Who doesn’t like the friendly neighborhood Know-It-All? Okay, probably everyone. But that won’t stop you from wanting to learn the truth behind many of life’s mysteries, right?

Especially when most of us are taught the complete opposite of what really happened. Sure, we can point fingers at movies, culture, or Mr. Smiggles, our wacky high school history teacher for unintentionally (hopefully) misleading us.

But at the end of the day, knowing the reality behind history is something only each one of us can fix — through learning.

Here are 5 of my favorite popular historical stories that are actually false…

“Hi-Ho, Silver, blast away!”

The noble white horse. The characteristic silver bullets. The racist trope of a sidekick. Most of us remember The Lone Ranger as a rule-stretching, right-from-wrong-having, justice-always-prevails Texas cowboy with a badge.

But if he was based on reality, he probably would’ve been more famous for his bloodlust, torturous ways, and genocide.

The Lone Ranger Origin Story

Back in 1932, the Great Depression was at its lowest point. Prohibition was ruining people's fun throughout the country.

People were sad, mad, and definitely not glad.

Detroit’s famous WXYZ radio station wanted to do something about this. They decided they were in need of…

On May 8th of this year, Dogecoin was worth $96 billion.

I don’t know if you care about cryptocurrencies, but I am sure you’ve at least heard of them by now. Maybe you don’t give a flying fact, but here’s at least one reason why you should — $96 billion is more money than the estimated value of the vaccine.

You know, pretty much the only cure to the crazy world-destroying pandemic running amok all around us.

And here’s the kicker — Dogecoin was created as a joke.

History of the Coin

Back in 2013, still in the early days of crypto, Adobe software…

That pretty picture is from the coast near my apartment. It’s a lovely little area on the west side of a small island just off the side of a big city. It’s quiet, there’s a beach, and I sometimes even see people surfing there on odd occasions (it’s a very uncommon sport here).

I would try to surf myself but I think it would technically be called floating, and it would only be a matter of time before the authorities were called for a beached whale sighting.

But if you squint at that picture just a bit — or have…

Any aspiring writers out there have surely heard the common mantras to improve their craft:

1. Read as much as you can.
2. Write every single day.
3. Kill your darlings.

While those are fantastic pieces of advice that have stood the test of time, many of us aspiring authors want to know the nitty-gritty. The in-between small facets of creating a masterpiece that most successful authors don’t (or won’t) share with the rest of us.

But luckily for us, many of them have.

Here’s a helpful list of the best books to teach us how to write better. Whether it's fiction, novels…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in July for the US. 12 states passed a major hurdle this week by having over 70% of their adult population vaccinated at least once.

I dug deeper. The CDC has a wonderful project where they share as much up-to-date information about COVID in the US as possible. Looking at their data map, you can see a whopping 21 states and 2 not-yet states have all administered at least 1 shot to their populace.

This is fantastic news and is surely the beginning of the breaking point for this modern plague.

But…

It’s a common debate amongst content creators. “Should I go for quality over quantity or the reverse?” And the usual reply — the one we all inherently want to hear — is that quality always wins out above all else.

The tortoise over the hare. The shy guy over the pickup guru. The artist who remains true to themselves always wins.

Except they don’t.

Because quality over quantity is a sham.

The Internet is full of crap for a reason

Just look around you, why is the internet so full of fluff?

When was the last time you read something you truly enjoyed? What random story on the internet…

10,000 is a big number to aim for.

If you’re trying to become an expert in something, Malcolm Gladwell posits it takes 10,000 hours to truly reach the Olympian level.

If someone were to give you 10,000 dollars, you’d probably sleep a bit more comfortable that night.

Climbing 10,000 miles high and joining a club would leave you with a story you might not want to tell your grandkids.

But for me, ever since I stepped e-foot on this platform, I’ve had 10,000 followers as my big goal.

Vain? Absolutely. Irrelevant? Probably. Oh-so-juicy-to-see-it? …