Common “Facts” Disproved

By | August 8, 2018

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We’ve grown up hearing people say “it’s a fact” about something or other, we’ve even been taught certain “facts” in school. However, a fact is a fact until disproved or until someone discovers the truth. Legends or myths start somewhere and most if not all, have a grain of truth to them. After all, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right? Below is a list of a few so-called factual oddities that have since been disproved.

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George Washington’s dentures were not made of wood. The first set of partial dentures can be traced back to the 7th century BC. The Etruscans who lived in the Northern part of Italy made them using human or animal teeth that were held together with gold bands. There are many theories as to why George Washington had many sets of dentures made for him, four of which were made by a dentist named John Greenwood. One theory suggests he cracked Brazil nuts open using his teeth and thereby breaking the tooth. Another and more plausible cause of him losing his teeth at an early age was his health. Certain medicines like mercury oxide were used to treat maladies from smallpox to malaria and more than likely caused people to lose their teeth to decay. By the time he became president of the United States, he only had one tooth left.