202 facts across 13 categories and 80 years (1945–2024).
Available categories: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Nutrition, Drugs & Toxins, History, Geography, Geology, Math, Paleontology, Psychology, Technology.
Space is completely empty between planets and stars.
Space contains plasma, gas, dust, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic radiation. Luna 1 (1959) directly measured the solar wind - a continuous stream of charged particles from the sun.
The universe has always existed in roughly its current form, with matter continuously created to fill expanding space (steady-state theory).
The universe began in a hot, dense state approximately 13.8 billion years ago (the Big Bang). The Cosmic Microwave Background, discovered in 1965, confirmed this. Fred Hoyle, who coined 'Big Bang' mockingly, never fully accepted the evidence.
Space beyond Earth orbit is a uniform vacuum presenting only engineering challenges - radiation and microgravity are manageable obstacles.
The Apollo 13 mission (1970) demonstrated how precarious deep space operations were. The Van Allen radiation belts, solar particle events, and cosmic rays posed serious risks that the Apollo program was navigating at the edge of human capability.
The Moon is a barren, geologically dead rock with no resources or scientific interest beyond astronomy.
The Moon has significant scientific interest: it records early solar system history, contains water ice in permanently shadowed craters, has Helium-3 deposits, and its regolith chemistry reveals much about planetary formation. Apollo 8 (December 1968) brought humanity's first direct view of lunar surface from orbit.
Pluto is the ninth planet in our solar system.
Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the IAU in 2006. The solar system now has 8 recognized planets.
Human beings cannot survive in the vacuum of space, and sustained orbital spaceflight is not yet achievable.
Yuri Gagarin completed a full orbit of Earth on April 12, 1961 - while many of this cohort were still in school. Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961.
Space travel is science fiction. No human-made object can escape Earth's gravity and orbit the planet.
Earth orbit is achievable with sufficient rocket velocity (~7.9 km/s). The Soviet Sputnik 1 achieved orbit on October 4, 1957, making this the first artificial satellite - proving orbital spaceflight was possible.
Bats are blind and rely entirely on echolocation.
Most bats can see reasonably well and use vision alongside echolocation. The phrase 'blind as a bat' is entirely false.
Measured IQ differences between racial groups partly reflect innate cognitive differences.
IQ score gaps between groups are explained by socioeconomic factors, educational access, test design, and stereotype threat - not innate genetic differences. The APA's 1996 report found no evidence for genetic explanations of group IQ differences.
Camels store water in their humps to survive in the desert.
Camels store fat in their humps, not water. Water conservation comes from efficient kidneys, concentrated urine, and tolerance to dehydration.
Chameleons change color primarily to blend in with their surroundings and hide from predators.
Chameleons change color mainly for communication (mood, temperature, mating signals) and social interaction. Camouflage is a secondary function at best.
Humans have five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
Humans have far more than five senses. Scientific consensus recognizes at least 20, including proprioception (body position), equilibrioception (balance), nociception (pain), thermoception (temperature), and interoception (internal body states).
The completion of the Human Genome Project will unlock the genetic basis of most diseases and enable personalized medicine in the near future.
The completed genome revealed far greater complexity than anticipated. Most diseases are polygenic and environmentally influenced. The 'one gene, one disease' model was vastly oversimplified. What was called 'junk DNA' - 98% of the genome - turned out to be regulatory and functional.
Human evolution is a linear ladder: monkey → ape → primitive human → modern human.
Evolution is a branching bush, not a ladder. Humans and modern apes share a common ancestor; we did not evolve from any modern ape species.
The tongue has distinct zones for different tastes: sweet at the tip, bitter at the back, sour and salty on the sides.
All taste types can be detected across the entire tongue. The taste map was based on a misreading of a 1901 German study. A fifth basic taste, umami, also exists and was not recognized in Western curricula until much later.
Biological sex is strictly binary: male or female, determined by XX or XY chromosomes.
Biological sex is a spectrum involving chromosomes, hormones, anatomy, and genetics. Intersex conditions occur in approximately 1.7% of births. The SRY gene is the primary determinant, but exceptions exist.
Blood in your veins is blue before it touches oxygen.
Blood is always red. Deoxygenated blood is dark red, not blue. Veins appear blue through skin due to light scattering and tissue absorption.
The adult brain is hardwired and cannot generate new neurons.
Neurogenesis (new neuron growth) occurs in the adult hippocampus and possibly other regions. The brain is plastic throughout life.
Bulls are enraged by the color red.
Bulls are colorblind to red. They react to the movement of the matador's cape, not its color. The cape is red for tradition and to hide blood stains.
Cloning an animal would produce an exact physical and behavioral duplicate of the original.
Cloning produces a genetic copy but not an identical individual. Epigenetics, developmental variation, and environment mean cloned animals differ from their genetic source in appearance, behavior, and health. Dolly the sheep (born July 1996, announced February 1997) was the first cloned mammal from an adult cell.
Dogs see the world in black and white.
Dogs see colors, but their spectrum is limited compared to humans. They see shades of blue and yellow but cannot distinguish red and green.
Heredity involves genes on chromosomes, but the details of how genetic information is used by cells are still being worked out.
The central dogma of molecular biology - DNA → RNA → protein - was proposed by Crick in 1957 and describes how genetic information flows in living cells. The genetic code was being deciphered through 1959–1961.
Traits are inherited through 'genes' on chromosomes, but the physical molecule of heredity is unknown.
DNA is the molecule of heredity. Watson and Crick described its double-helix structure in April 1953, but this discovery took years to reach K-12 curricula.
Genes are discrete units that each control a specific trait. Understanding the human genome will straightforwardly explain most human characteristics.
The human genome (completed 2003) revealed far greater complexity than anticipated. Most traits are polygenic (controlled by many genes), epigenetic factors are significant, and only ~2% of the genome codes for proteins. The 'one gene, one trait' model is a vast oversimplification.
Goldfish have a memory of only 3 seconds.
Goldfish can remember things for months, recognize their owners, and learn complex tasks.
Your hair and fingernails continue to grow after you die.
