12 things everyone knows are true - but are in fact false

Normal diamonds are not the hardest material - lonsdaleite (also known as "hexagonal diamond" and found in meteorites) and wurtzite boron nitride (which has a similar structure to lonsdaleite) are both harder.

Life expectancy in medieval Europe was not 30. In fact, it was higher than some nations today at around mid-60s. However, the very high infant mortality rates of the time create a lower average.

The Great Wall of China is not visible from space.

Einstein didn't fail his mathematics exam at school. In his own words, "I never failed in mathematics... before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus."

Twinkies don't last forever - their shelf-life is low in comparison to many other cakes at 45 days.

Humans do not only use 10% of their brains.

During WW2, the king of Denmark did not wear a yellow star to show solidarity with the Jews, and Danish Jews were never forced to wear yellow stars.

Mary Magdalene is not referred to as a prostitute anywhere in the Bible.

George Washington's teeth were not made of wood - they were made of lead, ivory, gold and animal and human teeth.

"SOS" does not mean "save our ship" - it was chosen as a distress signal because it's fast and simple to transmit in Morse: ...---...

Vincent Van Gogh only cut off a small part of one earlobe, not his entire ear.

When JFK visited Germany in 1963 and said said "Ich bin ein Berliner", locals didn't laugh at him because despite the myth it doesn't mean "I am a doughnut." While "Berliner" is used in some parts of Germany to refer to a Berliner Pfannkuchen doughnut, in Berlin it's called a Pfannkuchen, while "Berliner" refers to the inhabitants of the city.