ANSWERS
Here's where you'll find the answers and explanations for each case, along with whether the jury's verdict was right or wrong.
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Natural cases
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1. TRUE
The ostrich is the largest and heaviest bird in the world. When the chicks are born they are between 25 and 30 cm tall, weighing about 900g. Adult males can grow up to 3m in height and weigh 180 kg.
2. TRUE
The eight arms of the octopus have sticky suckers that converge on the animal's body. At the point of convergence, they have a mouth with a horny beak.
3. FALSE
Green olives are immersed in hot brine, where they become tender, fat and black in a process called curing.
4. FALSE
Fish do sleep. They sleep mostly in the depths or between aquatic weeds, however due to not having eyelids like humans do, we cannot actually tell the difference between sleep and awake state as they cannot “close” their eyes.
5. TRUE
The duck can maintain body heat in low temperatures due to its oily and smooth plumage which repels water and protects its skin.
6. FALSE
There are 45,000 known different species of spiders in the world today. Most are carnivorous, feeding on other arthropods, but there are some that eat nectar and pollen.
7. TRUE
The blue whale is considered the largest animal that has ever existed on Earth. Its tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant, at around 3 to 5 tons
8. FALSE
Bulls are dichromatic, meaning they can only detect two colours, whereas normal human beings use a trichromatic scale, meaning they can detect three colours.
9. TRUE
Moose antlers are made of a type of tissue that is similar to hair and fingernails. They grow and shed their antlers every year, with larger antlers growing each year.
10. FALSE
Monkeys do have tails and apes do not. This is one of the main differences between these two species.
11. TRUE
Two hearts carry oxygen-depleted blood to the gills, while the third heart carries oxygenated blood to the body.
12. FALSE
There is no record of turtles that have lived that long.
13. FALSE
The giant rafflesia (Rafflesia arnoldii) is the largest flower in the world. It emits an unpleasant odour and can weigh up to 12 kg, but it does not feed on rodents or birds. It is a parasitic plant that grows on the roots of other trees.
14. FALSE
Sequoia seeds are tiny and weigh a few milligrams.
15. FALSE
During the monsoon season in the Mekong (Cambodia) and Nile (Egypt) rivers, a phenomenon of current reversal occurs due to the excessive amount of rain, causing the rivers to grow up to ten times their regular volume. This can result in the water being pushed back by the sea or dams.
16. TRUE
Unlike other reptiles, snakes shed their skin in one piece as they grow, allowing them to repair wounds and get rid of external parasites.
17. TRUE
Apple seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides that when consumed in great quantity are lethal.
18. FALSE
Most bats have small, underdeveloped eyes with low visual acuity, but they are still able to see.
19. TRUE
The female cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, replacing some of the host's eggs with her own. This is known as brood parasitism.
20. TRUE
The Camel family (Camelidae) first evolved in North America approximately 44 million years ago during the Eocene period.
21. TRUE
The adult tuna can grow between 3 and 8 meters long and can weigh between 400 and 900kg.
22. TRUE
Every year across Africa, hippos kill an estimated 500 people, making them the world's deadliest mammal, after humans, and nearly twice as deadly as lions
23. TRUE
These finches, also known as vampire ground finches, feed on the blood of seabirds by pecking at the base of their feathers until blood flows, which they then lap up with their tongues.
24. TRUE
It is a metazoan (animal) that is able to return to a state of sexual immaturity after reaching sexual maturity in a solitary stage. This ongoing process is considered as biologically immortal.
25. FALSE
The panda bear belongs to the family of bears known as "ursidae” despite its distinct appearance.
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modern cases
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26. FALSE
The idea that we only use 10% of our brain is a myth. We use different areas of the brain for different functions, but all parts of the brain are active and important for normal brain function.
27. TRUE
The wife of Norio Ohga (who was the president of Sony Corporation in 1981), Akio Morita, insisted that the CD had to be 12 cm in diameter so that it could hold 72 minutes of music. This is because Morita’s favourite piece of music - Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - is 72 minutes long.
