Let's go debunking

1.Money isn't made out of paper. It's made out of cotton.
Well, yes and no. Paper money is made from paper made of rags. Cotton or linen fabric is beaten to create cotton or linen fibers. You have probably heard of "rag paper" or "fine linen writing paper." This is where it comes from.

2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
True, but not shocking. Much of the paper of the day was made of hemp.

3. The dot over the letter i is called a “tittle."
True. The term refers to any raised dot in writing, however.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
Sometimes, depending on the raisin and the champagne. After a while it becomes soaked and sinks to the bottom

5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.
False. Although their ages don't preclude their being mother and daughter, Phyllis Diller and Susan Lucci are not related. Phyllis Driver was born in Ohio in 1917 and married Sherwood Diller in 1939; they had five children together before divorcing in 1965, none of whom was Susan Lucci (who was born in New York in 1946).

6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
Not true, although when they were first introduced, 40% of McDonald’s sales might have been attributable to Happy Meals.

7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
Which Webster’s? There are many dictionaries that carry the Webster name.

8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.
Uh-uh. 7Up’s creator, Charles Leiper Grigg, wasn't an albino. In photographs (albeit black and white ones), he appears normally pigmented, and we've yet to encounter a biography of him that makes any mention of his displaying traits of albinism. (By the way, though it is possible for an albino to have reddish or violet eyes, most people with that condition have blue eyes, and some have hazel or brown eyes.)

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.
Impossible to verify, making it likely this number was pulled out of someone's ass.

10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
True dat.

11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.
Sadly this is true. According to the SPCA, cocoa beans contain the stimulants caffeine and theobromine. Dogs are highly sensitive to these chemicals, called methylxanthines. In dogs, low doses of methylxanthine can cause mild gastrointestinal upset (vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abdominal pain); higher doses can cause rapid heart rate, muscle tremors, seizures, and death

12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
No one has ever witnessed this behavior in nature. Moreover, the two aren’t natural enemies.

13. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
Sort of. A fish scale extract is one ingredient.

14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
False. In late 1977, the city of Helsinki found itself in a bit of a financial crunch. With monetary resources limited, Mr. Markku Holopainen, a local Liberal Party representative, proposed at a meeting of the board of youth affairs that the city economize by discontinuing its purchase of Donald Duck comics for youth centers in favor of hobby and sport publications. His suggestion was heartily approved — and was later incorrectly lambasted by international tabloids as being morally, rather than financially, based.

15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
True (Dr. Miles Compound Extract of Tomato)

16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.
True.

17. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
There is no evidence of da Vinci being ambidextrous. (He was left-handed.) On the other hand (d’oh), he was proficient in the practice of mirror writing, or writing that could only be read if held up to a mirror.

18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
Not true. During World War II, award winners were given statuettes made of plaster, which they were later able to exchange for gold. The only wooden Oscar was an honorary one given to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.

19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
This is true, as a rule. There is also a scarcity of windows. Both practices have the same effect: masking the passage of time.

20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!
Not true. The name Wendy appears twice in the 1881 census of England, one born 1840, and one born in 1880. The magazine Family History also states that Wendy, along with the names Marian and Shirley were once boys’ names, and that in 1797 a boy named Wendy was apprenticed to some one in Glos.

But the name may have even older origins. History makes reference to two different emperors in China who have the name "Wendi" (sometimes also referred to as Wen-Ti).

However, J.M. Barrie’s 1904 novel certainly popularized the name.

21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!
True. Well, “quicksilver” rhymes with “silver,” but that’s cheating.

22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.
Wrong and wrong. Although commonly ascribed to Leonardo da Vinci, scissors were likely invented in 1500 BC in ancient Egypt. These were likely shears with the joint at the far end. Modern cross-bladed scissors were invented by Romans around AD 100.

The entire painting that would later become known as the Mona Lisa was painted in less than four years (1503-1506).


23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
Untrue, since the scorpion’s venom has no effect on the scorpion itself, nor on any member of the same species. So definitely do NOT try this one at home.

24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a Captain Kirk mask painted white.
True, per the Internet Movie Database.

25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)
True.

26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)
True. Simply laying down and swimming is all that is needed to allow escape. The sand's higher density will gradually push a human body upward, eventually allowing the individual to easily paddle toward more solid footing.

27. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
This is a long-standing myth. While we are not certain of its origin, the term "rule of thumb" or similar exists in many languages and cultures. Its likely origin is that the thumb is often used for rough measurement by carpenters, seamstresses, and many others. In fact, the measurement of an inch is believed to have been derived from the distance between the tip of the thumb and the first joint.

The wife-beating claim has been debunked, for instance by Christina Hoff Sommers in her book Who Stole Feminism?. In particular Sommers notes that there is no mention of this in the legal commentaries of William Blackstone.

28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.
Not quite. Motorola started business manufacturing radios for cars, not record players. A number of early companies manufacturing audio and film equipment in the early 20th century used the suffix "-ola".

29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples!
True of celery. Not as true with apples. There are 15 calories in 110 grams of celery. There are 57 calories in the same amount of apple.

30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!
No, but putting a piece of bread between your lips and gums may help, as will cutting onions under cold running water.

31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
True. However, American stamps are kosher, as well, since their glue is also composed of vegetable oil. But they’re not necessarily certified.

32. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries.
False. A recent American Library Association survey indicated the most stolen books are about dreams, witchcraft, astrology and the occult.

33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it.
False. Three days before a flight, astronauts are put on a "low residue diet" so their diaper-style undies won't fill up so fast. If farts could damage a space suit there'd be a lot more astronaut fatalities.