US-Centered
Just reading the section on America, before the one on Europe one immediatly sees how it is everything about the United States with the exception of the mention of Columbus... That's something that really needs improvement!Undead Herle King (talk) 01:23, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
Proposal for removal of unsourced material
There has been a long-standing debate about unreferenced material in this article.
While some of the above issues have been resolved, some have not. Further, it does not appear as if any editors are actively working to resolve them. Therefore, I propose that we set a deadline by which any item or sentence (or phrase) that is currently marked as "citation needed" be removed from the article. I would think that one month should be more than enough time to resolve these issues. Today is May 1. I propose that anything currently marked as "citation needed" still not referenced by June 1st be removed.
Keep in mind that per prior discussions, we should use at least one reliable source per misconception that:
1) Explains the misconception.
2) Describes it as a popular misconception (or words to that effect).
Yes, there are other problems with this article, but let's at least start by addressing the items currently marked with the "citation needed" tags. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 14:05, 1 May 2009 (UTC)
Create a talk page subsection if have concerns about "losing" the content (which is retained in the page history regardless). E.g. Talk:List of common misconceptions/lacking sources. Policy is very clear that unsourced content may be removed when challenged, if there is reasonable reason to believe that a source should be required. Savidan 00:30, 13 May 2009 (UTC)
- I know I'm gonna be way in the minority here, but I think this is a perfect example of where placing policy and process first is a mistake. The article is interesting and thought-provoking, lacking in adequate citation or not. If the only false information provided is how many people have false beliefs, just let the thing live for people who want to read it, rather than *reducing* its value for the sake of policy. -- MQ Duck 02:02, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
William Henry Harrison
I tried finding a source for this item. The best I could come up with is an article from the Chicago Tribune. (I found many cites stating the misconception as true.) The problem I have with the article is that it doesn't really explicitly state that Harrison did not catch the cold during his inauguration speech, it sort of implies it. But maybe I'm being too picky. What do you guys think? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 16:31, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
Common-Misconceptions.com
Has anyone seen this site? It doesn't look like it would qualify as a WP:RS so I don't think we can use it. It's a shame that they don't list their sources. Based on the date of the oldest entry I could find, it looks like the web site went online circa January 25th, 2009. I think I'll add to our External Links.
BTW, they've got a great quote on their article on Darwin Said We Came From Monkeys: " Saying we come from monkeys is like saying you are the child of your cousin.'". A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 19:22, 20 May 2009 (UTC)
Deleted entries
Following are some entries that have been removed from the article, mostly for being unreferenced.
History
Asia
- The belief that gunpowder, even though it was a Chinese invention, was first used for war by the Europeans is a misconception. The Chinese used flamethrowers and gunpowder arrows for military purposes from the 900s CE onward.
The Americas
Christopher Columbus was not the first European to discover North America. The earliest physical evidence of European colonization comes from the Norse: Greenland was settled by Icelanders in 984 CE, and a Norse settlement was established at what is now L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland ca. 1000 CE. Scholars are divided on whether Norse explorer Leif Ericson established the L'Anse aux Meadows settlement.- The Spaniards did not conquer the Aztecs with a "hundred men and a handful of cannons". Although Cortes only brought with him (approximately) 400 soldiers, 100 sailors, and about 10-20 horses, the conquest of the Aztec was a complicated affair which included thousands of natives who allied themselves to Hernán Cortés and a smallpox outbreak.
- The German crowd witnessing John F. Kennedy's speech in Berlin in 1963 did not mistake Ich bin ein Berliner to mean "I am a jelly doughnut." It is an incorrect American notion that he should have said "Ich bin Berliner" rather than "Ich bin ein Berliner". Different areas of Germany refer to a jelly doughnut as a Berliner.
Europe
- The trenches on the Western Front in World War I are often said to have stretched "from the frontier of Switzerland to the English Channel". The trenches reached the coast at the North Sea, not the English Channel. In fact much of the British war effort was a bloody but successful strategy to prevent the Germans reaching the Channel.
- It is a common misconception that the Scottish Tartan has always identified the clan of the wearer. Tartans were more commonly associated with a region, and it is only in modern times that the connection between a pattern and a clan came into being.
- Common misconceptions about vikings: Vikings wore helmets, but not the horned helmets often depicted in media (Viking Helmet from Gjermundbu); horned helmets were used in Celtic religious rituals, but are unsuited for combat, the horns easily catching on weapons – the imagery of horned vikings is believed to come from 19th century Scandinavism romantic nationalist movement. Neither did they drink from skull cups.
Politics
- Former UK prime minister Tony Blair never said that he remembered sitting behind the goal at St James Park watching Jackie Milburn play for Newcastle United. As Milburn retired from football when Blair was four years old and seating was not introduced until the 1990s it was suggested that he lied about it, in an interview in December 1997 with BBC Radio 5 Live, to boost his working class credentials; however he was misquoted, saying his time as a supporter came just after Milburn .
- UK prime minister Gordon Brown never claimed to be a fan of the Arctic Monkeys nor that he wakes up to them. He did say that if they were playing on the radio it would certainly wake him up .
- Peter Mandelson never mistook mushy peas for guacamole. The mistake was made by a young American researcher working for the then Labour leader Neil Kinnock who mischievously attributed the mistake to his colleague Mandelson.
- Sarah Palin never claimed to be able to see Russia from her house in Alaska, an attribution to Tina Fey's parody of Governor Palin. She said, in a September 11 , 2008 interview with Charlie Gibson: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." In a September 25 , 2008 interview with Katie Couric she added: "It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state." Two islands in the Bering Strait called Big Diomede, which sits in Russian territory, and Little Diomede, which is part of the United States are only separated by about two miles and can be seen from one another. The sea between them freezes in the winter.
Cooking
- French fries (or French fried potatoes) did not originate in France. The term comes from frying potatoes in the French method ( frire , meaning "to deep fry"). French fries were invented in Belgium.
- Adding salt to water does not make it boil faster, the salt is just an impurity that allows the water to come to a higher temperature. Furthermore, adding a "pinch" of salt to water will make little or no measurable difference. The salt does, however, introduce free ions to the water, which will help prevent superheating from taking place were the water to be heated by microwave.
Law
- In the United States, Police are not required by law to immediately give the Miranda warning when arresting a suspect, and the Miranda warning is not given only to suspects under arrest. Rather, according to the 1966 United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Miranda v. Arizona , a suspect in custody or in a custodial situation must be informed of these rights before b
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