Did you know these facts?

Question

The telephone was actually invented by Antonio Meucci, not Alexander Graham Bell.
It's said that Henry VIII had just two wives, not six.
Some neurologists say that human beings have at least nine senses, not just five.
Water is actually blue, not "transparent".
The universe is beige, not black with silvery bits.
Jesus wasn't born in a stable.
The largest living thing is a mushroom.
Reindeers wre the first animals to be domesticated, and Rudolph the red nose reindeer must have actually been a girl, despite the song saying "his nose so bright".
Columbus thought the Earth was pear-shaped and about a quarter of its actual size.

Interesting? I think so. There are loads of strange facts in The Book of General Ignorance, by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson.

According to that book, water has a very faint blue tinge.
Karen about others, i don't believe everything i hear, but do you? maybe these things aren't true, but i'm sure you believe lots of things which you've been told but haven't actually got proof of.

Emily: Again, these things may be untrue, but who's to say what you said in your first paragraph is actually true? don't these facts have just as much of a chance at being true as what you say? how do you know columbus thought the earth was flat? maybe he did think it was pear shaped...maybe not.
i didn't actually say rudolph existed, i meant that if he did, he must have been a girl because male reindeer lose their antlers at the beggining of the winter, and females keep them til they give birth in the spring.
i said human's have AT LEAST nine senses, i didn't rule out that they could have more.
and if the unverse has billions of startsm wouldn't there be a star everywhere we looked? in that case, how could there be black spots of nothingness?

Answer 1

I'm not surprised Columbus thought the world was pear-shaped.
The man was a plonker! He set out not knowing where he was going, didn't know how to get there, and when he got there, he didn't know where he was!

Answer 2

I'm not sure if the book you're getting these facts from is any good...

1. Water is transparent, the blue is the reflection of the sky onto water (you bathwater isn't blue, is it?)
2. The universe has not color. The blackness is caused by lack of substance (there's nothing there), and the "silvery bits" are stars that are letting off white light, causing the silver effect.
3. Columbus thought that the Earth was flat, as most people of the time did.
4. There is lots of evidence that shows that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and that Henry VIII had six wives

Many of the rest of them are general knowledge or didn't make sense...
1. Jesus was Jewish, not born in a stable, and not born on December 25th. His birthday is just celebrated then because the Christians wanted to compete with the Pegan celebration of the solstice on the 21st.
2. What evidence is there that Rudolph even ever existed, let alone that he/she would be a female?
3. There are up to 16 senses, just not ones that we are aware of using and we use every day.
4. Since fungi can spread very easily, it would make sense that the largest living thing is a mushroom, other living things simply are not able to grow as big.

Answer 3

I heard about the reindeers being the first domesticated animal on the qi programme with stephen fry, I cant see how a mushroom is the largest living thing, im bigger than a mushroom and why is it when I run the tap my water is transparent.

Answer 4

interesting facts but might have to read the book and the evidence behind it before i agree with it all!

Answer 5

thans for the tips
very interesting indeed

Answer 6

Do you believe everything you hear?

Answer 7

.... If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bull-s**t.

Answer 8

Ok.....now prove they're true!! :P