When I was young, I was driving in the car with my father, and they were talking about politics on the radio. The words "Democrat" and "Republicans" kept coming up, and I asked my dad what the difference was. His response was, "Well, last year they elected a Democrat. In a few years they'll get sick of him and elect a Republican. Then the same thing will happen and they'll elect a Democrat again." This was my understanding of the U.S. political system until around my senior year in high school, when I discovered that it was a bit more complex than that. As my knowledge of politics grew, however, I came to realize that my dad had pretty much summed things up pretty accurately.

Anon

I believed the Frank Prudue of chicken fame and Ed Koch, former mayor of NYC, were brothers.

And my mom told me it was true. She still laughs about it.

Anon

being from england when i was young i used to think that the british and usa boycott of the 1980 moscow olympics was due to the cricketer Geoff Boycott. it was the only boycott i knew at the time!

wicket

I used to believe that the state seal (you know, the picture on the state flag) was an actual animal seal! I believed that every state had an animal seal at the state capitol! I believed this until I was in 7th grade.

Lauren Carroll

When i was little, my dad always watched the news. I kept hearing things about a black hole in China. And for about a year i thought a black hole had hit China and it had been wiped of the map

Anon

I believed I saw Abraham Lincoln on a cross-country car trip when I was 7 years old. I "shook his hand" at a motel in Illinois. I argued with my 2nd grade teacher who called my mother. She explained it was a "stand-in" for Lincoln.

Judy Guffey

Watching the news, during the 70's, my dad would always say, among other things, "goddamn communists!". I asked him what a communist was and he told me they think everyone should make the same wages and nobody can get rich. I couldn't see what the problem was.

holly

I used to think that the poster of Margaret Thatcher on the door of the Conservative Party office was in fact the lady that lived there.

Sam

When I was a preschool kid, I used to believe that kings and queens only existed in fairy tales, like the other characters (dragons, fairies and things like that) that Mom had said were "just make-believe". Seeing news stories from England on TV impressed and confused me at the same time: "Mommy, is that Elizabeth lady real?"

Ingeborg S. Nordén

As a kid I was always hearing on the news about Ronald Reagan and his
"Star Wars" project. Having seen the movie, I naturally concluded that Star
Wars was a perfectly reasonable thing for "Ronald Ray-Gun" to be
interested in.

Ollie

I was born in 1971. I don't remember Nixon resigning. I do remember Carter being elected president. All my memories of Gerald Ford, however, have somehow morphed into Chevy Chase falling off the podium on 'Saturday Night Live.'

queeneve

I belief that it was Ingvar Carlsson who killed Olof palme The swedish primeminstry only becurse Ingvar want to be the new primeministry

Andreas

Up until I was about 15, my dad had convinced me that Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers, I was eventually corrected by my teacher in front of the entire class.

Mike S.

The Whit house down the street was the real "White House".

SG

When I was about 7 or 8, I started hearing people call JFK, "Jack," instead of, "John," like I'd always heard before. I knew he had a brother, but at the time I didn't know his name, so I just assumed that Jack was the brother. I think I even commented that it would have been funny if Jack had married Jackie. Little did I know...

XiuZan

When I was a small child, I used to believe that each night, Jimmy Carter (then president of the US) would come into every little girl's bedroom and say good night. We never did find out who (or what) that person was that I saw each night!

gerbs

I used to believe that Labor Day was a day for honoring all the pregnant women who were going into labor.

Lynn

When I was a kid, I used to believe the government (all) were always good people who wanted to do good and improve life for everyone.

... then I learned about dictators and false promises from democratic leaders.

Anon

When I was a kid in the late 70s my family took a trip to Washington, DC, and we toured the White House. I kept trying to look around corners while standing in line (ultimately to be yanked back in) because I thought that since it was the president's house, someone would come out to greet us. Even Amy Carter would have been great. After all, whenever people would come to OUR house, my mom and dad would have me come out from wherever I was to say hello to our company.

queeneve

I used to believe that Barbara Castle was a building you could visit. (She was a British government minister at the time!)

..maz..