Misconceptions That People Believe Today Because Of Propaganda

That god has always been a part of the US government. It was only introduced in the 50s to combat the threat of communism. It always makes me twitch when someone on my Facebook posts something about keeping god in the pledge (which was also started in the 50s) and that people trying to take god out is the reason why bad things are happening.

Most modern Japanese people know absolutely nothing about the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in the pacific during WWII.

I was travelling in Thailand and stopped by to see Hellfire Pass and the famous bridge over the river Kwai. A japanese guy was on the tour with us (mostly because there wasn't a lot else to do in Kanchanaburi) and was absolutely SHOCKED at the stories of POW treatment. Back in Japan, people still commemorate the officers who were able to accomplish building a railroad so quickly for the Japanese war effort. The darker side of this event is simply not mentioned in any history text or school.

That adopting any kind of socialism will directly lead the US into becoming Soviet Russia.

That Christopher Columbus discovered America.

Jesus was white and had long hair.

That this generation is the stupidest generation that has ever existed.

That Christmas marks the birth of Jesus. The real reason for the season has more to do with the winter solstice and less to do with an immaculately conceived birthday boy.

I think one of the scariest ones is the fear of vaccines, and the idea that vaccines cause Autism.

That the president (USA) has some sort of special powers to control the economy.

[Edit for some clarity] I mean something like a big lever in the Oval Office, that Obama uses to shift the economy up and down.

I'm Korean and until recently my parents had me believing that leaving the fan on within a closed room overnight would end me via suffocation or something. This was just propaganda developed by the South Korean government to stop people from wasting electricity(if I remember correctly.)
Moral of the story: don't believe your parents blindly.

The US single handedly saved the rest of the world during WW2.

Some Americans seem to think that socialized health care is bad, as a Brit i find this very silly.

Edit: I love the replies saying "yeah but we don't have to wait 6 months to see a doctor" - Thats propaganda for you.

Also, i wasn't attacking America. There's no need to start getting defensive and picking things out that might be wrong with the UK. No country is perfect, we all have our problems and our bad politicians.

That every Jew carries around a little sack of "jew" gold around their necks.

That the Mayans said the world was going to end.
They never claimed that at all.

Pretty much everything about the Pilgrims of early America. The real reason they left is because they were kicked out of England first for being overly religious and really pushy to everyone. Then they went to Holland where they got kicked out again for being jerks. Finally they never intended to land on Plymouth Rock, they ran out of beer and stopped there.

Reagan was a leading cause of the end of the cold war. Reagan was the model fiscal conservative. Reagan was widely popular. Reagan wasn't engulfed in an enormous scandal where iirc close to 200 felony convictions were made including oliver north which he probably later pardoned.

I lived with a French family for a bit this summer, and they were CONVINCED that chocolate + coffee was very bad for you. I had heard of the French fear of eggs + milk, which was created as a way of rationing food (During WWII?), so I assumed this was a similar thing. I didn't have the heart to argue, just shrugged and moved on...

That eating carrots can help you see in the dark better.

In WW2 the British were using radar to find enemy airplanes, but to keep radar a secret they told the whole of Britain they were feeding their men carrots. Germany then started feeding their army carrots as well. No, they do not help you see in the dark. The Carotene in them is good for your eyesight though.

That Napoleon was a midgete.

Napoleon was of average height for the time.

The whole midnight ride of Paul Revere. Revere shouted "the Regulars are coming out" while riding with two others, one a doctor he met on the road who was returning from a 'lady friend's house' at the scandalous hour of 1 am. Revere was captured by the British while his two friends escaped. It was the sleezy doctor, Samuel Prescott, who completed the ride, but Revere's name rhymes with more things, so it's him we heard about in the poem.