9 Facts You Learned In School That Are No Longer True

Prepare to have your mind blown as we uncover some shocking truths that have been hidden from you all these years.

It’s amazing how our understanding of the world can change over time. Even facts that were once considered indisputable can be proven wrong.

Take, for example, the belief that doctors didn’t need to wash their hands before surgery. We now know that proper hygiene is essential in preventing infections.

And remember those facts you learned in school? Well, it turns out that some of them were taught incorrectly or have since been revised.

Let’s dive into some of these mind-boggling revelations:

THEN: America won its independence on July 4, 1776

NOW: America was not officially independent until seven years later, in 1783.

While we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, it’s important to note that the United States didn’t achieve true independence until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

THEN: George Washington’s teeth were made of wood

NOW: Washington’s teeth were human teeth from his slaves and also made from ivory.

Contrary to popular belief, George Washington’s dentures were not made of wood. They were actually crafted from a combination of human teeth, which he purchased from slaves, and ivory.

THEN: Pluto is a planet

NOW: Pluto isn’t a planet

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Pluto is no longer considered a planet. After the discovery of other celestial bodies beyond Pluto, scientists redefined the criteria for what qualifies as a planet, and Pluto didn’t make the cut.

THEN: Diamond is the hardest substance

NOW: Ultrahard nanotwinned cubic boron nitride is the hardest substance

Move over diamonds, there’s a new contender for the title of hardest substance. Ultrahard nanotwinned cubic boron nitride has been found to be even tougher than a diamond.

THEN: Witches in Salem were burned at the stake

NOW: They were actually hanged

Contrary to popular belief, the witches of Salem were not burned at the stake. They were actually hanged as punishment for their alleged crimes.

Did you know that the townspeople of Salem didn’t actually burn witches at the stake? According to Richard Trask, a town archivist for Danvers, formerly known as Salem Village, and chair of the Salem Village Witchcraft Tercentennial Committee, the idea of burning witches was a misconception. In reality, during the time of the trials, witchcraft was considered a felony punishable by hanging, not burning at the stake. The confusion likely arose from the fact that in Europe, where the church labeled witchcraft as heresy, suspected practitioners were tied up and set on fire. So, the truth is quite different from what we’ve been led to believe.

THEN: Israelite slaves built the pyramids

NOW: Egyptians workers built the pyramids themselves

Contrary to popular belief perpetuated by movies like “The Prince Of Egypt,” there is no mention in the Bible that Israelite slaves built the pyramids. This myth seems to have originated from comments made by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during a visit to Egypt in 1977. However, as Amihai Mazar, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, points out, Jews did not exist during the period when the pyramids were built. Recent archaeological findings confirm that Egyptians themselves built the pyramids. Workers were recruited from poor families in the north and south, and they were highly respected, even earning crypts near the pyramids and proper burial preparations. Slaves would not have been treated with such honor.

THEN: Folding a piece of paper more than seven times is mathematically impossible.

NOW: The record stands at 13.

Remember the rumor that folding a piece of paper more than seven times is mathematically impossible? Well, Britney Gallivan, a California high school student, proved that wrong. With the help of some volunteers and a giant roll of toilet paper, she managed to fold it an astonishing 11 times. She discovered that previous attempts had failed because people were alternating folding directions. Gallivan even developed an equation based on the thickness and width of the paper to explain why it shouldn’t be folded beyond a certain point. Her achievement earned her recognition as a keynote speaker at a mathematics convention and an appearance on MythBusters. In 2012, students at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts, broke Gallivan’s record by folding paper 13 times.

THEN: The Great Wall Of China is the only man-made structure visible from space.

NOW: Many man-made places are visible from space.

It was once believed that the Great Wall of China was the only man-made structure visible from space, even from the moon. However, in 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei shattered this myth when he admitted that he couldn’t see the Great Wall from space. While it is true that under certain conditions, such as snow on the structure or with a zoom-capable camera, glimpses of the Wall can be seen, it is not the only man-made place visible from space. In fact, large cities, major roadways, bridges, airports, dams, reservoirs, and other structures can also be observed. The idea that the Great Wall is visible from the moon is completely false, as confirmed by Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean.

THEN: Five (or three) kingdoms of classification exist.

NOW: There might be as many as eight kingdoms.

In the past, we were taught that there were three or five kingdoms of life: animals, plants, and bacteria (monera), with fungi and protists added in some cases. However, our understanding of life has expanded, and we now know that there may be as many as eight kingdoms. In addition to the original five, we have discovered archaea, which were previously classified under monera. Archaea may look similar to other one-celled organisms called eubacteria, but they are fundamentally different. There are even larger systems that further divide eubacteria into two kingdoms or separate chromista from other protists. In the United States, we generally stick with six kingdoms: plants, animals, protists, fungi, archaebacteria, and eubacteria.

Christina Sterbenz contributed to a previous version of this story.

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