Hair and nails do not grow after death. The skin around them retracts due to dehydration, creating the illusion of growth.
Humans have 206 bones as adults, and this number is fixed and universal.
The number of bones varies individually. Many adults have extra ribs, sesamoid bones, or fused/split bones. The exact count ranges from 206 to over 270 in infants whose bones haven't fused.
Humans evolved from monkeys or apes.
Humans and modern apes share a common ancestor. We did not evolve from any living ape species. The common ancestor lived 6-8 million years ago.
Neanderthals were primitive, brutish, and less intelligent than modern humans.
Neanderthals had larger brains than modern humans, made sophisticated tools, created art, buried their dead, and interbred with Homo sapiens. Most non-African humans carry 1-4% Neanderthal DNA.
Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when frightened.
Ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand. When threatened, they lie flat on the ground or run. The myth likely arose from their nesting behavior (turning eggs in the sand) or from seeing them lying low with heads near the ground.
Human races are distinct biological categories with meaningful inherited differences in intelligence and ability.
Race is primarily a social construct. Genetic variation within populations far exceeds variation between them. There is no scientific basis for racial hierarchy. UNESCO's Statements on Race (1950, 1951) began shifting the scientific consensus.
Different parts of the tongue detect different tastes: sweet on the tip, bitter on the back.
All taste buds can detect all five basic tastes. There are no tongue zones.
Conception outside the human body is biologically impossible. Human reproduction requires natural intercourse.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is possible. Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, was born July 25, 1978 - while students graduating that year were in their last summer of high school.
Women are physiologically unsuited to long-distance running and other strenuous athletics. Vigorous exercise damages female reproductive organs.
Women are fully capable of strenuous athletic competition. There are no physiological reasons to exclude women from endurance sports. Title IX was signed June 23, 1972, prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education programs including athletics.
Animals act purely on instinct and do not experience emotions, form memories, or engage in complex reasoning.
Decades of research in ethology and comparative psychology have documented complex emotions, long-term memory, social learning, and problem-solving across many animal species.
Male pattern baldness is inherited from your mother's side of the family.
Male pattern baldness is polygenic, involving variants from both maternal and paternal chromosomes. The androgen receptor gene on the X chromosome plays a significant role but multiple loci on autosomes also contribute.
Moss grows on the north side of trees, so you can use it as a compass if lost in the woods.
Moss grows wherever moisture and shade are sufficient. These conditions depend on local terrain, tree canopy, prevailing wind, and microclimate. Moss distribution does not reliably indicate compass direction.
The continents are fixed in place and have always occupied their current positions.
Continents drift on tectonic plates driven by mantle convection. Plate tectonics became the unifying framework of Earth sciences in the 1960s.
The Great Wall of China is the only human-made object visible from space (or from the Moon).
The Great Wall is very difficult to see with the naked eye from low Earth orbit and is not visible from the Moon. Many structures (cities, highways, airports) are more visible.
Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift but could not explain the mechanism. His theory was rejected until later evidence proved him right.
Wegener's continental drift was part of the broader theory of plate tectonics, which was established in the 1960s with seafloor spreading evidence. The mechanism is convection currents in the mantle.
Nuclear power is the most dangerous energy source, with the highest death toll per unit of energy.
Nuclear power has one of the lowest death tolls per unit of energy produced. Coal and oil cause far more deaths from air pollution, accidents, and climate change. Even including Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear is statistically safer than fossil fuels.
Most plastic waste is recycled into new products.
Only about 9% of plastic ever produced has been recycled. Most is landfilled, incinerated, or enters the environment. Recycling symbols on plastic are resin identification codes, not recyclability guarantees.
Scientists are divided on whether human-caused climate change is real or significant.
Scientific consensus on human-caused climate change was well established in 2001. The IPCC's Third Assessment Report (2001) stated the evidence was 'unequivocal.' The apparent debate was manufactured by the fossil fuel industry.
There is significant scientific debate about the extent and causes of climate change.
The IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report (2007) declared the evidence for human-caused warming 'unequivocal' - the strongest language the body had used. The same year, Al Gore and the IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize for climate communication.
Corn ethanol and other first-generation biofuels are a clean, climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels.
Life-cycle analysis found that corn ethanol produced comparable or greater greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline when land-use change was included. The biofuel mandate drove up global food prices and contributed to food insecurity in developing nations.
The Earth is approximately 2 to 3 billion years old.
Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. Clair Patterson established this in 1956 using uranium-lead isotope ratios in meteorite samples.
Oil companies have sufficient spill response capability to contain major marine oil spills quickly.
The Exxon Valdez spill (March 24, 1989) in Prince William Sound, Alaska released 11 million gallons of crude oil. Response was chaotic and insufficient. Over 1,300 miles of coastline were oiled and wildlife damage persisted for decades.
Scientists are concerned the Earth may be entering a period of global cooling, potentially leading to a new ice age.
The scientific consensus through the 1970s actually favored warming from CO2 emissions, though some papers did address aerosol-driven cooling. The 'global cooling' narrative was a media oversimplification. By the 1980s the warming signal was dominant in scientific literature.
The Kyoto Protocol (December 1997) represents an effective international mechanism for addressing climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol had significant limitations: the US never ratified it, China and India were exempt as 'developing' nations, and overall global emissions continued rising. The Paris Agreement (2015) attempted a more comprehensive approach.
The ozone depletion hypothesis is still scientifically contested. CFC chemicals may or may not be responsible.
The Antarctic ozone hole was confirmed by the British Antarctic Survey in 1985. The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987, establishing global CFC phase-outs. The ozone hole is now recovering. This was a rare environmental success story.
The continents are fixed in place, or at most move very slowly without a fully accepted mechanism.
Plate tectonics became the consensus framework in earth sciences in 1966–1968, following J. Tuzo Wilson's transform fault concept and rapidly accumulating paleomagnetic evidence. This was geology's equivalent of the Darwinian revolution.
The mechanism for continental movement, if any, has not been conclusively established in most K-12 curricula.
