2201 published verifications avg. score 5.4/10 985 rated true or mostly true 901 rated false or mostly false
“Islam was forbidden in France during the French Third Republic (1870–1940).”
No evidence shows that the French Third Republic legally forbade Islam. The historical record instead shows legal protection for religious exercise in principle, alongside heavy state control and unequal treatment of Muslims, especially in colonial territories. Those restrictions were real, but they were not the same as banning the religion.
“Chickens existed before chicken eggs existed.”
The evidence does not support this claim. In the evolutionary sense used by biology, the first chicken developed in an egg laid by a near-chicken ancestor, so a chicken egg existed before the first chicken hatched. The claim only works under a narrow semantic shift, such as meaning an egg laid by an already existing hen, which is not the main scientific question.
“Research sponsored by a company is always biased toward selling that company's products or services.”
The evidence shows a higher risk of sponsor-favorable outcomes in company-funded research, not an iron rule that it is always biased. Authoritative reviews and guidance explicitly state that some industry-sponsored studies are neutral or unfavorable and that funding alone does not prove bias in every case. The claim overstates a documented tendency into a universal certainty the evidence does not support.
“The draft King V Code on Corporate Governance for South Africa emphasizes plain language and accessibility.”
Available evidence consistently supports this characterization of the draft. Multiple independent legal and professional analyses describe draft King V as using plainer language, simplified terminology, and a more accessible structure. The main caveat is that most cited evidence is commentary on the draft rather than direct excerpts, and the code was still in draft form.
“In Shaanxi, China, a man surnamed Yu (余某) spent about six months sending gifts to a female livestreamer but did not obtain the livestreamer’s private photos.”
Available evidence strongly supports the claim. Court-based reporting from multiple outlets consistently says Yu spent about six months sending gifts to a female livestreamer in Shaanxi and still failed to obtain her private photos, sometimes described more broadly as private photos and videos. The wording varies slightly, but the core facts remain the same.
“Around 1938, a Nazi forestry department in Brandenburg, Germany planted trees in a forest arranged in the shape of a swastika.”
The swastika-shaped tree formation in Brandenburg is well documented and was likely planted around 1938, but the specific claim about who planted it is not established. Reliable sources say the institutional authorship is unknown, with theories ranging from a local forester to Hitler Youth or other Nazi-linked actors. That makes the claim’s central attribution more certain than the evidence allows.
“A swastika-shaped forest planting in Brandenburg, Germany, went unnoticed for decades and was discovered in the 21st century after being seen from an airplane.”
The Brandenburg forest swastika was real and did go unnoticed for decades, but the rest of the claim gets the key facts wrong. Credible reports say it was first identified in 1992, not in the 21st century, and it was initially recognized on aerial photographs reviewed on the ground. A plane was used later to confirm the finding, not to make the original discovery.
“The railway line being constructed between London and Birmingham in the United Kingdom can be seen from space.”
Satellite imagery does show HS2’s construction corridor from orbit, but that is not the same as clearly seeing a railway line. NASA imagery supports visibility of the large earthworks and cleared route, especially in certain sensors and curated images. The claim overstates what is visible by blurring the difference between a construction scar, an actual rail line, and naked-eye visibility from space.
“Donald Trump made more false statements than any other United States federal elected official, as measured by PolitiFact's database, during the period January 20, 2025 to May 28, 2026.”
The available evidence does not show that PolitiFact’s database ranks Donald Trump above every other federal elected official for false statements in the specified 2025–2026 period. PolitiFact materials support that Trump has been heavily fact-checked and frequently rated false overall, but they do not publish or document the exact time-bounded comparison this claim asserts. The claim presents an unverified inference as a confirmed database fact.
“Organic fruits are healthier than non-organic fruits.”
Organic fruit does appear to reduce pesticide exposure and may have small differences in some nutrients, but the evidence does not show that it is broadly healthier in a clinically meaningful sense. Major reviews generally find little or no consistent nutritional superiority and no strong proof of better health outcomes. The claim overstates a narrower, better-supported benefit.
