# Good stories that aren't true **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418 "2012-02-20T14:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/1 "2012-02-20T14:18:56Z")
OK Columbus didn’t prove the world was round, George Washington never chopped the cherry tree down, Everett Dirksen never said ‘‘A billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money.’’, Galileo never dropped the balls off the tower of Pisa, etc. What other great stories never happened? I started to post this in GQ, but decided people might questions some of them. We can argue all day here. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/2 "2012-02-20T16:09:19Z")
The word “bug” is not used to describe computer problems because Grace Hopper’s team found a moth in their computer in the 1940s - the term ‘bug’ had been used for decades to describe difficult-to-find problems in electrical or mechanical systems: that’s why Hopper and her associates thought it was notable that their problem was caused by a real bug Cites: [http://features.techworld.com/applications/3301346/moth-in-the-machine-debugging-the-origins-of-bug/](http://features.techworld.com/applications/3301346/moth-in-the-machine-debugging-the-origins-of-bug/) [http://oed.com/view/Entry/24352#eid12526200](http://oed.com/view/Entry/24352#eid12526200) (see meaning 3.b) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/3 "2012-02-20T16:15:12Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > I started to post this in GQ, but decided people might questions some of them. We can argue all day here. Actually, challenges are permitted in GQ and there is no actual “debate” associated with this question. I’m sending this thread to GQ and the Mods there can pass it to MPSIMS or IMHO if it turns in those directions. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/4 "2012-02-20T16:17:32Z")
Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/5 "2012-02-20T16:20:25Z")
Jimmy Stewart was the man who shot Liberty Valance. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/6 "2012-02-20T16:21:44Z")
11/15/2002, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense “Five days or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last longer.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/7 "2012-02-20T16:23:30Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > OK Columbus didn’t prove the world was round, George Washington never chopped the cherry tree down, Everett Dirksen never said ‘‘A billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money.’’, Galileo never dropped the balls off the tower of Pisa, etc. What other great stories never happened? I started to post this in GQ, but decided people might questions some of them. We can argue all day here. Eliot Ness wasn’t the guy who brought Al Capone to justice. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/8 "2012-02-20T16:28:55Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > 11/15/2002, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense > “Five days or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last longer.” [Moderator Note] That’s not in the same category as what the OP is talking about. Let’s keep political jabs out of this. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/9 "2012-02-20T16:35:14Z")
The Geere (or whoever) anal hamster story. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/10 "2012-02-20T17:28:42Z")
There are two categories of good stories that aren’t true. First, do you mean stories that people tell that they know aren’t true? That’s called fiction. Go to your nearest library and ask the librarian to show you the fiction section. Or do you mean stories that people tell thinking that they are true even though they aren’t? Those are called urban legends. You can find an immense number of the here: > **[Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/)** > > The definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/11 "2012-02-20T17:35:08Z")
The [Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecklenburg_Declaration_of_Independence). Abe Lincoln writing the Gettysburg Address on the back of the envelope. The apple that landed on Sir Isaac Newton’s head. Any etymological story that says a word coined before World War II was really an acronym for something (e.g., posh, tip, wog, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/12 "2012-02-20T17:37:11Z")
Lindbergh wasn’t the first to cross the Atlantic. Sherlock Holmes (in the novels) never said “Elementary, dear Watson”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/13 "2012-02-20T17:42:31Z")
Albert Einstein did not fail in math class. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/14 "2012-02-20T18:01:09Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Any etymological story that says a word coined before World War II was really an acronym for something (e.g., posh, tip, wog, etc.) “Fornicate under the consent of the king” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/15 "2012-02-20T18:03:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Any etymological story that says a word coined before World War II was really an acronym for something (e.g., posh, tip, wog, etc.) Well, _almost_ any etymology, at least. Nabisco and OK both date before then. But yeah, the vast majority of such stories are false. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/16 "2012-02-20T18:14:46Z")
it would be good to provide a statement why the stories aren’t true and maybe a cite. if these are widespread incorrect notions then much of the searching results will lead to the incorrect notion. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/17 "2012-02-20T18:17:48Z")
Julia Child never dropped a turkey onto the floor on her TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/18 "2012-02-20T18:22:13Z")
“Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/19 "2012-02-20T18:56:12Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Lindbergh wasn’t the first to cross the Atlantic. Which is why people don’t claim he was and argue whether it was Columbus or Erikson. Lindbergh was the first person to fly solo non-stop from N. America to Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418/20 "2012-02-20T19:03:56Z")
It’s the “solo” part people don’t know about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-stories-that-arent-true/613418.md?page=2)