Plate tectonics was the scientific consensus by 1968. By 1969 it was being incorporated into university geology programs, but most high school earth science textbooks still hadn't caught up.
If one country falls to communism, its neighbors will inevitably follow - the 'domino theory.'
The domino theory oversimplified revolutionary movements as monolithic communist spread. Vietnam fell in 1975 but most predicted dominoes did not fall.
Ducking under a desk or behind a wall during a nuclear attack will protect you from the blast.
A desk provides no meaningful protection against a nuclear detonation. The civil defense campaign offered a false sense of control over a threat no classroom shelter could realistically address.
Tax cuts for corporations and high earners stimulate investment and economic growth that benefits everyone - 'trickle-down' economics.
Decades of economic research found limited trickle-down effects. Economic inequality grew substantially during and after periods of supply-side policy. Reagan's own budget director David Stockman privately called it a 'Trojan horse' for cutting top tax rates.
Betsy Ross designed and sewed the first American flag.
There is no contemporary evidence linking Betsy Ross to the first flag. The story was promoted by her grandson William Canby in 1870, nearly a century after the supposed event, with no documentation.
Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492.
Indigenous peoples had inhabited the Americas for at least 15,000 years before Columbus. Leif Erikson reached North America around 1000 CE. Columbus's voyages opened sustained European contact but he discovered nothing that wasn't already inhabited.
Christopher Columbus proved the Earth was round by sailing west to reach India.
The Earth's roundness was known since ancient Greece (Eratosthenes measured it ~240 BCE). Columbus miscalculated Earth's size and did not reach India.
The domino theory justifies US military presence in Vietnam - communist victory there would cause surrounding countries to fall.
Vietnam fell in 1975. Most predicted dominoes did not follow. The domino theory oversimplified revolutionary nationalism as monolithic communist expansion.
Albert Einstein failed math in school.
Einstein excelled in mathematics from an early age. He taught himself calculus by age 12 and was doing advanced math before most students. The myth conflates a change in grading systems.
The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the United States.
The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in Confederate-held territories, not in Union border states or areas already under Union control. The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery nationwide.
Deregulated financial markets are self-correcting. Complex financial instruments like mortgage-backed securities distribute risk safely throughout the system.
The deregulation of the 1990s and 2000s, combined with inadequate oversight of mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps, produced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Lehman Brothers collapsed September 15, 2008. The crisis erased $11 trillion in household wealth.
Economic recovery - measured by GDP growth - means the recession is over and conditions are improving.
The US economy technically exited recession in June 2009, but unemployment continued rising to 10% by October 2009 and remained elevated for years. Aggregate economic measures masked the persistent suffering experienced by workers. The 2009 graduates entered the worst job market for new graduates since the Great Depression.
People in the Middle Ages believed the Earth was flat.
Educated people in medieval Europe knew the Earth was round. The myth was popularized by 19th-century writers (notably Washington Irving) as part of a narrative pitting science against religion.
Real estate is always a safe long-term investment because housing prices have historically never fallen nationwide.
The US housing market peaked in 2006 and began falling in 2007. The subsequent collapse wiped out trillions in household wealth, triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and produced the largest foreclosure wave in American history.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction - a certainty cited repeatedly by US and UK government officials.
No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. The intelligence was flawed, misrepresented, and in some cases fabricated. The Iraq Survey Group concluded Saddam had ended his WMD programs in 1991.
The Iraq War was justified by Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction.
The Iraq Survey Group's final report (September 2004) concluded Iraq had no active WMD programs and had dismantled them in 1991. The intelligence failure was compounded by political pressure to find a WMD case.
The Warren Commission conclusively determined that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed President Kennedy.
The Warren Commission's 'lone gunman' finding has been disputed by the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations, which concluded there was 'probably' a conspiracy. The case remains contested, though Oswald's role is not seriously disputed.
Marie Antoinette said 'Let them eat cake' when told the French peasants had no bread.
There is no evidence Marie Antoinette ever said this. The quote was attributed to 'a great princess' by Rousseau in 1766, when she was only 10. It was likely revolutionary propaganda.
Mass surveillance programs - collecting metadata and communications at scale - are effective tools for preventing terrorism.
Multiple post-9/11 reviews found that bulk metadata collection programs (NSA's Section 215 program) produced no cases where bulk surveillance was essential to preventing an attack. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board concluded in 2014 that the program was illegal and ineffective.
'A Nation at Risk' (1983) established that American public school performance had catastrophically declined and that US students were dramatically falling behind international peers.
The 'rising tide of mediocrity' described in A Nation at Risk has been substantially contested. Subsequent research found that NAEP scores had been relatively stable and that the report's data was selectively presented to support a policy agenda of school choice and standardization.
High-stakes standardized testing (No Child Left Behind, 2002) will accurately measure school quality and drive improvement in student achievement.
NCLB produced widespread 'teaching to the test,' narrowed curricula, inflated scores without real achievement gains, and used flawed Adequate Yearly Progress metrics that misclassified many schools. It was replaced by Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015.
Civil defense preparations - fallout shelters, food stockpiles, evacuation routes - can meaningfully protect civilians from nuclear attack.
Large thermonuclear weapons cause destruction on a scale that renders most civil defense measures ineffective for those near blast zones. The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) brought this reality to the brink of lived experience.
Paul Revere rode through the night shouting 'The British are coming!' to warn colonists.
Revere and other riders used discretion to avoid British patrols. Revere likely said 'the regulars are coming out.' Multiple riders participated. Revere was captured before reaching Concord.
US government statements about the Vietnam War - its progress, objectives, and prospects for success - were accurate and made in good faith.
The Pentagon Papers (published June 1971) revealed that multiple administrations had systematically misled the public and Congress about Vietnam War objectives and prospects. The government had known the war was unwinnable years before admitting it.
Witches were burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials.
No one was burned at Salem. Nineteen people were hanged, one was pressed to death with stones, and several died in jail. Burning was the European punishment, not the American one.
The Soviet Union is a stable superpower. Gorbachev's reforms are strengthening the system, not threatening it.