28. TRUE
Super Mario Bros. was the first film based on a video game of the same name, released in 1993. It tells the story of the adventures of two plumbers, Mario and Luigi, in a parallel dimension ruled by the villainous Koopa.
29. FALSE
Reading in dim light can cause eyestrain, but it does not cause permanent damage and the symptoms will disappear once the eyes are exposed to sufficient light.
30. TRUE
Mel Gibson, the director of the film, contacted several descendants of Wallace and several of them acted in the film.
31. TRUE
This phrase was never used in the books of Conan Doyle. It was later coined by filmmaker Clive Brook in the movie The Return of Sherlock Holmes, 1929.
32. FALSE
The art of bonsai, which originated in China hundreds of years ago, was adopted by the Japanese starting in the thirteenth century and developed into a highly-regarded art form.
33. FALSE
United States is one of the countries with more Spanish speakers in the world. The first is Mexico.
34. TRUE
"According to tradition, pink should be used for boys and blue for girls" was the advice to mothers in an American magazine in 1914. The light blue was associated with the Virgin Mary, and pink was considered a pale version of red, a color associated with strength and masculinity.
35. FALSE
This director was innovative at the time, with unusual movies but never filmed a movie that was 24 hours long.
36. FALSE
The first refrigerators were not actually made of wood, but rather were iceboxes that were insulated with wood. They were later refined and modified to improve thermal insulation, and eventually, the use of other materials such as metal and plastic became more common.
37. FALSE
The first sequel was "fall of a Nation" which was released in 1916, as the second part of "Birth of a Nation" which was released 1915.
38. TRUE
The Pentagon has twice as many bathrooms as necessary because it was designed and built during a time when building codes required a certain number of bathrooms per number of employees, and the Pentagon's workforce at the time was projected to be much larger than it ultimately turned out to be.
39. FALSE
A spectacular pink diamond ring, which was acquired by an English jeweller for 33 million euros, is considered the world's most expensive gem.
40. FALSE
The first electronic digital computer in history was developed in 1941. It was a large machine that took up an entire basement at the university.
41. FALSE
The first commercial mobile phone which was launched in 1983, weighed 1.15 kg.
42. TRUE
Brad Pitt suffered a heel injury while filming battle scenes for the film, so they had a double to perform some of his stunts.
43. FALSE
Muhammad Ali was born as Cassius Clay and changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964 and later converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.
44. FALSE
Robert Patrick, who played the android liquid metal Terminator 2, was never in contact with mercury, as the liquid metal scenes were computer-generated and prosthetic suits.
45. FALSE
The Code of Federal Regulations, implemented in 1969, states that if you are an astronaut returning from a mission to the surface of the moon (or any other celestial body), the government could require you to undergo a quarantine. It is called the law of "Extra-terrestrial Exposure”
46. FALSE
No records exist of people winning the lottery three times. The closest case is a couple who won the New York Lottery twice: $2.5 million in December 1996 and $5 million in August 2007.
47. TRUE
Italy is the leading consumer of pasta globally, at 23.5 kilograms per person annually
48. FALSE
"The End" is an unfinished song which is part of a song called "Medley". The medley is a series of short songs, both finished and unfinished, that runs for a total of sixteen minutes. The last song recorded by the Beatles for the album Abbey Road was "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".
49. TRUE
The name "bikini" comes from the Bikini Atoll, where the United States conducted nuclear weapon tests in the 1940s. The designer Louis Reard believed that the impact of his new revealing swimsuit on the fashion world would be as explosive as the atomic bomb, so he named it after the island chain.
50. TRUE
The custom of shaking the right hand likely originated as a way for strangers to show that they were not holding weapons and had no hostile intentions towards one another. The up-and-down motion of the handshake was also thought to dislodge any concealed knives or daggers.
