2213 published verifications avg. score 5.4/10 987 rated true or mostly true 901 rated false or mostly false
“The majority of a human's brain is almost always active.”
The claim captures the broad scientific picture that the human brain is active across most states, including rest and sleep, rather than lying mostly dormant. However, it overstates precision: activity is uneven across regions, and deep non-REM sleep significantly lowers overall brain metabolism. The statement is best understood as a rebuttal to the "10% of the brain" myth, not as a strict quantitative rule.
“The origin of the quote "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" is unknown.”
The available evidence indicates that no definitive origin for this quote has been established. It does not appear in Freud’s known writings or documented conversations, and the best sourcing treats it as apocryphal or uncertain. However, the phrase’s later circulation and misattribution to Freud can be partly traced, so “origin” is somewhat broader than the evidence strictly proves.
“Agenda 21 is a United Nations plot to undermine the U.S.”
The evidence does not support the claim. Agenda 21 is an aspirational, non-binding UN action plan on sustainable development, and no credible source shows it gives the UN authority to override U.S. sovereignty or secretly subvert the country. Much of the "plot" narrative comes from conspiracy framing, political rhetoric, or fake documents rather than Agenda 21's actual text.
“Agenda 21 is a United Nations action plan on sustainable development.”
UN and other institutional records identify Agenda 21 as a UN-adopted programme or plan of action for sustainable development from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Describing it as a United Nations action plan is accurate. The main caveat is that it is voluntary and non-binding, not a treaty.
“Tiger sharks will sink if they stop swimming.”
Tiger sharks do tend to sink in open water if they stop swimming because they are slightly negatively buoyant. But the broad wording leaves out crucial context: they can still stop swimming, keep breathing, and rest motionless on the seafloor. That omission changes the practical takeaway, so the claim is better treated as an oversimplification than a cleanly true statement.
“Ugly ducklings become ducks when they grow up.”
The evidence does not support this claim. In Andersen’s story, the “ugly duckling” grows up to be a swan, and standard definitions distinguish a duckling from a young swan. Calling the adult bird a duck relies on an incorrect category shift from “duck” to “any related waterfowl.”
“Bears usually sit on chairs.”
The evidence does not support this claim. Bears commonly sit on their haunches on the ground, logs, rocks, or other natural surfaces, but there is no credible evidence that they usually sit on chairs. The chair examples are isolated novelty incidents, not typical bear behavior.
“Fascist symbols are located underneath the Denver Airport.”
The claim is not supported by credible evidence. Reporting and documentation about Denver Airport’s underground areas describe ordinary operational infrastructure, not fascist symbols. The material used to support the claim relies on speculation, conflates above-ground features with underground spaces, and does not provide verifiable proof of any fascist imagery beneath the airport.
“Baggage transport tunnels are located underneath the Denver Airport.”
Reliable primary and independent sources show that Denver International Airport has underground tunnels where baggage is moved beneath the airport. The tunnels are part of a broader underground system, not baggage-only passageways, but that does not undermine the basic claim. The evidence consistently supports the existence of baggage transport tunnels at DEN.
“Virginia Woolf wrote the statement "You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”
The statement is not supported as a Virginia Woolf quotation. Authoritative attribution checks say the line does not appear in her novels, essays, letters, or diaries, and trace it instead to David Hare’s screenplay for the 2002 film The Hours. Websites that credit Woolf generally provide no primary citation.
“Michael Cunningham wrote "You cannot find peace by avoiding life" in "The Hours".”
The claim is not supported by the best available evidence. Reliable checks of the novel do not verify that line in Michael Cunningham’s book, while multiple sources trace it to the 2002 film adaptation of The Hours, often as “You cannot find peace by avoiding life, Leonard.” Popular quote sites appear to be repeating a misattribution rather than documenting a passage from the novel.
“Einstein flunked math in school.”
The claim is not supported by the historical record. Einstein’s documented school results show very strong performance in mathematics, including top marks in algebra and geometry. The persistent myth appears to come from confusion about a failed entrance exam in other subjects and from later retellings, not from evidence that he flunked math in school.
“Barack Obama is 48 years old.”
The evidence does not support this claim. Authoritative sources give Barack Obama’s birth date as August 4, 1961, which makes him 64 years old as of May 18, 2026. Any “48” figure refers to a past moment, such as around the time he took office in 2009, not to his current age.
“Barack Obama was born in 1961.”
Multiple authoritative sources, including primary government records and major reference works, identify Barack Obama’s birth date as August 4, 1961. Claims to the contrary rely on unsupported conspiracy allegations rather than verifiable records. The evidence clearly supports the statement that he was born in 1961.
“Rousseau attributed the statement "Let them eat cake" to a princess, possibly Maria Theresa of Spain.”
Rousseau did associate the line with a princess, but he did not name one. The “possibly Maria Theresa of Spain” part comes from later speculation by other writers, not from Rousseau’s text. That distinction matters because the claim makes it sound as though Rousseau himself pointed to Maria Theresa, which the evidence does not support.
“The prevalence of depression among university students in Lima Norte, Lima, Peru, is higher than the prevalence of depression among university students in other parts of Lima, Peru.”
The claim is not supported by the available evidence. The cited literature includes studies on Lima Norte students and broader studies on Lima or Peru, but none provide a direct, standardized comparison showing that university students in Lima Norte have higher depression prevalence than students in other parts of Lima. Without that comparison, the claim overstates what the evidence can show.
“The Court of Justice of the European Union interprets the term "court or tribunal" in Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as an autonomous EU-law concept rather than relying on national legal definitions.”
The evidence shows that the CJEU treats “court or tribunal” in Article 267 TFEU as an autonomous EU-law concept. Its judgments apply EU-law criteria and repeatedly state that national classification is not decisive. National legal context can matter in borderline cases, but it does not replace the Court’s own EU-law test.
“A quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay has been developed and validated to detect Gastrodiscoides hominis DNA in clinical or environmental samples.”
The claim is not supported by the cited evidence. Available reviews, guidance, and assay-development papers do not identify a validated qPCR assay for Gastrodiscoides hominis, while the molecular evidence cited for this parasite is limited to conventional PCR plus sequencing in isolated reports. That is not the same as a developed and validated qPCR test for clinical or environmental samples.
“Members of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms) lack a specialized circulatory system.”
The evidence strongly supports this statement. Standard biology references consistently describe Platyhelminthes as lacking a dedicated circulatory system, with gases and nutrients moving mainly by diffusion and, in larger forms, through a branched gastrovascular cavity. That cavity assists transport but does not qualify as a specialized circulatory system.
“The United States Central Intelligence Agency supported the expansion of Protestant Christianity in Latin America as a strategy to reduce the influence of liberation theology.”
The evidence does not support the claim in the broad form stated. U.S. officials clearly viewed liberation theology with suspicion, and there is some evidence of episodic support for conservative religious actors, but the record provided does not establish a documented CIA strategy to expand Protestantism across Latin America for that purpose. The claim overgeneralizes from fragmentary and weakly sourced material.