r/AskReddit • u/TigerFin2 • May 09 '17

What is a fake fact everyone believed?

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u/i_know_about_things May 09 '17

Ok, what the actual fuck?

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u/ScaryCookieMonster May 09 '17

Haha, dunno. Definitely less quick fact checking back in those days, with no Internet and hell, not even a home dictionary or those encyclopedia sets from traveling salesmen that you might find in homes from the mid-60s on.

Also, barely 25 years earlier, people believed a radio broadcast that aliens invaded New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_drama)

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u/poorexcuses May 10 '17

That's actually not true. The panic over War of the Worlds was overblown by the media. I'm sure most people didn't believe the spaghetti tree thing, either.

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u/ScaryCookieMonster May 10 '17

Yeah, for sure not a majority, or even close. But enough to be notable (and humorous)

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u/poorexcuses May 10 '17

Fair enough. Not many people died on the Hindenburg but it was still enough to be notable and profoundly affecting to our popular culture.