We have seen or heard many false things in different parts of the world, so we have come to believe them. There are known places on which we have preconceived ideas that are, as their name indicates, completely false. It is now time to set the truth straight.
1. Because of Hollywood it is believed that New York has lots of dark alleys with fire escapes on the sides.
Whereas, in fact, almost all the movie scenes that show this type of alley are shot in the same place: in Cordlandt Alley, which is one of the only ones of its kind in the city (when it’s not simply shot in an alley reconstructed in a studio). It’s very deceptive.
2. Everest is not the greatest mountain on Earth!
It is the one that rises the highest above the sea, but if you calculate the entire mount from the base to the top, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the highest. It peaks at 4207 meters, but if we take into account its submerged part, this volcano is bigger than Everest.
3. Venice is really not limited to its canals.
In fact it is only a very small part of the city, the old Venice. The rest is much larger and looks like most European cities (without water everywhere).
4. No, winters in Canada are not necessarily cold.
If we’re talking about Montreal or Winnipeg, certainly, it’s very cold in winter. But in Vancouver or Victoria, the winters are relatively mild. It’s a bit like saying that winters in France are hard based only on Alsace and its quasi-continental climate.
5. The Chernobyl Nuclear power plant did not close after the 1986 disaster.
It is thought that everything was emptied after the explosion of Reactor 4, but this is only partly true. The population was indeed evacuated, but the other reactors continued to operate until 2000. It is estimated that 9,000 people continued to work there, more or less protected by the sarcophagus that had been built to contain the radioactivity from the exploded reactor.
6. The Grand Canyon is not the largest canyon on Earth.
The Tsangpo Canyon in Tibet is really the largest canyon, both deeper and more extensive than its American friend. And strangely enough, we never talk about him.
7. The bad reputation of the Alcatraz prison is a Hollywood invention.
Inmates from other federal prisons often asked to be transferred to Alcatraz, which was in fact reputed to offer rather good conditions. After all, they didn’t say it was paradise either.
8. Roswell is not the place where there are the most UFO.
In fact, Vermont has the most UFO sightings. We see there about 80 UFOs per 100,000 inhabitants (they surely take a lot of drugs, let’s not judge them too quickly).
9. English is not as common as is thought in India.
In fact, only about 12% of the Indian population speaks English, which is mostly learned in good schools. Hindi is by far the most widely spoken language in the country, but it has many dialects, so hold on to it if you plan to practice it there.
10. The Great Wall of China cannot be seen from the Moon.
Well ok this rumor is more and more often dismantled (and that’s good), but not everyone knows it’s not true yet. It is said that it was President Nixon who started the rumor in 1972 when he wanted to make himself seen by the Chinese and thus ease diplomatic relations between the two countries.
11. In Paris, line 13 is not the most disrupted metro line.
No, she’s only… third (well, okay, that’s not good). Line 4 is the most affected, mainly because of passenger incidents. It doesn’t have a much better reputation than line 13.
12. Bretagne is not the place where it rains the most in France.
In fact, it is in the Basque Country that there is the most rainfall in a year. Afterwards, we are not going to lie to you either, it rains more often in Brest than in the Basque Country, but it rains less in terms of quantity.