#5. No, There Isn't an American Flag Standing on the MoonThey're not American flags anymore, just hunks of white cloth. You know how dye tends to fade in the sunlight, like when depressing old video stores used to leave their movie posters in the window too long? Well, when you leave fabric outside on a barren space-rock without the protection provided by the atmosphere, it fades even quicker. All the American flags lost their colors a long time ago, and are now a surrender-friendly shade of white.#4. No, Stonehenge Wasn't Built by DruidsThe fact is, no one knows much about the people who built Stonehenge. The builders didn't leave any written documents or little self-portraits carved into the rocks or anything. We do know one thing, though: It wasn't the druids. Carbon dating puts the finished monument centuries before the Celtic tribe with druid priests even arrived in Britain, and since it took over 1,000 years to build, we're pretty sure that means they weren't around during the initial building consultations.#3. Four Corners Monument Is Not, in Fact, at the Intersection of Four StatesOriginally, critics claimed the monument was 2.5 miles away from the actual spot where the states join, so the government did a survey to prove them wrong and found that it's "only" about 1,800 feet away from where it's supposed to be.Incidentally, the government has declared that, regardless of its location, Four Corners Monument is legally in the correct spot. Except that in reality it isn't. And even though geology has had a 4.5 billion-year head start on bureaucracy, the latter wins because lawyers.#2. What We're Calling London Bridge ... Isn'tIt turns out that when people talk about the London Bridge, they're mostly talking out of their butt, because what they're actually thinking of is the Tower Bridge. We don't mean they're just getting the name wrong, either -- they are two completely different things. Even Google has it wrong -- a quick "London Bridge" search brings up Tower Bridge.#1. Everything About the Statue of LibertyOriginally, the statue had nothing to do with immigrants at all; tired, poor, or otherwise. Immigrants weren't mentioned during the statue's dedication ceremony in 1886, and the "give me your huddled masses" poem by Emma Lazarus wasn't attached to its pedestal until almost 20 years later, at the urging of a friend of hers, who had found the forgotten poem in a used book store. But the real connection of the statue with immigration only took off during World War I, largely as part of a campaign to sell war bonds.And while the statue was given to the Americans by the French, it wasn't given so much as a reward for being awesome as it was as a demonstration of French engineering skill coupled with a political statement against the French government.
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