent Van Gogh Cur off His Ear for a Lover
He cut off a small portion of the ear lobe during a violent argument with fellow painter and extremely, very close close, maybe a little too close close for heterosexual comfort, friend Paul Gauguin. He didn't cut it off on purpose. He told the police he cut if off by accident while flailing around a razor during the argument. Van Gogh also had a small cut on his neck that would be explained by Gauguin, an expert fencer, slashing off the ear lobe and nicking the neck, probably by accident. He did give the lobe piece to a girl, a prostitute down the street, and then immediately returned home whole still bleeding profusely. The girl alerted the police the next day, who found Van Gogh in his bed, still bleeding and nearly dead, unconscious. The fight was over Gauguin telling Van Gogh that he was leaving him, for good. When Van Gogh awoke in the hospital he asked to see Gauguin, who refused to see him, and left town the next day and went back to Paris. Some weeks later Van Gogh wrote to Gauguin and said, "I will keep quiet about this and so will you." And they kept quiet, so we will never know the full complexity of the cutting off of the ear.
The Pilgrims Landed at Plymouth Rock
No prudent mariner would try to bring a ship alongside a boulder on a heaving December sea when a sheltered inlet beckoned from near by. The Pilgrims landed at present-day Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod in November 1620 before moving to Plymouth, according to contemporaneous journals written by the actual Pilgrims. The notion of landing at Plymouth Rock came about 121 years after they landed, much like the descendants of Betsy Ross coming up with her sewing the first flag - there's a whole tourist cottage industry built around it, including the Betsy Ross House where she did the actual sewing (despite her never having lived there and the house having been built after the first flag was made).
Kim Kardashian (or Some Other Story) Breaks the Internet
The Internet has never been shut down since it first went into operation. That would require the breaking of millions of computers and routers all at the same time.
Slaves Built the Pyramids
There may have been some slave labor in the construction, but in general working on the Pyramids was considered a great honor only given to skilled workers, and they were highly paid according to the records of the buildings themselves.
Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey as our National Symbol
Actually, when designing the national seal, he proposed an image of Moses as the National Symbol. Franklin was against the Eagle as our nation's symbol, being that the eagle is "a Bird of bad moral Character… Besides he is a rank coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our country…" Franklin was not pleased with the artist's conception of the eagle on the seal, saying that it looks more like a turkey, and, "for the truth, the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.” But Franklin never actually proposed the turkey as our national symbol.
Ninjas Wore Black
In the movies they do, but in real life they wore whatever helped them blend in to daily life so they didn't stand out at all.
You Can Make Money with a Cargo Van in Expediting
Again, so wrong as to be laughable.
