Ignorance Isn't Bliss:The Truth Behind Many Popular "Facts"

The Grimm brothers were not the original authors of their fairytales. The popular book authored by them "The Grimm's Fairy Tales" is a collection of already published stories from other collections and folklore they recorded from storytellers.

The Hundred Years' War was not one hundred years long. It started in 1337 and ended in 1453, thus being 116 years long. Most know it as the Hundred Year war, but in fact there is an "s" at the end of Year. It got its name due to the fact that it lasted longer than one hundred years.

Moths do not eat clothing material such as silk and cotton. Some species of female moths lay huge amounts of eggs that hatch into caterpillars. These caterpillars then feed on the material in order to grow.

West Virginia is not technically west of Virginia it is northwest. Virginia was originally one state until it split in 1861. People in the western counties stayed loyal to the union and created their own government, constitution, and declared their independence. West Virginia was the 35th state to be admitted.

Lucifer is not the real name of Satan. In the Bible the name Lucifer is mentioned one time and is in reference to a king of Babylon.

The speed of sound is not the actual speed at which sound travels. Due to many conditions, sound travels at various speeds. The speed of sound does not even exist as a measurement.

Shooting stars are not stars at all but meteors falling from space. Most burn up before they reach the Earth and there are an estimated 200 million meteors that can be seen from Earth each day.

Women do not have one more rib than men. In the Bible it states that Eve is created from one of Adam's ribs, therefore many people believe that men have one less than women. In fact, both sexes have twenty-four ribs each.

George Washington was not the official first president of the U.S. He was the ninth, but the first under the new constitution. John Hanson was the first president under the Articles of Confederation, the first American constitution.
Leap year occurs every year that is divisible by four (with the exception of centenary years that are not divisible by 400) not every four years.

Cleopatra, once ruler of Egypt, was Macedonian, Greek, and Iranian by blood. Though she was King Ptolemy XIII oldest daughter (also once a ruler of Egypt) she was not Egyptian.

There are actually two types of pandas, the black and white giant panda and a smaller red panda. It is debated whether pandas are actually bears; most zoologists place them both in the raccoon family. Unlike bears, pandas have six fingers, they can't walk on their hind legs, and they don't hibernate.

The Emancipation Proclamation only declared freedom for slaves in areas of confederate control, but the confederacy ignored the proclamation because it was not enforceable by law. Slaves in union states were not affected by the proclamation except to be allowed to serve in some branches of the military. So the Emancipation Proclamation really didn't free any slaves, most slaves remained such until the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.

Bulls do not charge at matadors because of the red capes, they are actually colorblind. They charge at the motion of the cape being moved, the taunting of the people, and the darts that are in their bodies.

Although a sea cucumber looks like a cucumber it is an animal not a plant. It has a mouth, tentacles, and eats.

Icebergs are compacted snow that have broken off from glaciers and compressed into ice, not frozen seawater.

In the bible there is no specific number of wise men nor are they said to be kings. It simply says that some wise men followed the star to a house to visit baby Jesus. Three gifts are mentioned so some have associated that with three wise men bringing them.

There have been two U.S. presidents impeached, not three. Richard Nixon resigned before proceedings began on the recommendation of three articles of impeachment.

The Caspian Sea is a salt lake, not a sea. A sea is connected to the ocean and the Caspian Sea is surrounded by land. It is the biggest inland body of water in the world.

The hump of a camel is used to store food (mostly fat) not water. A camel can go months without water because the hump stores the food allowing it to sweat less and therefore loose less water. In fact, a camel doesn't even start sweating until its temperature reaches 115 degrees.