places

Up until the 6th grade or so, I assumed that Washington D.C. was in Washington State. (Naturally!) It was a weird perception shift to realize the White House and the President weren?t just north of me, they were clear across the country.

SillyMe

I thought that Armagh and Baghdad were next to each other because the names went together ('Our Ma' and , em, 'Bag Dad').

Esty

I used to believe that the president lived in Washington state and that he commuted to Washington D.C. for work. (because everyone always said "The president lives in Washington". I thought this was stupid and he should just live in D.C.

Patty, NY

My mom was 40 and we were going to Chicago... she told me to "book a hotel room by the ocean." She also confessed that she thought Hawaii was up by New York. Nevermind, because until I was 18 I thought the Statue of Liberty was in Washington state.

Juliet

I used to believe that the Tallest Mountain in the world, Mt Everist, was actually in my own country, Australia.

Rohan

I overheard a little boy talking with his dad in a bookstore:

"Dad, are England and Europe the same thing?"

This is a common misconception in suburban New Jersey.

Joseph

I used to live in Hawaii while my extended family lived in Utah. We would find ourselves visiting them often, so I thought the entire continental United States was called "Utah."

John

I used to believe that the Lehigh tunnel in Pennsylvania was created by Superman.

Holz

When I was small my mom went to Vegas all the time. I thought it was the city made out of gold in the sky, because I would see the plan take off and not land. :)

jaycee

When I was little, I used to think that whatever direction I was facing was north.

Anon

My dad told me (with a straight face) when I was nine that Mt. Rushmore was made in the same way as the Grand Canyon (i.e. millions of years of water carving through stone). For four years I believed him, speaking to no one about it and wondering why the world wasn't abuzz with excitement and awe that a constant rush of water could eventually carve out exact facial replicas of four of America's greatest historical figures. I thought maybe it had been discussed and accepted by people before I was born and no one therefore no one brought up the wonder of it anymore. When I was 13 I finally asked my mom didn't she find the whole thing amazing and she told me the (less than amazing) truth.

Mel H

I thought that there were mountains in swindon, until I was about 14 when I was told that it was acutally called 'Snowdonia'

Rory Bob Clewlow

i used to believe that the battle of Hastings happened in a field at the edge of our village (which is in Somerset)

Katie

I was born in Brooklyn NY. Until I was 9 and moved upstate, I thought the entire state of NY consisted of the 5 boroughs (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island).

Apparently many people still believe this, as they are shocked when I tell them I live in the mountains of NY...

Anon

When there was a Western movie on telly I wondered why the town of Yonder was always nearby...As in 'Over yonder' or 'he was heading off yonder'. Took me years to work out that America was much bigger than I thought.

Lee W.

I used to think that Chicago was pronounced "Chick-ago". Oh well!

Julia

My Dad told us that Bodmin Beacon (a granite war memorial in Cornwall) was Cornwall's "Coal-fired space rocket", and that it just never got off the ground. We believed him.

Dr. Boggis

I always believed that we lived in Manchester (we didn't) but it was always the main place on the local news!

Richard M

My mum told my older brother that dogs weren't allowed in London.

Fiz