The perfect gift for the know-it-all in your life and for fans of the debunking website, Snopes.com--a fresh twist on the trivia book that will make you think twice about how much you know as it sets the record straight on hundreds of "false facts." Isn't it time you knew the honest-to-goodness truth? We've all come to believe hundreds of "false facts"-myths that we've blindly accepted as truth, misconceptions that we've ignorantly retold to others-Contrary to Popular Belief provides an instant remedy for your pounding head full of misinformation, giving you quick relief with enlightening and entertaining facts. Inside you'll learn- George Washington was not the first president of the United States. Leap year does not occur every four years. The ostrich does not bury its head in the sand. Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb. Ship captains cannot perform marriages at sea. Sound does not travel at the speed of sound. The needle on a compass does not point to the North Pole. Leonardo da Vinci did not paint the Mona Lisa. And more than two hundred other bits of conventional "wisdom" that are completely bunk.