Alternate:
Michael Jackson wore a white glove on his right hand
Current:
Michael Jackson wore a white glove on his left hand
Diamond White - but on which hand?
Michael Jackson certainly didn't need any trademark gimmicks to get ahead in his stellar musical career. However, one thing he was well known for from the early days was his wearing of a single white glove on one hand. He said of it “I felt one glove was cool. Wearing two seemed so ordinary."
That's the subject of a Mandela Effect now, because whereas all the videos and photographs today show he only ever wore it on his left hand, there are some who are sure they remember it on his right. It's been that way since he played Billie Jean on TV in 1983 during the Motown 25th anniversary special. It was sold for £85,000 at auction in 2020 to an anonymous bidder in Texas.
Alternate:
George W Bush was reading 'The Pet Duck' when he heard of the 9/11 attacks
Current:
George W Bush was reading 'The Pet Goat' when he heard of the 9/11 attacks
Bleating or Quacking?
The image of George W Bush sitting in front of a classroom full of children reading a book, when an aide whispered news of the 9./11 attacks, is one of the iconic images from those tragic events on September 11, 2001.
There are some who are sure the book was titled "My Pet Duck", whereas all references today show it as "My Pet Goat", even the false photoshopped ones which claim to show he was reading it upside down. None, however, can forget the shocked expression on the President's face as he heard the news.
Alternate:
Abner Doubleday invented baseball
Current:
Abner Doubleday did not invented baseball
Strike!
Officially, the first baseball game took place in 1846 between the Knickerbockers and the New York Nine's.
It's classed as official because that's when the first written set of rules were used, which have been refined ever since into the ones we see today. However, the origin is largely credited to Abner Doubleday, including the word "baseball" itself, and that's what many people believe. It's not true through. Doubleday never mentioned in it any of his letters or documents, he was never made a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and baseball wasn't even mentioned in his obituary when he died.
The truth is baseball was probably adapted by English settlers who played the earlier variation known as rounders, and added elements of Cricket to it.
Alternate:
Napoleon only had one hand
Current:
Napoleon had two hands
Hidden hand or missing hand?
The popular image of Napolean today is from the many paintings done of him when he was a General.
There's something about them, however, which has led many to believe that he was missing a hand, and it's all down to a fashion trend he was following in those portaits.
The idea is people are sure he was missing a hand because he is mostly seen with his right arm tucked into the middle of his shirt. Since his hand is never seen, it is assumed he either didn't have one, or the one he had was deformed and this was his way of hiding it.
In fact it turns out he was blessed with two hands but was always seen hiding one because of a tradition going back to the ancient Greeks, where it was seen as "more stately" to not have a free hand, since it prevents one from flailing it about and makes the subject appear more dignified and refined.
Alternate:
The Nazi salute was copied from the Romans
Current:
The Nazi salute was not copied from the Romans
Hail Caesar?
This is a controversial subject, which is why only the historic aspect of it's origin is of interest here.
When the Nazis rose to power, they adopted the notorious stiff arm salute, which they actually ended up making mandatory for citizens in law.
This is the exact opposite of the situation today, where doing it is illegal in Germany along with any promotion of Nazi-related activities or artifacts.
There are many people who believe the salute was widely used by the Romans, and its use by the Nazis was directly taken from this. In fact this turns out to be untrue, since although there are rare instances in Roman art and literature of something similar being used, it is not the case that it was widespread by them at the time.
Alternate:
The US Food Pyramid poster was in classrooms from the 1970s onward
Current:
The US Food Pyramid poster was in classrooms from 1992 onward
On the classroom wall
Most Americans are familiar with the Food Pyramid, a graphic showing the optimal number of servings for various food types which appeared in most schools for decades.
The image is actually a standard, and was introduced in 1992 by the US Dept of Agriculture, USDA, and titled the "Food Guide Pyramid".
This comes as quite a surprise to many people who were at school way before that date, but still remember it exactly as seen today.
Alternate:
The 1920 Wall St terrorist bombing is well known.
Current:
The 1920 Wall St terrorist bombing is not well known.
Suddenly from nowhere?
Many people are shocked to hear of what was described as the worst terrorist attack on American soil up to that point. This is the 1920 bombing on Wall St, which killed 30 people instantly, 8 who died later and over 300 were injured.
The FBI's website reports the perpetrators were never caught, although it is suspected an Italian terrorist group, or even the Mafia, were involved at the time.
A horse drawn cart was left outside the US Assay Office on September 16, 1920, which was full of expolisives and had a lit fuse burning inside it, ticking down as a shady figure left in a hurry only to lose himself amongst the stockbrokers and bankers just leaving their offices for lunch. Terrorist attacks up until then were so rare it wasn't even recognised as one for a few hours afterwards.