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My Top 20 Myths and Urban Legends

Posted by urikalish • 9/16/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: myths, urban legends

True or False?

#1 - The woman Jack Nicholson always thought to be his sister turned out to be his mother.

#2 - Eating carrots will improve your night vision.

#3 - Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation.

#4 - Spider silk is as strong as the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests.

#5 - The word "kangaroo" comes from an aboriginal Australian phrase meaning "I do not understand."

#6 - Charlie Chaplin once lost a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.

#7 - If you are stung by a jellyfish while swimming in the ocean, you should have someone urinate on the sting.

#8 - A cockroach can survive for several days without its head.

#9 - A large percentage of U.S. paper currency is contaminated with traces of cocaine.

#10 - A computer keyboard harbors more germs than a toilet seat.

#11 - Having a good "base tan" will help prevent sunburn if you'll be spending a lot of time in the sun.

#12 - Eating a poppy-seed bagel or muffin can cause you to fail a drug test.

#13 - Cellular phones have caused explosions at gas stations.

#14 - The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from the moon.

#15 - A coat purchased at a used-clothing store for Professor Marvel's costume in The Wizard of Oz turned out to have originally belonged to L. Frank Baum, the author of the story.

#16 - The outcome of Washington Redskins football games can predict who will win the U.S. presidential election.

#17 - Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

#18 - Arriving late to class, a student mistook examples of famous unsolvable math problems on the blackboard for a homework assignment and solved them.

#19 - Drinking alcohol will warm you up when you're cold.

#20 - You will get sick if you go outside in the cold with wet hair.

Answers here:
urikalish.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-top-20-myths-and-urban-legends.html

User Comments

9/16/07

voodooKobra

4 and 6 are true, I'm pretty sure.

[reply]
9/16/07

Norski

Thanks!

I checked out your blog.

One thing: On a very quick read, I didn't see what your source was.

[reply]
1. 9/17/07
  
  urikalish
  
  I searched the web for days to gather MY top 20, so I have to say it's probably something like a dozen or more websites as sources.
9/17/07

crkian

#14 - The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from the moon.

Cant you see the millenium dome from the moon as well now

[reply]
1. 9/17/07
  
  urikalish
  
  You can see The Great Wall of China from a low earth orbit as well as other man made structures like the Giza pyramids and airports runways, but you can’t see them from the moon.
2. 9/17/07
  
  urikalish
  
  There you go...
9/17/07

crkian

Nice picture, I cant remember where I read aabout seeing the dome from the moon, I may have made it up in my mind

[reply]
9/17/07

morinn

I think that number 6 is correct. I read it back when I was a kid. He lost the contest!

[reply]
9/17/07

morinn

no. 17 is false. I read somewhere that the empire state building was struck by lighting at least 8 times in 10 years

[reply]
1. 9/17/07
  
  crkian
  
  Not in the same place though
9/17/07

crkian

#13 - Cellular phones have caused explosions at gas stations.

Im sure that was proven false on braniacs

[reply]
9/17/07

voodooKobra

Lightning doesn't "remember" where it struck; lightning is but a fast-expanding plasma of ionized particles. Lightning can strike a billion times-- it's just unlikely for it to do so in the same storm. Merely improbably, not impossible.

[reply]
9/17/07

PetLvr

#20 is the everlasting argument with my wife. I've always said it was "true" - you can catch a cold going out in the cold without a jacket or wet hair - however, she insists that you can only get a cold from 'germs' ... geeesh .. talk about *un-scientific* conclusion~ Germs.. haha

[reply]
9/17/07

crkian

Not sure about that one, there is lots of people who work outside and get wet but dont catch colds, also some triathlon runners dont wear hats and never get a cold

[reply]
9/17/07

PetLvr

#13 is FALSE and this YouTube Video was obviously manufactured in the same studio they filmed the so-called landing on the moon.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVvqk-d4AU4

[reply]
1. 9/17/07
  
  crkian
  
  As it mentions it was proberbly static that caused it, I didnt see a cellphone
2. 9/17/07
  
  urikalish
  
  She rubbed her hands on her clothes prior to touching the pump.
  A classic static related accident.