Myths (Mythbusting)

Bulls get angry when they see the color red.
bulls (like other cattle) are red-green colorblind. What actually triggers the bull's anger is the movement of the cape.

We only use 10 percent of our brains.
Neurology shows that we use all of it all the time. (How did this start?)

Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis
Cracking knuckles is pulling the joints apart, which creates an air bubble between your knuckles that pops. It´s harmless, but it can reduce the amount of synovial fluid that naturally covers the joint. Arthritis is not about the synovial membraine but rather the carilage that connects bones.

Going outside with wet hair can make you sick.
It cannot, but it can cause the onset of symptoms if you are already sick or carrying the germ.

Dirty toilet seats can transmit STDs
Bacteria and viruses can´t live on toilet seats. Parasites could, so that makes
crabs (pubic lice), and Trichomoniasis (one-celled protozan organism) a possibility, but it´s low. Fore more: https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/think-leicester/health-and-medicine/2018/can-you-catch-germs-from-a-public-toilet-seat

Women accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials were burned at the stake.
They were hanged. some died in jail awaiting trial. one was killed with weight. During the Medieval witch trials in Europe, it was common practice to set accused witches on fire.

It takes 7 years to digest swallowed gum.
According to the Mayo Clinic, your body actually can't digest gum at all.


Napoleon Bonaparte was extremely short.
Bonaparte was most likely average height at just over 5'5" tall, History says. Historians suppose the myth that he was uncommonly small is derived from a series of caricatures of the general by British cartoonist James Gillray in the early 1800s.

The forbidden fruit in the story of Adam and Eve was an apple.
Yes, the Bible does say that Adam and Eve ate a forbidden fruit. But despite many Sunday school stories and visual representations depicting that fruit as an apple, it's never stated in the text as such. According to NPR, the apple depiction was the result of some confusion with the Hebrew Bible being translated into Latin, using the term "malus," which translates to both "evil" and "apple."

Sugar causes hyperactivity in children.
A definitive 1995 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that sugar in children's diets does not affect their behavior.

Shaving makes your hair grow back faster.
having your hair doesn't make it change in color, rate of growth, or thickness, says the Mayo Clinic. All it does is give the hair a blunt tip, which might feel more coarse as it grows out. But while it may appear more noticeable or thicker during this time, it isn't in reality.

Most vikings never wore horns on their helmets.
Some warriors may have had horns affixed to their gear, but they mostly had normal metal helmets. Wagner's 1876 opera The Ring of Nibelung inserted the false, mythic image into our minds. (You may remember it from when Elmer Fudd sang it.)

The American Declaration Of Independence was not signed on July 4th.

Congress approved the Declaration of Independence language on the 4th, but the document wasn't signed until August 2, 1776.

Sushi does not mean "raw fish."
It means "sour rice."

Danishes are not from Denmark
They were brought by Austrian bakers who crossed picket lines in Denmark during a baking strike in 1850. That's why they're called "Viennese" in Denmark.