The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991. Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika accelerated rather than prevented collapse. The Berlin Wall fell in November 1989.
The Soviet Union, though weakened, will persist as a modified form of the Russian state and superpower.
The Soviet Union formally dissolved December 25, 1991 - while most 1991 graduates were in their first semester of college. Fifteen independent nations emerged. The Cold War framework that structured every social studies and civics class in their education vanished before their first year of college ended.
The Soviet Union is a stable superpower and the Cold War is the defining, permanent framework of international relations.
The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991. The rapidity of its collapse surprised virtually every expert. Solidarity in Poland (1980), martial law (1981), and early cracks in the bloc were visible but not recognized as terminal.
Major financial institutions are too large and interconnected to be allowed to fail; the government will always intervene to protect the broader economy.
The government allowed Lehman Brothers - then the fourth-largest US investment bank - to fail on September 15, 2008. The failure triggered a global credit freeze. The claim that other institutions were 'too big to fail' was confirmed when the government then did intervene for AIG, Citigroup, and others - but the inconsistency revealed there was no coherent policy.
Vikings discovered America but then vanished without leaving a lasting presence.
Norse explorers established a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around 1000 CE. Evidence suggests further exploration southward. They did not 'vanish' - the settlement was abandoned, likely due to conflict with Indigenous peoples and limited resources.
Vikings wore horned helmets into battle.
There is no archaeological evidence that Vikings wore horned helmets in battle. The image comes from 19th-century Romantic art and opera costumes.
The Watergate break-in was an isolated third-rate burglary with no connection to the White House.
Watergate was a broad conspiracy involving the Nixon White House, involving obstruction of justice, abuse of power, campaign finance violations, and use of intelligence agencies against political opponents. Nixon resigned August 9, 1974.
George Washington's dentures were carved from wood.
Washington's dentures were constructed from combinations of human teeth, animal teeth (cow, horse), hippopotamus ivory, elephant ivory, and lead alloy. No wood was used. The myth likely arose from the staining and darkening of ivory.
PEMDAS/BODMAS is a rigid left-to-right rule for solving math problems.
PEMDAS is a convention, not a natural law. In some countries and contexts, different conventions exist. The ambiguity of expressions like 8÷2(2+2) reveals that implicit multiplication and division left-to-right can produce different answers depending on convention.
0.999... (repeating nines) approaches 1 but never actually equals 1.
0.999... is exactly equal to 1, not approximately equal. They are two representations of the same real number. Since 1/3 = 0.333..., multiplying both sides by 3 gives 0.999... = 1. More formally, the real number system defines a repeating decimal as the limit of its partial sums, and the limit of 0.9, 0.99, 0.999, ... is exactly 1.
In the Monty Hall problem, switching doors after the host reveals a goat makes no difference; you still have a 50/50 chance of winning.
Switching wins 2/3 of the time, not 1/2. The host always opens a losing door he already knows about, which preserves the contestant's original 1/3 probability on the chosen door and concentrates the remaining 2/3 on the other door. Computer simulations and mathematical proofs both confirm this, and the controversy was definitively settled by the mid-1990s.
Infinity is infinity. There is only one infinite quantity, and all infinities are the same size.
Georg Cantor proved in 1891 that there are different sizes of infinity. The set of real numbers is strictly larger than the set of counting numbers, even though both are infinite. His diagonal argument showed that no complete list of real numbers is possible, because a new real number not on any list can always be constructed.
The angles in any triangle always add up to exactly 180 degrees.
The 180-degree rule holds only in flat Euclidean space. On the surface of a sphere, a triangle with one vertex at the North Pole and two vertices on the equator 90 degrees apart has three right angles, summing to 270 degrees. Einstein's general relativity confirmed that physical space near massive objects is geometrically curved, and light-ray triangles near massive stars do not obey the Euclidean rule.
1 is a prime number.
By modern definition, 1 is not prime. Primality requires exactly two distinct positive divisors, and 1 has only one: itself. The exclusion preserves the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, which states that every integer greater than 1 has a unique prime factorization. If 1 were prime, 12 could be factored as 2x2x3 or as 1x2x2x3 or 1x1x2x2x3, making factorizations non-unique.
Mathematics is a complete formal system: any true mathematical statement can eventually be proved.
Gödel's 1931 incompleteness theorems proved this impossible. Any consistent formal system powerful enough to express basic arithmetic contains true statements that cannot be proved within that system. No set of axioms can be simultaneously complete and consistent.
In random sequences, a streak of one outcome makes the opposite outcome more likely; the 'law of averages' must balance things out.
Independent random events have no memory. A fair coin's probability of landing heads is exactly 50% regardless of any preceding streak. The law of large numbers describes proportions converging over enormous sample sizes but makes no promise about any individual event or short sequence.
You cannot take the square root of a negative number. It is undefined and mathematically impossible.
The square root of negative one, written as i, defines the imaginary unit and extends the real numbers to the complex number system. Complex numbers are physically real in the deepest sense: quantum mechanics cannot be expressed using only real numbers, and electrical engineering, signal processing, and GPS calculations all rely on complex arithmetic.
Abstinence-only sex education is the most effective approach to preventing teen pregnancy and STIs.
Multiple large-scale studies found that abstinence-only programs do not delay sexual initiation, reduce teen pregnancy, or lower STI rates compared to comprehensive sex education. Some studies found higher rates of unprotected sex among abstinence-pledgers.
AIDS primarily affects specific 'risk groups.' Mainstream heterosexual teenagers are not at significant risk.
HIV is transmitted through specific bodily fluids regardless of sexual orientation. By 1993 over 190,000 Americans had died. Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Philadelphia (1993), bringing AIDS to mainstream visibility - but school health curricula still lagged.
Shaving makes hair grow back thicker, darker, or faster.
Shaving only cuts hair at the surface. It does not affect growth rate, thickness, or color. The blunt tip may feel coarser temporarily.
Stomach ulcers are caused by stress and spicy food.
Most peptic ulcers are caused by H. pylori bacterial infection or NSAIDs. Established by Marshall and Warren in 1982–1984.
