The concept of false memories has been around for centuries, but these focused on individuals. There hasn't really been much evidence for larger groups of people experiencing them before. Is it just a co-incidence these Mass Memory Discepancy Effect reports started coming in just after the Large Hadron Collider was first turned on?
- Ian Grogan Comments
HE-1490-0159
Da Vinci's 1490 "Proportions of Man"
MMDE: 6 arms and 6 legs
Current: 4 arms and 4 legs
Do you remember 4 or 6 arms for the Vitruvian Man? This is similar to the Shiva's arms Mandela Effect where many people similarly remember 6 arms.
People who remember Da Vinci's Vitruvian man with 6 arms and legs describe each limb as being turned slightly from the ones before it, illustrating how the body would look from those angles, and each set being symmetrical, whereas the limbs today are not.
Da Vinci is no stragnger to The Mandela Effect - he already has The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa to his name. There is also evidence of the Vitruvian Man flip-flopping between 4 and 6 limbs when some experiencing the effect check again after some time has passed.
- Sue Verlander Comments
HE-1977-0158
Elvis has left the building
MMDE: Drugs overdose
Current: Heart attack
The King died on August 16th, 1977. His tragic untimely death was even more shocking since he was only 42.
But how did he die? Everyone agrees he was found alone in his bathroom, and all reports today say it was a heart attack. Yet many remember it as being a drugs overdose. Are they experiencing a Mandela Effect, or was the truth manipulated to prevent bad publicity?
It's no secret Elvis had let himself go by the time of his death - he was reported to weigh 25 stones - yet his stage acts and lifestyle was considered so gruelling he was far from the couch potato some portrayed him as.
- Cory Grajales Comments
HE-1911-0157
An enigmatic disappearance
Another Mona Lisa Mandela Effect?
First we had her smile changing over time, now it turns out many people today are surprised to learn the painting was stolen in 1922.
The theft was actually an inside job. In 1911, Vincenzo Perugia had worked at the Louvre for a time and was familiar with the daily routines and procedures of the staff. One day, he wore the same white smock as them and hid when the gallery closed for the evening. He then removed the painting from its frame, and in the morning when it opened up just walked right out of the door with it under his smock.
He wasn't doing it for the money. He believed the painting was the property of Italy and was attempting to return it to what he saw as it's rightful home. For this reason he served a very light prison sentence, which no doubt made hime smile, enigmatically, when he heard that news.
- Walter McEntyre Comments
HE-198X-0156
Heeere's Johnny!
MMDE: Ed McMahon worked for Publishers Clearing House
Current: Ed McMahon worked for America Family Publishers
This one seems to be freaking many people out - even those who had heard of the Mandela Effect but dismissed it as some kind of false memory syndrome.
Do you remember Ed McMahon delivering PCH's oversized checks with his famous catch phrase and a bottle of champagne? If so, you are experiencing an MMDE, because he never did that. This is despite over 32,000 websites from a Google search which also associate him with PCH.
Current references show he worked for a rival - American Family Publishers - which did involve him visiting the houses of the lucky winners of their draws.
But PCH? Nope - he's their Shining star that never was.
- Ian Grogan Comments
HE-1933-0155
Worst airship disaster in history
Ask anyone what was the worst airship disaster in history and they'll most likely say the Hindenburg.
Not only is this incorrect, but chances are they've never even heard of the actual one, which was the USS Akron 4 years earlier.
Operating between September 1931 and April 1933, this was the world's first purpose built flying aircraft carrier. F93 Sparrowhawk fighter planes could actually land and take off from her, albeit in a highly unconventional way, whilst she was in flight.
During a thunderstorm in April 1933, the Akron was destroyed killing 73. By contrast, 36 died in the Hindenburg disaster of 1937. Both ocurred over US soil, although the Hindenburg was a German passenger aircraft.
Could the fact no-one seems to recall the worst of these two be connected with the fact the Hindenburg crash was filmed, and the famous "Oh! The humanity!" footage has been seen many times since, so is ingrained in the public consciousness?
- Sue Verlander Comments
HE-1862-0154
Cabbages and Kings
MMDE: O Henri
Current: O Henry
William Sydney Porter is best known for his novel "Cabbages and Kings", set in the fictitious country of Anchuria, which weaves its way through many connected short stories renowned for their surprise endings.
He wrote under a pseudonym - but was it "O Henry" or "O Henri"? Many are claiming the spelling was Henri, yet all references today show it as Henry.
Porter led a colourful life, and the buzz surrounding the Mandela Effect of his assumed surname would have amused him greatly. Few people realise he's responsible for coining the phrase "banana republic", to describe a country who's economy is both over-reliant on one commodity and usually disfunctional as a result.
- Sue Verlander Comments
HE-1987-0153
Greetings from New Texas
MMDE: Power of the Bear
Current: Strength of the Bear
Who can't forget BraveStarr, the Space Western animated series which ran from September 1987 to February 1988? He was forever battling the evil Tex Hex, and his many adventures included the apecats, his trusty sidekick Thirty/Thirty and his ability to call on spirit animals whenever he needed an extra boost.
He could invoke:
- Eyes of the Hawk
- Ears of the Wolf
- Speed of the Puma
But what of the Bear? Currently all references are to the Strength of the Bear, but many swear they remember it as the Power of the Bear.
- Sue Verlander Comments
HE-1980-0152
The next train will be delayed
MMDE: Bologna station clock stopped for 16 years from 1980
Current: The Bologna station clock worked properly from 1980
A Mandela Effect from the 1980's has been identified.
This is an early example of a scientifically-studied mass alternative memory instance.
The background is that after the tragic atrocity of the Bologna Centrale station bombing, the blast stopped the clock at 10.25am on Aug 2nd, 1980. Many photographs were taken of it at this moment and used as a symbol when reporting the story. It was quickly repaired and worked normally from then on. However, it broke in 1996 and, as an act of remembrance, it's hands were set to 10.25am and it was not repaired.
A team of Italian psychologists, Stefania de Vitoa, Roberto Cubellib, and Sergio Della Sala then decided to study the false memory phenomenon and found most people thought the clock had been stopped for the entire 16 years since the explosion. This includes staff actually working at the station during this time, and many travellers would have seen and relied on it daily during this period.
There was no term for the MMDE at this time, but it sounds to many like the early documentation of a Mandela Effect, or large-scale alternative memory situation.
- Ian Grogan Comments
HE-1856-0151
Who knows?
MMDE: Nickolai Tesla
Current: Nicola Tesla
Einstein was once asked what it was like to be the smartest man alive, to which he replied "I don't know, ask Tesla".
Some have a false memory of his name being spelt "Nickolai" whereas all references today show "Nicola".
Best known for his design of the AC electricity supply system, Tesla became largely forgotten after his death in 1943. However, from the 60's onwards science had advanced sufficiently to enable his true genius to be much better understood, and the realisation of how far ahead of his time he actually was.
The alternative memory some have of his first name probably comes from the popular misconception that he was Russian, where the name would be spelt that way. In fact Tesla was Serbian-American.
