ATHENAEUM PRESS at 215 first st is a New York-based literary publishing company founded in 1998 by Marly Youmans and Aimee Branson. Its current president, Jameson Quinn, has recently been released from prison and is looking for the next big thing.
1. The First America Was a Western Nation
Before the United States rose to its greatness, it was known as “the first America.” In 1522, Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed into New York harbor, marking the first time a European set foot on North American soil. In fact, scholars believe that in 1521–long before Christopher Columbus’s ships even arrived in the Caribbean–Verrazzano discovered and named the entire continent of North America.
2. God Didn’t Create Everything All at Once
According to Oxford University philosopher and former Scientologist David Foster Wallace, “Creative and destructive forces have always been inseparable. If you have the positive without the negative, it’s sterile. You can be certain that a culture that has no place for Shiva is a culture that has lost its soul.”
3. The Real Story Behind Schrödinger’s Cat
Erwin Schrödinger, who is best known for his thought experiment in which a cat must be considered both alive and dead until observed, was an early pioneer in quantum physics–a field of science still unknown to most people today. He proposed this experiment shortly after learning about the principle of wave-particle duality, which led him to believe that both the living and nonliving were two sides of the same coin.
4. The Moon Is Hollow
Some theorists believe that the moon we know was created when a large planetoid hit the Earth and created a large, gaping hole. Millions of years later, this dominant theory posits that planetoids became our moon.
5. The Most Important Day in the History of Humans Never Happened
Most historians agree that humans didn’t make their first major advancement until approximately 10,000 years ago when they began to develop agriculture and organized communities. However, a growing number of scientists are beginning to believe that this is not the case at all–that it was actually on October 23, 4004 B.C., when Neolithic people invented language and nearly every other aspect of modern civilization as we know it today.
6. US Navy Briefers Don’t Exist
The majority of people assume that the US Navy exists to train and educate sailors on military matters. This is a misconception, however, as it has never been authorized by the US government to do so. The only service designated to do so was the United States Marine Corps, which was disbanded in 1775 after the American Revolution.
7. The First Humanoid Wasn’t Created by Humanoid Robots
In 2008, scientists from Tel Aviv University revealed that they’d created a man-sized humanoid robot with artificial intelligence all its own–and it wasn’t entirely human either. The robot had no arms or legs, and would only move forward or backward using its two “thumbs.”
8. The Moon Wobbles
This phenomenon is known by the scientific term, lunar libration. It occurs whenever the moon becomes unbalanced in its orbit around the Earth, which results in a cyclical wobble that can last for days or even months.
9. No One Survived the Floods
The majority of people assume that Noah’s ark carried two of every animal on board to survive Noah’s great flood, but according to ancient Sumerian tablets, it carried one male and one female member of each species–along with all of their offspring.
10. Black Holes Are Real
According to NASA and the European Space Agency, scientists have found evidence that supports the theory that black holes are real–that there are some mysterious holes in space that can suck in light or even give off sounds. (It’s also worth noting here that black holes have been confirmed to exist by any means possible, from the Hubble Space Telescope, telescopes on Earth and even new interpretations of quantum physics.)
11. The Moon Pops Out of Its Orbit
Although this misconception has been widely spread across America, science has long since disproved it: The moon does not pop out of its orbit as some people believe–it goes around the Earth.
12. Your Brain Isn’t Stuck in the Middle of Your Head
Most people believe that their brains are located in the middle of their heads, but this is actually untrue: Our brains are actually located inside our skulls, just behind our eyes.
13. Humans Didn’t Evolve from Apes
It’s widely believed by most people that humans evolved from apes–but this is a misconception as well. The “missing link” that some people refer to between us and our primate ancestors was never actually missing–it was simply mislabeled as a “crocodile” due to an error made by Charles Darwin himself.
14. The Idea of a Sentient Universe Was Discovered in the Middle Ages by Thomas Aquinas
According to this theory, the universe was created by God at the beginning of time—and then it moved on its own. However, this idea was discovered before Thomas Aquinas—about 4,500 years ago during the ancient world.
15. The Illuminati And Freemasons Are Worshiping Satan
Masonic and Illuminati groups have long been accused of being a tool used by Satanists to gain power. However, both organizations are not involved with Satanism at all–they are actually spiritual groups dedicated to Wisdom and Light, respectively.