AIDS may be transmissible through casual contact - sharing utensils, toilet seats, doorknobs, or being in the same room as an infected person.
HIV is transmitted through specific bodily fluids: blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids, and breast milk. It cannot be transmitted through casual contact, saliva, air, or water.
AIDS is a fatal disease with no effective treatment. An AIDS diagnosis is a death sentence.
HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) was introduced in 1996 and transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition. People on modern HIV treatment now have near-normal life expectancy.
Antibiotics can cure colds and flu.
Antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses. Colds and flu are caused by viruses. Taking antibiotics for viral infections contributes to antibiotic resistance without helping the patient.
Normal human body temperature is exactly 98.6°F (37°C).
Body temperature varies by person, time of day, and measurement method. A 2020 study found the average is closer to 97.5°F (36.4°C) and has been declining slightly over time.
COVID-19 spreads primarily through large respiratory droplets and surface contact. Masks are not recommended for the general public.
COVID-19 spreads through both aerosols (small airborne particles) and droplets. Surface transmission (fomites) was overstated. Masks significantly reduce transmission.
Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.
No study has found a causal link between knuckle-cracking and arthritis. One doctor cracked only one hand's knuckles for 50 years with no difference.
The heart is a vital organ that cannot be transplanted - rejection by the immune system makes it impossible.
Heart transplantation is possible. Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant in Cape Town on December 3, 1967. Immunosuppressive drug advances made long-term survival achievable.
The MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine may cause autism. Parents should consider delaying or avoiding vaccination.
Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet paper claiming an MMR-autism link was based on fraudulent data involving only 12 children. The paper was retracted in 2010. Wakefield lost his medical license for ethical violations. Over 20 large-scale studies involving millions of children found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Polio can be prevented by avoiding swimming pools, public gatherings, and summer heat exposure.
Polio is caused by poliovirus and spread via the fecal-oral route. Prevention requires vaccination (Salk, 1955; Sabin oral, 1961), not avoidance of pools or heat.
Reading in dim light damages your eyesight.
Reading in low light causes temporary eye strain but does not cause permanent damage to eyesight.
The H1N1 swine flu vaccine was developed too quickly and may be unsafe.
The 2009 H1N1 vaccine was developed using the same established process as seasonal flu vaccines and had a comparable safety profile. The vaccine was monitored by multiple national and international surveillance systems and found to be safe and effective.
The 1976 swine flu vaccination program is a necessary and safe public health measure. Everyone should be vaccinated.
The rushed 1976 swine flu vaccine program was associated with approximately 450 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome - a serious neurological condition - out of 45 million vaccinated. The feared pandemic never materialized. The program was halted in December 1976.
Watching television occasionally is harmless to eyesight, and the radiation from TV sets is negligible.
Early color CRT televisions (particularly GE's 1967 recall) did emit low levels of X-ray radiation at close range. Modern concerns shifted to non-ionizing blue light and screen time effects on vision development in children.
Going outside with wet hair will make you catch a cold.
Colds are caused by viruses (rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, etc.), not by being cold or wet. Cold weather may slightly weaken immune response or keep people indoors where viruses spread more easily.
Margarine is healthier than butter because it is lower in saturated fat.
Early margarines contained trans fats, which are more harmful than the saturated fat in butter. Modern margarines have improved but are still highly processed. Butter in moderation is now considered acceptable by many nutritionists.
Eggs dramatically raise cholesterol and significantly increase heart disease risk. Healthy people should eat few or no eggs.
Dietary cholesterol has limited effect on blood cholesterol in most people. Eggs are nutritious. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee removed the longstanding dietary cholesterol limit.
The USDA Food Pyramid's 6–11 daily grain servings represent optimal dietary science.
The pyramid promoted refined carbohydrate overconsumption. Nutrition researchers increasingly criticized it as industry-influenced. Harvard's Healthy Eating Pyramid proposed an alternative in 2003.
Saccharin causes cancer. Artificial sweeteners are unsafe.
The saccharin-cancer link came from rat studies using extreme doses via a mechanism specific to rats. It is not carcinogenic to humans at normal consumption levels. Removed from the US carcinogen list in 2000.
Taking large doses of vitamin C prevents and cures the common cold.
Clinical trials have found no consistent evidence that vitamin C prevents colds in the general population, though it may modestly reduce duration. Megadose supplementation can cause kidney stones and other complications.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for health and weight control.
The evidence is mixed. While breakfast can be beneficial for some, skipping breakfast does not universally cause weight gain or health problems. The slogan was popularized by breakfast cereal marketing.
Eating carrots improves your night vision significantly.
Vitamin A deficiency can impair night vision, but eating extra carrots beyond normal dietary levels does not enhance vision in people who are not deficient. The myth was WWII propaganda to hide radar technology.
Detox diets, cleanses, and specific foods can remove toxins from your body.
The liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin already detoxify the body effectively. There is no scientific evidence that detox diets, cleanses, or supplements remove toxins better than these organs do.
You should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day (64 ounces total).
Water needs vary by individual, activity level, climate, and diet. There is no universal requirement. The '8x8 rule' has no scientific basis.
Dietary fat is the primary cause of heart disease. A healthy diet should be low in all fats.
The relationship between dietary fat and heart disease is nuanced. Unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, fish) are beneficial. Trans fats are harmful. Saturated fat's role is more complex than originally thought. The low-fat dietary advice led to increased consumption of refined carbohydrates, which contributed to obesity.
Feed a cold, starve a fever.
There is no medical basis for this saying. Adequate nutrition and hydration are important during any illness. The saying dates to the 1500s and has no scientific support.
If you drop food on the floor and pick it up within 5 seconds, it's still safe to eat.
Bacteria transfer to food almost instantly upon contact. The '5-second rule' has no scientific basis.
Swallowed chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years.
Chewing gum passes through the digestive system normally. It is not digestible but is excreted like other indigestible materials.
A low-fat diet is the healthiest way to eat and prevent heart disease.
