I grew up learning that Alaska and Hawaii were the two newest US ststes, both becoming states in 1959. I never had any trouble realizing that they were real places before they became states. That might have something to do with the fact that they are disconnected form the rest of the US. Later, I learned that before Alaska and Hawaii, New Mexico and Arizona had been the newest states, becoming states in 1912. Then, I somehow envisioned, for quite some time, that before 1912 there had been a giant bottomless hole in the Earth where New Mexico and Arizona were later to come into existence as states.
A childhood belief about places
others believed things like this
- I used to think that Hawaii and Alaska were different countries. I wondered were the other 2 states where!— x-nicola-x
- I grew up in Hawaii, and was pretty sure that our country, the United States, was the fiftieth stateAnon
- I used to believe that America was one of the states of the United States.— Limor
- I used to believe that every nation in the world were states of U.S.A. . Sometimes I still do.Anon
- i used to think France was in the united states
— TY - I used to think that Los Angeles took up half the United StatesAnon