FACT OR FACTOID: The media in Canada have often reported that Toronto was named by UNESCO as the most multicultural city in the world.
RESOLUTION: While Toronto may be one of the world’s most diverse cities, the United Nations agency has never designated any city as being the most multicultural or diverse. As with other factoids, the belief in this status persisted for years, even finding its way onto UNESCO’s web site, into the pages of the New York Times, and into international media reports related to Toronto’s two Olympic bids.
Tomorrow, A Just-So Story Rita Bay
REMEMBER: A factoid is an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact. Read the following and decide if it’s a fact or factoid.
FACT or FACTOID: The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the moon. See Pic.
RESOLUTION: No single, man-made object on Earth can be seen with a naked eye from the Earth’s moon. In the best circumstances, the result of some human activity such as the changing of the Netherlands’ coast with the building of the dikes (See Pic) or the partial drying out of the Aral Sea might be visible. Some astronauts have reported seeing the Great Wall from low earth orbit.
Tomorrow, Another Factoid. Rita Bay
BEWARE!! A factoid is an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact. Read the following and decide if it’s a fact or factoid.
STATEMENT: The Texas flag is the only state flag that can be flown at the same height as the American flag, because Texas was the only state that was a nation before it was admitted to the United States.
RESOLUTION: This is a factoid for two reasons. According to the United States Flag Code, all state flags are displayed at the same height as the American flag when on separate poles, with the American flag in a position of honor (to its own right). State flags should hang below the American flag while on the same pole, and should never be larger than the American flag. In addition,Texas is not the only U.S. state to have formerly been an independent nation. Hawaii,Vermont, and California were also independent nations prior to joining the United States.
Tomorrow, Factoid #2 Rita Bay