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WEIRD CASES
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51. FALSE
The most common is the preferred name of Islam "Mohamed"; and the most common surname is "Li", which has already surpassed "Chang" in China.
52. FALSE
The coins are not aerodynamic and this makes them unable to overcome the force of friction. You can hit a pedestrian, but not hard enough to kill him.
53. FALSE
It was an invention of a journalist who conducted an experiment on how people believe everything you read on the internet.
54. TRUE
Fans of The Beatles are being invited to study for a master's degree in the Fab Four at the Hope University of Liverpool.
55. FALSE
In 1998, as a joke on April fool’s Day, a fast food chain announced in a full page of the newspaper that they had found a solution for left-handed customers: The "left-handed combo" in which all condiments were rotated 180 degrees to favour lefties.
56. TRUE
Contrary to what one might think, “fortune cookies” are not native to China. They were first created and sold in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
57. FALSE
This myth exists, but a FAQ web page from the Ministry of Transport of Italy rejects and denies that is a requirement to know how to cycle in order to get a driver's license.
58. FALSE
They bury their dead at sea or above ground.
59. FALSE
The Great Wall of China is only a few meters wide; an approximate the tracks of roads and airports size, and is almost the same color as the surrounding soil. Like most human constructions, you cannot see it from the moon.
60. TRUE
Due to the high caloric content, buttered tea is essential for Tibetans as it helps maintain body temperature in the harsh climate of Tibet.
61. FALSE
The use of the famous Mexican sombreros, while culturally significant and useful for protecting against the strong tropical sun, is not actually required by law.
62. TRUE
Records of the Department of Health of the State of New York reported that the most common injuries that occur among its inhabitants are bites, which compared with reports of shark attacks are far more numerous.
63. TRUE
The Ainos were the first inhabitants of Japan. These people with thick beards and long moustaches, are an almost extinct race which subsists in small reserves on the islands of Hokkaido and Sakhalin.
64. TRUE
The Indian Armed Forces developed tear gas and stun grenades using extract from one of the world's spiciest peppers.
65. FALSE
While fries are a very popular preparation of potatoes, they are consumed less frequently than other forms such as mashed potatoes, tortillas, and others worldwide
66. TRUE
The main cause of the smell of fresh rain is geosmin, a chemical compound produced by soil-dwelling bacteria
67. TRUE
In France, naming a pig 'Napoleon' is prohibited by law as it is considered an insult to the national hero, Napoleon Bonaparte.
68. FALSE
While the sculptor who coordinated the work of Mount Rushmore did collaborate with his son, it was a large group of nearly 400 workers who completed the work over the course of 14 years
69. TRUE
The name "Tarantula" and the dance "Tarantella" both come from the town of Tarento in Italy. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that the bite of the tarantula spider could be cured by dancing the tarantella.
70. FALSE
While the blades of a helicopter can sometimes break the sound barrier, it is rare. The peak noise that is heard from a helicopter is usually generated by the engine, the main rotor, and the tail rotor.
71. TRUE
About 40 million tons of sand from the Sahara (especially from the area of Bodélé) is windblown annually to the Amazon Basin in South America, helping to fertilize the largest rainforest in the world.
72. TRUE
The distance between the Earth and outer space is about 118 km.
73. TRUE
Oxygen is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust: almost half (47%). In contrast, only 21% of the atmosphere consists of the element.
74. TRUE
The theft was perpetrated in the Louvre Museum in France, where Picasso lived. He was arrested and interrogated as a possible perpetrator of the theft of the Mona Lisa, because he had a history of buying stolen art objects.
75. FALSE
The word "robot" comes from the Czech "robota," which means "servitude" and was first used in the play RUR by Karel Capek.
HISTORIC CASES
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76. FALSE
It is usually thought that it was used for the first time on the Titanic in 1912, but some European vessels had already done so before using this signal, which was established in 1906.