“Before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the United States planned to establish a military school on the site of a former Soviet military base in Crimea.”
Available primary records do not support any U.S. plan to establish a military school in Crimea before the 2014 annexation. The key procurement document concerns repairs to a civilian school in Sevastopol, not conversion of a former Soviet base. Contemporaneous U.S. and NATO statements also explicitly denied reports of planned U.S. military facilities or training schools in Crimea.
“Having a college undergraduate degree increases a person's earning potential compared with not having a college undergraduate degree.”
Across major U.S. datasets, bachelor’s degree holders earn substantially more on average than people without a four-year degree. The earnings premium appears consistently in NCES, Labor Department, and Federal Reserve data and remains sizable despite some recent narrowing. The main caveat is that this is an average population pattern, not a guarantee for every individual or field of study.
“The United States Department of Defense, via the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), planned renovations to School No. 5 in Sevastopol, Crimea in 2013, before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.”
U.S. government contracting records show NAVFAC sought bids in 2013 to renovate School No. 5 in Sevastopol, then canceled the project in 2014 after the Ukraine crisis. That means the renovation was planned before Russia’s March 2014 annexation of Crimea. The evidence does not support claims that the school project was really a U.S. naval base scheme.
“Using OECD Better Life Index data collected between 2016 and 2026, a majority of Western European countries score better than the United States on a majority of the OECD Better Life Index quality-of-life metrics.”
The claim overstates what the available evidence shows. OECD Better Life Index data are relevant, but the cited record does not provide the necessary country-by-country, metric-by-metric proof that a majority of Western European countries outperform the United States on a majority of BLI measures across 2016–2026. The scope of "Western Europe" is also unclear, and U.S. strengths on several BLI dimensions could change the result.
“Genetically modified (GMO) foods are dangerous to human health because DNA modification in the food can harm human health.”
The evidence does not support the idea that GMO foods are dangerous because their modified DNA harms human health. Reviews from major public-health and scientific bodies consistently find that approved GMO foods are no riskier to eat than comparable conventional foods. The claim also misstates the mechanism: eating DNA, whether modified or not, is not itself shown to damage human health.
“Water has the chemical formula H2O.”
Authoritative chemistry sources uniformly identify water’s chemical formula as H2O. The claim matches the standard molecular composition of water: two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom. Objections based on liquid-water behavior or hydrogen bonding do not change that formula.
“James Talarico follows a vegan diet.”
The evidence does not support the claim. Multiple recent, independent news reports document that Talarico has publicly denied being vegan, and coverage of his campaign trail meals describes him eating meat, eggs, and other non-vegan foods. The claim appears to stem from misreading a past campaign purchasing policy as a statement about his personal diet.
“Humans have traveled to the Moon.”
Multiple independent lines of evidence show that humans traveled to the Moon during the Apollo program. These include contemporaneous mission records, returned lunar samples studied by scientists, and lunar surface retroreflectors still used in experiments. The claim is historically well established, not merely based on a single institution’s assertion.
“The phrasing "Crimea became part of Russia" is more neutral than the phrasing "Russia annexed Crimea."”
"Crimea became part of Russia" is not generally regarded by authoritative sources as the more neutral wording. Major journalistic, diplomatic, and legal sources use "Russia annexed Crimea" because it is the precise description of the act and its contested legality. The alternative phrasing may sound softer, but it often obscures agency and can imply legitimacy or acceptance.
“In California, 20% of handicap (disabled parking) placard use is fraudulent.”
The 20% figure is not established as a statewide rate for disabled parking placard use in California. It comes from targeted enforcement operations in high-abuse areas, which state analysts warned likely overstate misuse among all placard users. The State Auditor did not produce a statistically precise statewide fraud estimate, and a broader DMV campaign reported a lower rate of about 8% among contacted drivers.