Nine More Myths Debunked

Toilet seats are full of germs.
It is one of the most commons misconceptions that the seats of a toilet are full of germs. A study conducted by the University of Arizona found them to be relatively clean, because they are often disinfected or washed. In fact, they were found to have ten times fewer germs than cell phones.

Alcohol warms you up.
It feels good to have a sip of whisky on a cold day, but that burning sensation is not some kind of interior warmth. In fact, alcohol dilates blood vessels, causing blood to be pumped closer to the skin, leading to a drop in your core body heat. If you are cold, reach for a blanket, not a flask.

Caffeine dehydrates you.
Drinking coffee makes you dehydrated is another myth. While caffeinated drinks do have a slight diuretic effect, researchers have not found any increased risk of dehydration in coffee drinkers compared to non-drinkers.

Coffee comes from beans.
Coffee comes from the pit inside the coffee fruit. They are actually coffee seeds.

Penguins mate for life.
It is true that penguins are monogamous, but they do not stay that way for life. Many change partners from one season to the next.

Baseball was invented in Cooperstown.
That history is an invention, cooked up in 1907 by a committee charged with figuring out the origins of baseball. They gave the credit to Abner Doubleday, a Civil War hero who allegedly invented the game in Cooperstown, NY in 1839. Doubleday was still at West Point in 1839, and he never claimed to have anything to do with baseball. Variations on baseball have been around since the 18th century, from children’s games like rounders to cricket. Baseball as we know it today was the brainchild of New Yorker Alexander Joy Cartwright, a volunteer firefighter and bank clerk who codified a new set of rules, such as the three-strike rules, a diamond-shaped infield, and the foul lines. He also abolished the dangerous practice of tagging runners by throwing balls at them.

French Poodles are French.
The French Poodle is widely believed to have first been bred in Germany, not France. In fact, the word “poodle” comes from the German word Pudelhund, a combination of words meaning “dog” and “to splash.”

Hawaiian pizza comes from Hawaii.
Hawaiian pizza actually originated in Ontario, Canada, when Satellite Restaurant owner and Greek immigrant Sam Panopoulos returned from Detroit, MI having sampled what was then a novelty for Canadians: pizza. He decided to try out pineapple on pizza during 1962 to attract customers to one of his Ontario-based restaurants. He named it Hawaiian pizza after the brand of canned pineapple used on the pie. Incidentally, about 17 percent of all American restaurants are pizzerias, and pineapple is a fruit, just like tomatoes.

Polar Bears have white skin and fur.
That white fur polar bears have is actually two layers of clear fur that appear white to the human eye. Underneath that coat, their skin is actually black.