List of common misconceptions.

Quite the list.

According to urban myth, the Daddy Long-Legs Spider (Pholcus phalangioides) is the most venomous spider in the world, but it is harmless to humans because its fangs cannot penetrate human skin. This is false as Pholcus phalangioides can pierce human skin, however, the toxicity of this spider's venom has just a weak effect on insects, let alone humans.[44] It is likely this myth arose because some pholcidae actually prey upon and eat other spiders, including the black widow spider.[citation needed] In addition, there is also confusion regarding the use of the name Daddy Long Legs, because Harvestmen (genus Opiliones which are not spiders) and crane flies (which are insects) are also commonly referred to as Daddy Long Legs.[45]

Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser. This belief is due to the fact that hair that has never been cut has a tapered end, whereas, after cutting, there is no taper. Thus, it appears thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges.[33]

Entrapment law in the United States does not forbid police officers from going undercover, or from denying that they are police. It is a common misconception among persons engaged in low-level crime that if an undercover police officer is asked, "Are you a cop?" that they must reveal themselves to avoid entrapment.[18][19]

The claim that a duck's quack doesn't echo is false, although the echo may be difficult to hear for humans under some circumstances.[38]

Mount Everest (pictured) is, indisputably, the highest point of land above sea level (8,850 meters / 29,035 feet) which, according to traditional measurements, means that it is the tallest mountain in the world. Given certain definitions, however, this can be challenged.[69] One alternative method of measurement is the base-summit height. When this is applied, Mauna Kea (a dormant volcano in Hawaii) turns out to be much higher at 10,314 meters (33,480 feet). This takes into account Mauna Kea's base on the ocean floor, some 6000 meters below sea level. Its height above sea level is only 4,208 meters (13,796 feet). If the base-summit height is measured from land only, Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, meaning it does not belong to a mountain range or chain, measured from its base (at ground level) to the summit at 5,896 meters (19,344 feet). Another alternative method is to work out the furthest point of land as measured from the centre of the earth. Chimborazo, a volcano in Ecuador, takes this honor, because the Earth bulges at the equator.[70] This peak is 2,100 meters further away from the centre of the Earth than the top of Everest is.

* Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet[93], Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb,[94] and Henry Ford did not invent the automobile[95] or the internal combustion engine.[95] In all three cases, their contributions were in the area of improving and popularizing the devices in question. For example, Ford added conveyor belts to the assembly line for automobile production[96], and used it to bring the cost of automobiles into reach of many more people, and Thomas Edison refined the internal gases and filaments, making a bulb last longer. Neither did Guglielmo Marconi invent the radio, a patent was filed before him by Nikola Tesla, a claim that was ratified by the US Supreme Court in 1943 in Tesla's favor.[97]

So much more too. Check it out.

P.S. New band name : Quantificational fallacies