history

A family member (I don't remember who- not me, I swear) was once told to write a story in school. He began:
"Once upon a time when diosaurs ruled the earth and Grandad was a little boy..."!!!

Rachel

When I first read about Martin Luther (the Protestant founder), I thought the book was wrong and that they really meant Martin Luther King. I was so sure of this for weeks, and I pointed out to everyone how wrong the book was and they left the "King" off his name.

Anon

When i was a little boy, our teacher asked if we knew hwo IBSEN was. (Henrik Ibsen is one of the most famous norwegian writers (19th century))

Well, I didn't now. But i thougt it had somthing to do with ISBN (Internationnal Standard of Book Numbers (or somthing like that)). I had seen that word on the backside of schoolbooks many times, but I was wise enough not to mention it..

Aikheel

As it happened, my Uncle Peter had injured his thumb in some long-ago workshop incident, but when I asked my dad the reason it was so short I got a different story: he casually explained that when you were good Santa brought you toys, but when you were bad he ground up your thumbs!

Well, I didn’t believe that for a second. I did, however, believe for some reason that Walter Cronkite was George Washington. He just looks that trustworthy, I guess.

Charles

In the late 1980s, I learned in school that President Reagan was nearly assassinated in 1981. I asked my father later that day, "Did you know that the President was shot?"
I should have realized that when someone tries to kill the President, even when it is a failed assassination attempt, it is a major news story that people will remember for years. I should have asked him, "What was it like after the President was shot?"

Matt Thiel

When I was 5 or 6, my mom and my aunt would watch the Watergate hearings with me in the room, and they loved making fun of Sen. Lowell Weicker because he would move his eyebrows up and down. They called him Wacky Weicker. So for years I thought there was a U.S. senator actually named Wacky Weicker.

Oh, and I used to believe Watergate was about a gate that held back water. I had no idea it was the name of an office building until I was in my early teens.

Anon

I first heard about Hitler when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. I mixed him up with the painter Whistler. At some point I said something about Hitler being a painter and an adult said yes, he was that and alot more. (True-- Hitler was a failed artist.) When I finally found out about Hitler's deeds, I was horrified-- and very embarrassed that I'd gotten this so confused! Sorry Whistler......

Ellen Levitt

My friend used to wonder where the actual past would go -like what would happen to the past of a car driving down a highway? It still makes me think...

M.M.

My Dad told me various myths, the most memorable being that Harold Lloyd (black-and-white-movie star) had a wooden arm. He also told me that Roy Orbison was black and blind - he's neither.

meena

When I was a kid, I used to think that when I breathed in air, I was breathing in some of the same molecules that had been breathed by famous people in history. Like Moses, Jesus, Einstein. As an adult, I found out that this is actually true; I read a book by Carl Sagan that said that, statistcally speaking, with every breath we breath in some of the air molecules of famous historical figures that have lived and breathed in the past! Who knew?

Smart A** Kid, TX

My grandfather once received a mysterious telephone call. "who was that?" my grandmother asked when he had hung up.
"Oh, that was Bonnie Prince Charlie," replied my grandfather. "He called to invite me to his wedding."
I pestered Grandpa for the next several weeks asking when he was going to the wedding.

BoB

I believed Martin Luther King Jr. was still alive and I might get to meet him someday if I was good.

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