21 Things That Should Be Common Knowledge But Somehow Aren't
Get ready to whip out these facts and feel superior to everyone around you. You're welcome.
1. The blood in your body isn't blue
All the blood in your body is red, oxygenated or not, it only looks blue to you because of the way light interacts with your skin.
2. You can use headphones as microphones
They won't be great quality, but it'll work in a pinch! "A basic microphone and a basic speaker are the same thing. Only difference is one generates electrical currents from sound waves, and the other generates sound waves from electrical currents."
3. The Earth's age is in no way dependant on the human Gregorian calendar
Newsflash, the Earth is really 4.5 billion years old, but good try, idiots of Twitter.
4. Goldfish really don't belong in goldfish bowls
The small glass bowl is entirely too small for goldfish (which, when living in the proper environment can grow up to a foot in length!)
5. Frankenstein is actually the Doctor and the monster is simply known as "The Monster"
Though as one philosophical Redditor points out: "Knowledge is knowing Frankenstein is not the Monster. Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is the monster."
6. Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + T will restore an accidentally closed tab and Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + Shift + T will restore accidentally closed windows
7. What you mean to say is "all intents and purposes"
WTF would an "intensive" purpose be, anyway!?
8. Holland and The Netherlands aren't the same thing
The entire country is The Netherlands but there are two regions of the country (North Holland and South Holland) that cause the confusion. Though with this logic, people would be calling The United States "Dakota" or "Carolina" which would clearly piss people off.
Note: all not to be confused with the small Western Michigan town, Holland.
9. The police can lead you into a feeling of false safety
"It is permissible for the police to lie to you. They can tell you that they have no intention on arresting you, they just need a statement for their records. As soon as you say something incriminating, you're arrested.
10. If you're impaled with an object, you shouldn't remove it
"When you have an object that is embedded in you and is visibly sticking out of your body, do not remove it, go to a hospital and get a professional to do it." The portion embedded in your body may be much larger than it appears and it may be keeping the necessary pressure on your blood vessels and arteries so you don't bleed out.
11. Rosa Parks wasn't the first black girl to refuse her bus seat. Claudette Colvin did the same thing nine months earlier.
The NAACP didn't want to use a 15-year-old as the spokesperson for their campaign, so Rosa Parks (the then Secretary of the organization) was chosen and instructed to take those actions on that historic day.
12. A baby horse isn't actually a pony
A pony is a horse of a certain small breed, a baby horse is called a foal.
13. Freedom of speech doesn't mean you get a free pass
Sure, the First Amendment protects you for governmental punishment for your opinions and expression of those opinions, but it doesn't protect you from other people's reactions, criticisms or repercussions, and it's really not excuse to be an ass, either.
14. Drowning in real life looks nothing like the movies
Instinctively when drowning, people prioritize staying afloat and breathing rather than the secondary responses of waving and yelling for help, learn to spot the real signs of drowning here.
15. Antiperspirant and deodorant are not the same thing
If you break down the words, this one is pretty clear, but deodorant is really only masking the smell you develop throughout the day while antiperspirant is actually there to help out the weirdly sweaty folks like me.
16. Bread is terrible for ducks
That's right, that easy picnic food isn't helping these little guys grow properly. Instead, bring some birdseed or vegetable scraps if you feed them at all.
17. If everyone put the lid down in a porta-potty, the smell would vent out of a built-in chimney
That's right, they DID think about how these would smell.
18. Should've is a contraction of "should have" not "should of." The same goes for could've for "could have" rather than "could of."
19. Antibiotics aren't a cure-all
There is a huge difference between a viral infection and a bacterial one. If you get a cold or the flu, antibiotics aren't going to do anything for you because they're both viral illnesses. Taking them unnecessarily just contributes to antibiotic resistance which is actually a huge problem for the future of medicine, so just let your immune system (and a bit of Netflix) do the trick.
20. Most cars have a handy arrow on the gas gauge telling you which side the tank is on
No more looking like an idiot at the gas station in your rental car.
21. Narwhals actually exist
They may not be unicorns, but unicorns of the sea are pretty damn close!