77. TRUE
With the development of new technologies in the 19th century, innovative techniques were implemented, and the differentiation of shoes for each foot for comfort became established.
78. FALSE
In the early fifteenth century, an Arab historian recorded that the face of the Sphinx had been defaced at that time. Napoleon was in Egypt in the late eighteenth century.
79. FALSE
The finished document signed by the delegates to the Continental Congress was written on parchment, which is made from animal skin.
80. TRUE
Two films in 3D were found before World War II in Germany for the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels.
81. TRUE
In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. This decision was motivated by Russia's need for cash and their desire to prevent Alaska from falling into British hands.
82. FALSE
Women were socially well positioned in ancient Japan and families were constituted so it didn’t matter the sex of the children. Japanese samurai were the military elite.
83. FALSE
The tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922, contained only his mummy and his possessions. The burial chamber was small, with four rooms, and no other mummies were found.
84. TRUE
Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime, titled "The Red Vineyard." It was purchased by an admirer of his work.
85. TRUE
During his efforts to westernize Russia, Peter the Great believed that removing beards was a sign of civilization and progress, and as such, he implemented policies and taxes to encourage their removal among his subjects.
86. TRUE
One of the defining characteristics of Neanderthals was their large cranial capacity, which was estimated to be around 1,500 cubic centimetres, which is larger than the average cranial capacity of modern humans, which is around 1,450 cubic centimetres.
87. FALSE
Although this discipline was practiced in England, it was never officially included in the Olympics.
88. TRUE
The original purpose of the mast on the Empire State Building was to serve as a mooring point for Zeppelin airships, but the idea was ultimately abandoned due to the unstable wind conditions in the area and a couple of failed attempts. In 1953, the mast was replaced with a transmitting antenna.
89. FALSE
Napoleon Bonaparte was originally buried on the island of Santa Elena, where he died in exile. However, in 1840, at the request of King Louis-Philippe I of France, his remains were repatriated to France and interred at Les Invalides cemetery in Paris.
90. TRUE
The uniform model designed by Michelangelo, which was created in 1505 in the style of the time and in the colours of Pope Julius II's House, is considered one of the oldest military uniforms in the world.
91. FALSE
The construction of the Colosseum began in AD 72 under Emperor Vespasian and was completed in 8 years by his son, Emperor Titus. The labour for the construction was provided by thousands of slaves.
92. TRUE
This art piece, known as the "Mona Lisa," was acquired by French King Francis I for a value of 12,000 francs. He placed it in his bathroom, which at the time was used to display a number of other artworks.
93. FALSE
It is reported that the survivors of the Andes flight disaster burned various items, including money, for heating. However, the specific amount of $25,000 has not been confirmed.
94. FALSE
He received the nickname "Ivan the Terrible" later on in his life, due to the atrocities he committed during his reign as Tsar. He was known for committing excesses both against his own people and against those he conquered during his military campaigns.
95. FALSE
The Vikings were not known to wear horned helmets in battle or in any other context. The image of Vikings wearing horned helmets is a modern artistic convention that was popularized in the 19th century by the painter Gustav Malmström and others.
96. TRUE
His influence as a scientist was far greater than his role in the British Parliament, as he only spoke once during his three-year tenure, when he requested that a window be closed because he was cold.
97. FALSE
The Red Baron received this nickname for the distinct red color of his plane, which was recognized by both his colleagues and enemies.
98. FALSE
Houdini died at age 52 in the hospital. The doctors issued a report indicating peritonitis as the cause of death.
99. FALSE
The statement that Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric lightbulb, was afraid of the dark is a popular myth that has no basis in fact and is not mentioned in any credible historical sources. It likely originated on the internet.
100. TRUE
Robert Plot, an English naturalist, discovered dinosaur bones in 1677 and described them in his essay "The Natural History of Oxford-shire" as the bones of a giant human race that had become extinct during a universal flood.