15 Things You Were Taught In School That Were Actually Lies
1.
Human Evolution: Most people have seen the photograph of evolution.
It starts with a crouching ape, to a standing man.
But this actually isn’t the case.
The truth is that humans and apes evolved from a common species.
Although we are 99% related, we didn’t actually derive from apes themselves.
So what is human evolution, exactly?
Well, human evolution is the process of change by which human beings originated from our
apelike ancestors.
Scientific evidence has proven that the behaviours shared by humans originated from these ancestors
after evolving over six million years.
The ability for humans to walk on two legs evolved 4 million years ago, while more recent
human characteristics (such as the brain, the ability to both create and use tools,
and the ability to speak in language) developed more recently - over the past 100,000 years.
Did you know that human beings are primates?
We share very many physical and genetic similarities to apes, who are also a group of primate species.
Humans and gorillas share a common ancestor.
Scientists recognize many different early human species, ranging from 15 to 20 different
species.
2.
Isaac Newton Discovering Gravity: You know that classic story in which Isaac Newton discovered
the physics of gravity after an apple fell on his head?
Get this: it never happened.
Although he might have told a rendered version to his friends, there is no recorded proof
that this happened.
Newton actually spent something like two years on his theory of universal gravity.
3.
The Pilgrims Came to America for more than Freedom: The pilgrims left England as they
were trying to separate from the church.
The part of the story that is often left out is that they then went to Holland where the
separatists had religious freedom.
However, they then came to America because they feared their children were losing their
English heritage.
4.
Columbus Proving the Earth is round: Despite popular belief, Columbus didn’t sail around
the ocean to prove that the earth was round.
At the time, this was already common knowledge and it had even been written 2,000 years before
that in Ancient Greece.
There are many other misconceptions about Columbus.
It is often taught to students that Columbus discovered America, but the truth is, millions
of humans already inhabited the land which would later be known as America in the previous
millennia.
What Columbus actually discovered was the Bahamas Archipelago.
On later voyages, he travelled to Central and South America.
The truth is, he never even got remotely close to what is now considered the United States.
Another commonly held misconception is that Columbus introduced syphilis to Europe.
Researchers state that syphilis did existed in Europe before Columbus, but it was not
recorded because it was not understood.
Many researchers state that there may have been a syphilis outbreak in the 13th century.
They believe this outbreak occurred in the English port of Kingston upon Hull.
DNA analysis of bones from the area suggest that syphilis had been a worldwide disease
before Columbus' voyages began.
Surprised by any of these things you were taught in school that are actually lies?
Keep watching for some even more surprising lies we were taught in school!
5.
Einstein Failed Math: You may have heard the rumor that Einstein wasn’t the best student
and that he had even failed math once.
This is most likely a phrase made up to encourage students because it’s not actually true.
He got good grades in school and by the age of 11, he was reading college-level physics
books.
6.
Slave Workers Built the Pyramids: This is an image that has been a part of history lessons
and movie adaptations for centuries.
However, recent research suggests that the builders were actually paid and well fed.
Workers who died during labor were even buried in a tomb nearby.
7.
Viewing the Great Wall: The Great Wall of China cannot actually be seen by the naked
eye from space.
Although a few parts of it were visible in a photo taken by an astronaut, it can’t
actually be seen.
It is impossible to see the Great Wall of China with the unaided eye, even from low
orbit.
“The Great Wall of China is not visible from orbit with the naked eye,” said Canadian
astronaut Chris Hadfield, who spent five months on the International Space Station between
2012 and 2013.
He also stated that the Great Wall is too narrow and that it actually follows the natural
colors and contours of the landscape.
However, you can see desert roads and long bridges.
In fact, NASA has even confirmed that the picture taken by United States astronaut Leroy
Chiao which people thought to be an image of the Great Wall of China from space was
actually taken with a zoomed in lens.
In fact, Chiao himself even said that he could not see the Wall with his eyes, and wasn't
even sure if the structure he took a picture of was the Great Wall.
8.
Christopher Columbus Discovered America - It was someone else: As we mentioned earlier
in the video, Christopher Columbus didn't discover America.
It was someone else who discovered America about 400 years before Columbus was even born.
Leif Ericson sailed the globe and ended up in what is now Canada.
However, the people there only survived a couple hundred years.
This was mostly likely due to conflicts with the native population.
9.
Blue Veins: Although your veins appear blue, this actually has nothing to do with oxygen.
It just appears de-oxygenated blue to the naked eye because of the way light penetrates
the skin.
Blood is always red!
10.
Edison Invented the Lightbulb: Usually, Thomas Edison gets the sole credit for the invention
of the light bulb.
However, 70 years prior, Humphry Davy had already invented the arc light.
There were several people working on plans for light bulbs, it just happened to be Edison
and his team that came up with the perfect formula.
11.
Humans have 5 Senses: Everyone is familiar with the five senses (smell, sight, hearing,
taste, and touch) but did you know that these are just your primary senses and not your
only senses?
Humans actually have up to 20 senses including sense of space, vibration, time, direction,
and temperature.
12.
Toilet Flushing Across the Globe: Contrary to popular belief, the water doesn’t run
down the drain in the opposite direction in the different hemispheres.
It really only has to do with the shape and angle of the bowl.
13.
The Trojan Horse: This is the theory that the Greeks offered their enemy a giant horse
as a gift.
When the gift was brought into the city it was supposedly filled with soldiers who took
the town.
Although it was mentioned in The Odyssey it was most likely just a myth.
14.
Space is Zero Gravity: Although astronauts are able to float around in space, there isn’t
zero gravity.
There is still gravity up there, it just diminishes the further you move from earth.
In fact, the reason astronauts feel completely weightless when they are in space has to do
with the position they are in compared to the spaceship.
On earth, we feel weight because of the force of gravity pulling us down, and the ground
stops us from actually falling.
Spaceships which are in orbit around the earth are actually slowly falling down to earth.
Because the spaceship and the astronauts are falling at the exact same speed, the astronauts
do not have anything to fall down on, making them feel weightless.
Think about the momentary feeling of weightlessness you feel when you are in a fast moving elevator
or speeding down a roller coaster.
That is similar to what astronauts feel when they are in space!
15.
We only use 10% of our brains: Thanks to movies such as Lucy and Matilda, people assume that
there is a large portion of the brain not being used and when unlocked we can access
cool powers.
The entire brain is active throughout the day.
We were taught so many things in school.
Being the young kids we were, we most likely believed most of the facts that were thrown
our way.
But how many of them were actually true?
I bet you didn’t expect that some of the facts that you were taught are actually false.
For example, can you really see the Great Wall of China from space?
And do humans really only use 10% of their brain power?
We’ll be the judge of that.
And there you have it!
15 facts that you were taught in school that actually weren’t true at all.
While some of these things that we were taught seem like common sense, there are some highly
debated topics that are taught about in schools which are not necessarily true.
Interesting, right?
What are some of the most surprising things you learned in this video?
And what other things were you taught at school that were actually lies?
Let us know in the comments section below!
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