Fat quality matters more than fat quantity. Unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, fish) are healthy; trans fats and excessive refined carbs are harmful. The low-fat dogma contributed to increased sugar consumption.
Drinking red wine is good for your heart due to resveratrol and antioxidants.
The evidence for red wine's heart benefits is weak and confounded by lifestyle factors. The 'French Paradox' was largely based on flawed data. Any potential benefits are outweighed by the known harms of alcohol.
Spinach is an excellent source of iron because it contains much more iron than other vegetables.
A 1930s decimal point error made spinach appear to have 10x more iron than it actually does. Spinach contains oxalates that inhibit iron absorption. It is not exceptionally high in bioavailable iron.
Eating too much sugar causes Type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by a combination of genetic factors, insulin resistance, and overall metabolic health. While excessive sugar consumption contributes to obesity (a risk factor), sugar itself does not directly cause diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition unrelated to diet.
Giving children sugar makes them hyperactive.
Controlled studies show no consistent causal link between sugar and hyperactivity. Parental expectations likely explain the perceived effect.
Vitamins are uniformly safe and beneficial in any dose - more is better.
Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) accumulate in tissue and are toxic in excess. Even some water-soluble vitamins cause harm at high doses (e.g., B6 neuropathy, vitamin C kidney stones). Megadose vitamin therapy is not supported by clinical evidence.
Dinosaurs were cold-blooded like modern reptiles.
Many dinosaurs were warm-blooded (endothermic) or had intermediate metabolisms. Evidence includes bone structure, growth rates, and the discovery of feathered dinosaurs in cold climates.
Brontosaurus was a distinct long-necked dinosaur species, one of the largest land animals ever.
Brontosaurus was reclassified as Apatosaurus in 1903, though the name was briefly reinstated as a separate genus in 2015. As of 2015, it may be distinct again.
Brontosaurus was reclassified as Apatosaurus and is not a real genus.
A 2015 study suggested Brontosaurus may be distinct enough to be its own genus after all, though this remains debated.
Birds and dinosaurs are completely separate groups with no close evolutionary relationship.
Birds are living dinosaurs - specifically, they are the only surviving lineage of theropod dinosaurs. Fossil feathers and skeletal similarities confirm this.
Dinosaurs were covered in scales, not feathers.
Many dinosaurs, especially theropods, had feathers. Birds are living dinosaurs. Feathered fossils have been found extensively in China and elsewhere.
Pterodactyls and pterosaurs were dinosaurs.
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles, not dinosaurs. Dinosaurs belong to the clade Dinosauria; pterosaurs belong to Pterosauria. They are close relatives but distinct groups.
T-Rex arms were tiny and useless.
T-Rex arms were surprisingly strong and muscular. They may have been used for grasping prey, mating, or helping the animal rise from a prone position.
Velociraptors were human-sized, highly intelligent predators.
Velociraptors were turkey-sized, about 2 feet tall. Jurassic Park used Deinonychus as the model but called them Velociraptors because the name sounded better.
Atoms look like tiny solar systems, with electrons orbiting the nucleus in fixed circular paths.
Electrons occupy probabilistic orbitals, not fixed circular paths. The quantum mechanical model had superseded the Bohr model by the late 1920s but textbook diagrams lagged far behind.
Light and electromagnetic waves travel through a medium called the 'luminiferous aether' that fills all space.
Light does not require a medium. Einstein's special relativity (1905) and the Michelson-Morley experiment (1887) disproved the aether.
Centrifugal force is a real outward force that pushes objects away from the center of rotation.
Centrifugal force is a fictitious (inertial) force - it only appears in rotating reference frames. The real force is centripetal, pulling inward.
Cold fusion - nuclear fusion at room temperature - has been achieved and represents a potential clean energy breakthrough.
Pons and Fleischmann's March 1989 cold fusion announcement was not reproducible. The scientific community found no credible evidence of fusion. Cold fusion is widely regarded as pathological science - a case study in how extraordinary claims must meet extraordinary evidence standards.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Lightning frequently strikes the same place multiple times. Tall structures like the Empire State Building are struck dozens of times per year.
There are three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.
There are at least four fundamental states (solid, liquid, gas, plasma), plus many others like Bose-Einstein condensates, superfluids, and more.
DARE effectively prevents youth drug use.
Multiple large-scale evaluations found DARE had no statistically significant effect on drug use rates.
Homosexuality is a mental illness or psychological disorder that can and should be treated.
Homosexuality is a normal variation of human sexuality. The American Psychiatric Association removed it from the DSM in 1973. 'Conversion therapy' has since been shown to cause harm with no demonstrated benefit.
Homosexuality is a psychological disorder requiring treatment.
Homosexuality is a normal variation of human sexuality. The APA removed it from the DSM in 1973. Conversion therapy has since been shown to cause harm with no demonstrated benefit.
Students have distinct learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and should be taught according to their preferred style.
There is no scientific evidence supporting the 'learning styles' hypothesis. Teaching to a preferred style does not improve outcomes.
People are left-brained (logical) or right-brained (creative).
Both hemispheres work together. Functions are not neatly divided by personality type.
Memory works like a recording device - once formed, memories are stable and can be recalled accurately.
Memory is reconstructive, not reproductive. Each recall reshapes a memory. False memories can be implanted through suggestion. Elizabeth Loftus's research from the 1970s onward demonstrated memory's malleability.
Eyewitness testimony is highly reliable evidence of events.
Eyewitness memory is highly malleable. Post-event information, stress, and question framing all distort memory. Courts are gradually reforming eyewitness evidence standards.
Traumatic memories can be completely repressed and accurately recovered through therapy.
Memory is reconstructive. The 'repressed memory' model lacks scientific support. Therapy techniques used to 'recover' memories frequently created false memories instead, leading to wrongful accusations and convictions. The recovered memory movement peaked in the late 1980s–early 1990s.
Playing classical music to babies and young children significantly boosts intelligence and brain development.
The original 1993 study was narrow and modest. The broader 'Mozart Effect' for infant cognitive development was never supported. Later research failed to replicate even the original finding.
