Facts
Generally speaking, most people take facts as a given. They aren't normally questioned since facts are facts, right? But sometimes, facts aren't exactly as credible as they seem.
Some Redditors decided to give some insight on which facts in history are actual facts. There are more times than you'd think when facts can actually be exaggerated or even wrong.
Mother's Rejecting Their Young
Birds will reject a hatchling if it smells like a human has touched it. It turns out birds don't rely on their sense of smell that much, and they're generally happy to get their babies back.
This "fact" was created to stop kids from touching baby birds. It's gross and can cause illness. There is a whole genre of myths and facts meant to stop children from doing dangerous things.
Lightning Never Strikes Twice
"Lightning never strikes twice in the same place." Actually, it does - and with great frequency. Roy Sullivan was a park ranger who was struck by lightning seven times. It is in the Guinness book of records.
Could you imagine that; you survive the 1st strike-wow how lucky am I. 2nd strike-no way, what are the odds. 3rd strike-really, are you serious? 4th strike-this is unprecedented. 5th strike-I'm not surprised. 6th strike-I'm used to it. 7th strike - I would feel more shocked if it didn't hit me. Also, his wife was struck by lightning too.
McDonald's
That the person who sued McDonald's over spilled coffee did it to abuse the legal system and get free money.
The old woman actually suffered third-degree burns on her lap. She first discretely contacted McD and asked them just to cover her large medical expenses from her injuries. They responded by giving her a $75 gift card. She felt like she had no choice but to sue them.
Goldfish
Goldfish has a three-second memory or whatever. They are actually fairly intelligent for fish and can be target trained for food. They'll remember their keeper's face, and studies suggest without continual reinforcement, their memories last about three months.
They're also not 'easy' pets, do not belong in bowls, and really need at least a 40-gallon tank for two fancies and around a 100-gallon for two commons. They're pond animals related to the Prussian carp. They get about a foot long.
Bananas
While bananas are tasty, the idea that they are the best source of potassium for your diet is wildly overblown. In fact, I think it's probably one of the most overly promulgated "fruit facts" out there.
In fact, oranges, prunes, and watermelon rival it or outright beat the potassium content. And what's more? A literal potato has more potassium.
Bats
That bats have terrible eyesight. Their eyes are actually almost as good as humans. Some breeds have even better eyesight than humans. Same with some species of sharks, too, if I remember right.
Great White's, don't mistake you for a seal. They're just (albeit EXTREMELY rarely) jerks to us. Also, Lemmings do not throw themselves off cliffs.
Yellowstone Caldera
I'm a geologist, and the idea that the Yellowstone caldera is "overdue" for an eruption drives me insane. That is only if you base its eruption cycle on the previous two eruptions. The time between the 1st eruption and 2nd eruption was just under a million years, and it hasn't been that long since the 3rd and most recent eruption.
But really, volcanoes do not follow cyclical eruption patterns as the public seems to believe. It's important to note that the term "relative" in geologic time and human time is not even near the same. Something could be "relatively recent" in geologic time, and that could mean 20 million years ago.
Non-Existent Bird
It might not be common, but my biology teacher in high school, along with the chemistry teacher, once held a big project about a non-existent bird and how evolution had made it wonky. They went all-in on the prank, made up pages about it, etc., only to forget to actually tell the classes that while they learned a lot about evolution, it was a big prank.
I can't help but wonder what those 30-60 people are today. Do they still think about the bird? Do they brag about knowing facts about the bird at parties?
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the line "There some who call me... Tim" is said to be improvised due to John Cleese forgetting the actual name of his role, which was long and complicated, and everyone went with it.
That isn't true. In all versions of the scripts, that role was always named "Tim the Enchanter," and the line was always: "There are some who call me (Dramatic Pause) Tim." Besides, what is funnier: "There some who call me (Long and Complicated Name)" or "There are some who call me (Dramatic Pause) Tim."
Menstruation
Menstruation has no connection to the moon, and women don't sync up due to cohabitation or detecting each other's hormones.
These are just events that roughly follow a monthly cycle. Over time they might appear to converge, but they will then diverge without people thinking about it. Our brains are always looking for patterns, and this is a false positive like with pareidolia.
5 Senses
That we have five senses as well sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, we have a lot of other senses. These senses are:
Pain, balance, temperature, body position, bodily intactness, pressure, hunger, thirst, time, hormones, carbon dioxide level/suffocation, tiredness, acceleration, urination, defecation, and skin vasodilation. I think there are others that are related to those main senses.
Money Doesn't Buy Happiness
Money doesn't buy happiness, but lack of it will leave you stressed out and unable to think about anything else. They've done studies that the effects of happiness and more money flatten out to around 80K/year for an individual and 140K for a family.
That's the secret, I don't buy happiness, but it does buy most of the things required for happiness.
Bass
Bass guitar is easier because it has fewer strings. The reality is that the bass sits between the guitars and the percussion, complimenting the drums and augmenting the music, so there's no room for timing errors.
Also, the heavier strings can cause sympathetic vibrations in the strings you're not playing, so damping is as important as your playing technique.
Snakes
Most snakes are venomous (The complete opposite, 82% of all snakes are non-venomous, with 11% being mildly venomous but not medically significant to humans, and only 7% potently venomous) Black mambas/cottonmouths will chase you.
Birds are their own class of animals, spoiler alert, they're actually reptiles, and if you look close enough, they share a huge amount of traits, even though their behaviors are similar.