Common misconceptions

From Wikipedia’s  long List of Common Misconceptions here are a few:

• George Washington did not have wooden teeth.
• 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.”
• Al Gore never said he invented the Internet, though he did state that “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet”.
• Entrapment law in the United States does not forbid police officers from going undercover, or from denying that they are police. It is a common misconception among persons engaged in low-level crime that if an undercover police officer is asked, “Are you a cop?” that they must reveal themselves to avoid entrapment.
• When a meteor lands on Earth (after which it is termed a meteorite), it is not usually hot. In fact, many are found with frost on them.
• Seasons are not caused by Earth being closer to the sun in summer than in winter. Rather, they are caused by Earth’s tilted axis.
• Hair and fingernails do not continue to grow after a person dies. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, giving the appearance of growth.
• An earthworm does not become two worms when cut in half. An earthworm can survive being bisected, but only the front half of the worm (where the mouth is located) can survive, while the other half dries out or starves to death.
• The common cold is not caused by being cold or wet. It is caused by a virus of the rhinovirus family. Being cold or wet may weaken your immune system, making it easier to succumb to the virus.
• The United States Interstate Highway System was not designed with airplane landings in mind.

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