Humans only use 10% of their brain.
Virtually all brain regions have identified functions and show activity throughout the day. The 10% figure has no basis in neuroscience.
Violent video games cause aggressive behavior and desensitize players to real-world violence.
Decades of research failed to find a consistent causal link between violent games and real-world violence.
Drug education programs focusing on information and refusal skills significantly reduce youth drug use.
Multiple large-scale evaluations found that DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education, launched 1983) had no statistically significant effect on drug use rates. The surgeon general, GAO, and multiple peer-reviewed studies found it ineffective.
Rote memorization and repetition are the best ways to learn and retain information.
Active recall, spaced repetition, and interleaved practice are more effective than simple repetition. Learning science emphasizes understanding over rote memorization.
Eyewitness memory is reliable - people accurately remember what they see, especially under stress.
Eyewitness memory is highly malleable. Elizabeth Loftus published foundational research in 1974 showing that post-event information - including questions asked by police - can alter memories and create false recollections.
Mental illness is a character weakness or lack of willpower rather than a medical condition.
Mental illness involves biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental factors. The biomedical model gained formal footing with the first DSM in 1952 and grew more sophisticated with neuroscience.
Students have either a 'fixed mindset' or a 'growth mindset,' and teaching growth mindset significantly improves academic outcomes.
Meta-analyses show mixed results for growth mindset interventions. The effect sizes are often small, and the dichotomy oversimplifies human motivation and learning.
Listening to classical music - especially Mozart - temporarily boosts spatial reasoning ability and improves children's cognitive development.
The 1993 Rauscher et al. study showed a modest, short-lived (10–15 minute) boost in one spatial task in college students - not babies, not general intelligence, and not lasting. The broader 'Mozart Effect' claimed for infant brain development was never supported by research.
Some people have photographic memory and can recall images with perfect accuracy.
True eidetic memory (photographic recall) has never been reliably demonstrated in adults. Hyperthymesia (highly superior autobiographical memory) is real but extremely rare. Most 'photographic memory' claims are explainable by trained mnemonic techniques.
Social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube - launched 2005) are neutral communication tools with no significant psychological effects.
Research has linked heavy social media use to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and loneliness in adolescents. Algorithmic amplification of outrage and comparison-driving content have measurable effects on wellbeing.
We only remember 10% of what we read and 20% of what we hear - known as 'Dale's Cone of Experience.'
Dale's Cone was originally about instructional media, not retention percentages. The specific percentages were added later by anonymous sources and have no scientific basis.
Women are biologically better suited to caregiving and domestic roles than to careers in science, law, medicine, or leadership.
There are no meaningful innate cognitive differences that restrict women to domestic roles. Women's representation in professional fields has grown dramatically wherever structural barriers have been removed.
Women are naturally more emotional and less rational than men, making them better suited to domestic roles than intellectual or leadership ones.
There is no reliable cognitive difference in rationality between men and women. Performance gaps on specific tasks largely disappear when controlling for socialization and opportunity. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) challenged the domestic role framework.
Women are naturally worse at math and spatial reasoning than men due to biological differences.
No consistent biological evidence supports innate sex differences in mathematical ability. Performance gaps are largely explained by stereotype threat, educational access, and cultural expectations.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a scientifically validated personality assessment that reliably classifies people into types and predicts behavior and career fit.
The MBTI has poor test-retest reliability: roughly half of respondents get a different type when retested a few weeks later. Systematic reviews find it does not predict job performance, academic outcomes, or relationship success better than chance.
The internet is an academic research network with no relevance to everyday life or commerce.
The World Wide Web went public in August 1991 when CERN released it to the world. Within five years it would transform communication, commerce, and access to information beyond anything taught in school.
Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is a technically feasible missile defense system that could render nuclear weapons obsolete.
The American Physical Society's 1987 report concluded that SDI was at least a decade from even beginning meaningful tests. The technology Reagan described did not exist and no comprehensive missile defense system exists today.
Computers are large, expensive machines for governments, universities, and major corporations. Personal computing is not practical.
The Apple II launched in 1977, the same year this cohort graduated. The Commodore PET and TRS-80 also launched that year. Personal computing was already arriving. Within a decade, computers were in millions of homes and schools.
Microwaving metal always causes fires and explosions.
While metal in a microwave can cause sparks and fire under certain conditions, smooth metal objects (like a spoon in a cup) are often safe. The danger depends on shape, edges, and the presence of arcing paths.
The 'new math' / Common Core math is unnecessarily complicated and represents a decline in math education.
Common Core emphasizes conceptual understanding and multiple problem-solving strategies. Research supports this approach, though implementation was often poorly communicated to parents.
The internet is essentially anonymous. Online activity cannot be traced or used against you.
Internet activity leaves extensive digital traces - IP addresses, browser fingerprints, cookies, ISP logs, and server logs. This was true from the internet's inception. The expectation of anonymity was always a misconception.
Whether internet commerce will be viable or secure long-term remains unclear. Online shopping may not be practical for most consumers.
Amazon was profitable by 2001. Online commerce grew from $2.4 billion in 1997 to over $6 trillion annually by the 2020s. SSL encryption made transactions secure. The concern about online commerce viability was quickly resolved.
The internet and World Wide Web may be a passing fad. Its commercial significance is uncertain.
By 1996, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, and Hotmail were all live. Internet access was in 20 million US households. The dot-com boom was just beginning. The internet would become the defining infrastructure of the 21st-century economy.
The dot-com crash proves that internet businesses are fundamentally unsustainable. The internet may be a passing economic phenomenon.
The dot-com crash eliminated overvalued companies but not the internet itself. Amazon, Google, and the surviving companies went on to become the most valuable businesses in human history. The internet became the central infrastructure of the global economy.
The internet and the World Wide Web are niche technologies. Email and web browsing will remain specialized tools.
Netscape Navigator was released in December 1994, making the web accessible to mainstream users. By 1995, internet access was growing exponentially. By 2000, the dot-com economy had reshaped commerce and communication globally.
Nuclear power plants are completely safe and produce energy that is 'too cheap to meter.'
