Misinformation has been a constant companion of humanity—whether it’s a harmless rumor or a full‑blown urban legend, it spreads like wildfire. One day a quirky claim pops up, the next it’s plastered across social feeds, and before you know it, more people have heard the false version than the factual one. Once that story is out there, pulling it back in is a near‑impossible feat. All we can really do is shine a light on the truth.
10 common pop Myths Overview
10 Tang Was Not Made For Astronauts
Back in the 1960s, the orange‑flavored powdered drink Tang became inseparably linked with NASA’s space missions. The connection wasn’t because the beverage was engineered for orbit; it was a clever marketing push that painted Tang as a space‑age staple while still being sold on grocery shelves.
Astronauts did sip Tang up there, but the drink wasn’t born out of a desire to feed crews. Its powdered form simply made it convenient for the limited storage conditions of a spacecraft.
Introduced to the market in 1959, Tang never really captured the public’s imagination. Even in orbit the drink fell flat—Buzz Aldrin famously called it “sucks”—and water in space, due to the way it’s processed, also tastes pretty awful.
In 1960, a NASA official saw Tang’s potential and began purchasing it in bulk, referring to it only as “orange crystals.” After John Glenn carried a few packets aloft, General Mills seized the moment, shouting from the rooftops that Tang was the astronaut drink, even though the company never claimed to have invented it for space.
The marketing campaign subtly suggested NASA had created Tang, and General Mills never corrected that misconception, letting the myth linger for decades.
9 Hobbits Were Never Described as Having Big Feet
When we think of Tolkien’s Middle‑earth, the first thing that comes to mind is the tiny, shoe‑less folk with hair‑covered feet. Yet many fans picture Hobbits with oversized, comical feet—a notion that never appears in Tolkien’s own prose.
Tolkien did describe their soles as leathery and covered in hair because they never wore shoes, but he never called them gigantic. His own illustrations never featured exaggerated foot size either.
The myth of big feet began when 1970s fantasy artists, notably the Hildebrand Brothers, took artistic liberties and gave Hobbits disproportionately large feet in their drawings. Those images became the first visual exposure many readers had, cementing the false belief that Hobbits naturally possess giant feet.
8 Chinese Checkers Has Nothing To Do With China
Board‑gaming enthusiasts often assume Chinese Checkers hails from the Middle Kingdom, but the game’s lineage is far more tangled. Its surge in American popularity during the 1930s masks a European origin.
The game actually evolved from the German‑created Halma, which itself was a spin‑off of an American pastime from the late 1800s. Pressman Co. later slapped an Oriental‑themed package on the game, branding it “Chinese” to add exotic flair and boost sales.
7 Garfield Was Never Meant to be Funny
If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at a Garfield strip, you’re not alone. Creator Jim Davis openly admits that the comic wasn’t crafted for laughs. Instead, it was built as a licensing goldmine.
In a 1982 interview, Davis explained that while other comic animals—like Snoopy—were gaining popularity, cats were largely absent from the syndication scene. He saw a lucrative opening for a cat that could be merchandised to the moon and back.
Davis deliberately kept the jokes simple and repetitive, focusing less on humor and more on building a brand. He reportedly spent as much as 60 hours a week on promotion and licensing, compared to 14 hours actually drawing the comic.
That commercial focus explains why Garfield’s face adorns everything from T‑shirts to coffee mugs and even a pizza joint in Kuala Lumpur—because the creator’s aim was profit, not punchlines.
6 The Star Trek Theme Song Actually Has Lyrics
The iconic opening of the original Star Trek series is widely recognized as a soaring instrumental. Yet, many viewers don’t realize that the piece originally came with a set of lyrics penned by series creator Gene Roddenberry.
Composer Alexander Courage crafted the memorable melody, and his contract entitled him to royalties each time the theme aired. When the deal was renegotiated a year later, Roddenberry secured the right to add lyrics, which he did—though they were never used on the show.
Those unused words granted Roddenberry co‑authorship, meaning he earned half the royalties. He reportedly told Courage, “I need to make money somewhere else, because the profits from Star Trek aren’t going to cover it,” cementing the business‑first mindset behind the famous tune.
5 Solo Cup Lines Are Not For Measuring Alcohol
College parties often feature the classic red Solo cup, and a persistent myth claims the faint lines printed inside the cup indicate specific drink volumes—12 oz for beer, 5 oz for wine, and 1 oz for a shot.
Solo’s manufacturers have clarified that those lines are not measurement guides. They are simply a by‑product of the cup‑forming process, serving a functional purpose unrelated to beverage quantities.
Beyond that, why would anyone bother measuring their wine or beer in a disposable plastic cup when a proper glass or shot glass exists? The lines are decorative, not a built‑in bartender.
4 Back to the Future Was Never Supposed to Have a Sequel
The 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future wrapped up with Doc Brown soaring in his time‑traveling DeLorean, hinting at future adventures. However, that “to‑be‑continued” moment was originally a tongue‑in‑cheek joke, not a genuine setup for sequels.
Producers never intended a follow‑up; the ending was meant as a playful nod. When the film became a massive hit, studio executives retrofitted the ending, adding a “to be continued” banner to the theatrical prints, forcing a sequel that was never part of the original plan.
3 Schrodinger’s Cat Metaphor Was Not Meant to Be Serious
Schrödinger’s famed feline thought experiment is often presented as a literal paradox: a cat locked in a box is simultaneously alive and dead until observed. Physicists use it to illustrate quantum superposition, but the original intent was more tongue‑in‑cheek.
Erwin Schrödinger himself recognized the absurdity of the scenario. He deliberately chose a cat—a creature most people love—to highlight how ridiculous it would be to let an observer decide reality’s state, thereby critiquing the prevailing interpretations of quantum mechanics.
2 Seinfeld’s Festivus Was a Real Event in One Writer’s Home
Fans of Seinfeld instantly picture the aluminum pole, the “airing of grievances,” and the “feats of strength.” While the show treated Festivus as a fictional holiday, its roots are very real.
Writer Dan O’Keefe based the episode on a genuine family tradition his father forced upon them. The original Festivus was even more chaotic than the sitcom version, lacking a set date, official rituals, or any formal structure.
1 Bram Stoker Didn’t Intend for Dracula to Be a Work of Fiction
When The Blair Witch Project claimed to be a true story, audiences were spooked. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, though a classic of horror fiction, was originally marketed by the author as a factual account.
Stoker told his editor that the characters Jonathan and Mina Harker were real acquaintances who recounted their terrifying experiences, hoping the “true story” angle would boost sales.
His editor balked, noting the novel appeared shortly after the Jack the Ripper murders and that a supernatural tale presented as fact would be hard to sell. Consequently, Stoker was forced to cut over a hundred pages, including the opening that framed the narrative as a true account.
Some elements Stoker incorporated were based on real events, such as the ship Demeter—modeled after an actual vessel named Dmitri that wrecked while transporting cargo, with crew members reporting a mysterious black dog near a cemetery.
Whether Stoker’s claim of truth was a genuine belief, a marketing ploy, or a playful tease remains a mystery lost to history.