15 Common Misconceptions That Have Left Me Questioning Everything I Know

Wait, Napoleon wasn't short?!

1. The colour red doesn't make bulls angry.

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Bulls are colourblind, so they technically never see red. The movement of the cape is what riles them up, and the cape is traditionally red to hide inevitable blood stains.

2. The Bible doesn't state that the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate was an apple.

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Despite centuries of art suggesting otherwise, the specific fruit isn’t mentioned. This misconception comes from the fact that the Latin words for evil and apple happened to be the same, but the original Hebrew translation refers to any fruit. Who knows, it could’ve been a banana!

3. For cowboys, the bowler hat– not the Stetson – was the original headgear of choice.

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The bowler hat, originally from Britain, was the go-to in the early 1900s Wild West and was worn by outlaws, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The cowboy hats that we know and love didn’t become popular until the late 1800s after they were used in Western films.

4. Napolean wasn't short.

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We’ve all heard about Napoleon Complex, but it turns out his height of 5′2” was recorded in French feet, and when converted is actually 1.69m. The average height for Frenchmen in the 1800s was around 1.66m, so he was technically above the average.

5. “Ye," – as in, ye olde – is actually just pronounced “the.”

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In old English, the word was spelled "þe.” Although we don’t use the letter "þ" in English anymore, linguistic buffs will know that it’s pronounced with a th sound. "Ye" actually means "you."

6. Fortune cookies are rarely eaten in China.

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Despite the fact that most of us associate them with Chinese restaurants, fortune cookies originated in Japan, and are rarely found in restaurants in China The cookies are referenced in Japanese history literature, with one of the earliest dating back to an etching from 1878.

7. Swallowed chewing gum doesn't stay in your system for seven years.

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Gum is indigestible – meaning that our bodies can’t break it down. It doesn’t hang around though – it just passes through the digestive tract at a normal rate.

8. "Eidelweiss" isn't the Austrian national anthem.

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The song was written for the stage production of The Sound of Music in the 1950s with the aim to show the audience the sadness Captain Von Trapp felt about having to leave Austria.

9. You can't see the Great Wall of China from outer space.

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You might have heard that it’s the only man-made object that can be seen from space, but it's not visible to the naked eye in low Earth orbit, nor from the moon. The theory dates back to 1938, but was proven false when astronauts landed on the moon.

10. Bats aren't blind.

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“Blind as a bat” is another phrase you can throw out the window, because while some bats use echolocation to hunt in the dark, they can see. Some fruit bats have such good vision that they can see ultraviolet light and colour wavelengths that the human eye can’t.

11. And Goldfish's memory can last months.

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Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found that fish are susceptible to conditioning and their memory can last for months. When it comes to goldfish, in particular, studies found that they can remember things for at least three months, and can be trained to push levers to get their food.

12. Stretching doesn't prevent muscle soreness.

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While stretching is thought to improve flexibility, studies have found it doesn’t have an impact on delayed-onset muscle soreness. Researchers believe that this soreness comes from tiny tears in the muscle fibres. So if you’re trying out an intense new workout, don’t expect some stretches to save you from the next-day-aches.

13. Macs aren't immune to viruses.

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If you got away with downloading from Limewire back in the day, you probably know that Macs are pretty secure when it comes to keeping viruses at bay. But while Mac users are well protected, they’re not impervious to viruses– there's specialised malware designed to target their systems.

14. Marie Antoinette never uttered the words: "let them eat cake."

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We’ve all heard the story about the monarch making this insensitive remark in reference to her hungry subjects, but according to historians, it’s just not true. In his autobiography, Rousseau included a rumour that a princess suggested French paupers eat the crust of pâté, but this was published in 1766 when Marie Antoinette was only 10 years old, and not yet married.

15. Having sex before playing sport doesn't negatively impact performance.

NBC

It’s common knowledge that lots of athletes abstain from sex before any big competition, but there is no evidence that it physically affects performance. While the psychological impacts of pre-game sex haven't been explored, it’s been suggested that the rise in testosterone could actually help athletes.

What one shocked you the most? Tell us in the comments!