Nuclear power carries real risks including core meltdowns (Three Mile Island 1979, Chernobyl 1986, Fukushima 2011), radioactive waste storage challenges, and catastrophic failure modes. The 'too cheap to meter' quote was taken out of context but reflected genuine 1950s–60s optimism.
Nuclear power plants are safe and a major nuclear accident is essentially impossible.
Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986), and Fukushima (2011) demonstrated that serious nuclear accidents are possible. Waste storage remains an unsolved problem.
Nuclear power plants are safely managed and a serious accident is extremely unlikely with modern reactor design.
Chernobyl Unit 4 exploded on April 26, 1986 - during the school year for most graduating seniors. It was the worst nuclear accident in history, releasing radioactive contamination across Europe and exposing hundreds of thousands to harmful doses.
The Space Shuttle represents routine, reliable access to space. NASA has achieved a strong safety record.
Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members. The cause was an O-ring failure in cold weather - a known risk that engineers had warned about and management overrode.
The Y2K computer bug will cause catastrophic global infrastructure failure on January 1, 2000, potentially collapsing banking, power grids, and transportation systems.
Y2K was a real software problem that required significant remediation. However, the scale of societal collapse predicted by the most alarmist voices did not materialize. Countries that did less remediation (e.g., Italy) experienced minimal problems.
The smooth Y2K transition proved the concern was overblown and that technology systems are more resilient than feared.
The smooth transition likely resulted from the ~$300–600 billion spent globally on Y2K remediation. Countries that did minimal remediation still experienced minimal issues - suggesting the actual embedded bug risk may have been overstated, but this remains debated among software engineers.
Prenatal crack cocaine exposure causes permanent, severe brain damage in children.
Poverty and environmental deprivation were found to be more predictive of developmental outcomes than prenatal cocaine exposure. The crack baby narrative was substantially overstated.
Lead in paint and gasoline is safe and poses no health risk.
Lead is a potent neurotoxin, especially harmful to children's brain development. Leaded gasoline was phased out starting in the 1970s, and lead paint was banned in 1978 in the US.
Industrial chemical waste is safely managed and does not pose long-term risks to communities.
Love Canal demonstrated that improperly stored chemical waste causes serious health damage to communities above and adjacent to dump sites. The Superfund program (CERCLA, 1980) was created directly in response.
LSD causes chromosome damage and birth defects.
A 1967 Science paper by Cohen et al. claiming LSD caused chromosomal breaks was widely publicized but was poorly controlled and not replicated. Subsequent research found no consistent evidence of chromosomal damage from LSD at typical doses.
Marijuana use inevitably leads to heroin and harder drug use.
Most marijuana users do not progress to harder drugs. The gateway hypothesis confuses correlation with causation and ignores the role of alcohol and tobacco as more common prior substances.
Marijuana has no legitimate medical applications and is correctly classified as a dangerous Schedule I drug.
Cannabis has established medical applications including pain management, nausea reduction, and treatment of certain seizure disorders. As of 2025, it is legal for medical use in most US states.
Drinking alcohol warms you up in cold weather.
Alcohol causes blood vessels to dilate, creating a warm feeling on the skin but actually increasing heat loss from the core body. It increases hypothermia risk.
Asbestos is a safe and highly effective insulating material with no proven health risks in normal use.
Asbestos fibers cause mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Industry documents from the 1930s onward show manufacturers knew of the risks and concealed them. The EPA began restricting asbestos in 1971.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident's health effects were limited to the immediate area. The Soviet response contained the contamination.
Chernobyl released contamination across Europe. WHO estimates up to 4,000 additional cancer deaths may result from radiation exposure. The full health and environmental impact has been debated for decades, with some estimates far higher.
DDT is a safe and effective pesticide. Banning it is an irrational, economy-damaging overreaction.
DDT bioaccumulates in the food chain and is a probable carcinogen. The EPA's Administrator William Ruckelshaus issued the US DDT ban on June 14, 1972.
DDT's safety record is being unfairly attacked. It remains an essential tool for controlling disease-carrying insects.
DDT bioaccumulates in the food chain and is a probable carcinogen. The EPA's DDT hearings ran through 1971–72. The ban came in June 1972.
Gulf War veterans' complaints of unexplained symptoms are psychological - stress reactions to combat rather than real physical illness.
Gulf War Syndrome is now recognized as a genuine multi-symptom illness affecting an estimated 175,000–250,000 veterans. Causes under investigation include exposure to chemical agents, depleted uranium, pesticides, and nerve agent prophylactics.
Lead paint on walls is safe as long as it is not peeling or chipping.
Lead paint poses risks even when not visibly deteriorating - dust from normal wear, opening windows, and renovations releases lead particles. The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead paint in US residential settings in 1978.
LSD and similar psychedelics have no long-term effects and may have legitimate therapeutic or mind-expanding applications.
LSD can trigger persistent psychotic episodes in vulnerable individuals and cause HPPD (hallucinogen persisting perception disorder). While some therapeutic research was legitimate, the risks were poorly understood and seriously underplayed in early 1960s research.
Small doses of radiation are safe and the risks from atmospheric nuclear tests are negligible.
There is no proven safe threshold of ionizing radiation. Fallout from atmospheric tests in the 1950s exposed millions to radiation and caused measurable increases in cancer rates.
Smoking has no proven serious health consequences.
Smoking causes lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, COPD, and many other conditions. The tobacco industry's 1954 'Frank Statement' explicitly committed to manufacturing doubt about this evidence.
The link between smoking and serious illness has not been proven - it's still a matter of scientific debate.
Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, and COPD. The US Surgeon General's report, released January 11, 1964, confirmed the causal link. Many 1964 graduates heard this news while still in school.
Drugs approved for use in pregnant women have been adequately tested for effects on fetal development.
Thalidomide caused severe birth defects (phocomelia) in over 10,000 children in Europe and elsewhere. FDA official Frances Kelsey blocked US approval, sparing the US from the worst. The crisis led to the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Amendment requiring proof of drug efficacy and safety.