What "fact" which turned out to be false did you beleive for a long time?

1. This is really embarrassing. Like, really really embarrassing. But when I was a kid, my mom told me you’re not allowed to push the handicap button that opens doors, because it’s illegal if you’re not handicapped. I guess to stop me from pressing it and bothering everybody. A few months ago I was helping close at my work, and I was holding open the door and trying to sweep. My manager told me I should just press the button to make it easier, and I got really nervous and worried like “can I do that? Can I just press the button like that? I’m not handicapped, isn’t that illegal?” She gave me the dirtiest look ever and I’ve never ever felt so stupid. I’m 20.
   — sashimideer


2. Turquoise is not fossilized turtle poop. Thanks Uncle Terry.
   — immagiantSHARK


3. I used to start drinking more milk once I saw those white spots under my nails, because I was told it was because of a calcium deficiency. Turns out they're called 'milk spots' because *that's just what they look like.*
   — chodd-tavez






4. When I was younger there must have been some confusion between endangered and extinct because when we went over the wild west and talked about the "endangered" buffalo... well I was sad that they were gone forever. For a couple of years I thought that all of the buffalo in movies were CGI or puppets. Imagine my excitement when I found out they were back in the wild!
   — revilo636


5. I believed Bethlehem was just a couple hours north of me. I thought Jesus was born in Washington state. Turned out to be Bellingham. I was crushed. Edited to add: This was when I was a kid, had to add that.
   — kellyjene


6. I had a book about dinosaurs as a child that must have been from the 70's. In it they said that large dinosaurs had a second brain in their pelvis because their brains were so small that they needed two in order to function. I believed that shit for a long, long time. It turns out that paleontologists believed it for a while too, but later found out that dinosaurs just had unusual pelvic bones. Well, nobody told me and I wound up looking like an idiot when I told my wife that dinosaurs had a second brain in their ass at the museum. EDIT: It's comforting to know I'm not alone! Here is a source refuting the dino butt brain thing, in case you're interested. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-double-dinosaur-brain-myth-12155823/
   — rule2productions






7. My parents told me when I was really young that the tails on shrimp were poisonous.
   — recjus85


8. My grandad told me that if a grass seed blew into my ear it would grow into a tree. I was petrified of this happening for years and years.
   — Jade222Gem


9. That if you poured salt on a birds tail feathers, they can't fly away and you can catch one. Turns out that was just how mom kept us busy when we annoyed her.
   — Ushouldknowthat






10. Men and women have a different number of ribs.
    — Erisianistic


11. When I was a young kid my mom told me she could tell I wasn’t wearing underwear because my eyes were bluer. She probably just didn’t want to tell me I had camel toe. I stopped wearing underwear for a few years bc I thought I’d be prettier with bluer eyes.
    — Sunshine_Blues