The Mandela Effect has gone mainstream. Now that the internet is buzzing with wild theories and new examples every day, it's time to go over where the ideas originated, and consider in detail what exactly might be causing it.
- Ian Scott 0 Comments
He abolished slavery, but was a slaveholder himself
MMDE: Thomas Jefferson did not father 6 children with his slave
Current: Thomas Jefferson fathered 6 children with his slave
He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, an American Founding Father and the third US President. But did Thomas Jefferson hide a secret so embarrassing it could have destroyed him? Various reports, such as Wikipedia, are claiming there is strong evidence he fathered some, or all , of the children Sally Hemings gave birth to. The problem? She was his slave.
DNA tests on various descendents have strongly indicated this is the case.
This is one of those news stories which seems to have come from nowhere. Many people point to every detail of each US President being widely available, especially one seen as being a scandal. The fact it's not better known is causing it to be regarded as a Mandela Effect of the "reverse false memory" kind.
- Tracy Cooper 0 Comments
A secret in plain view
MMDE: FDR was not paralysed for the 12 years he was president
Current: FDR was paralysed for the 12 years he was president
Is is really possible that the US President Franklin Roosevelt kept a total paralysis from the waist down secret for 12 years, including the 4 he served presiding over WW2?
Many people find this as a shock today, and the evidence that he was always sat down or seen leaning against someone, or something, in the photographs and films taken of him during this time come as a big surprise.
The story today is that when he was 39 he contracted what his doctors believed was polio. Today, the evidence shows it was more likely to have been Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). In any case, his every appearance was said to be stage-managed to give the appearance he wasn't paralysed for fear it would diminish him in the eyes of the American people.
This is ironic as today he is regarded as one of the 3 greatest US Presidents, along with Lincoln and Washington.
- Tracy Cooper 0 Comments
Even he couldn't have predicted this
MMDE: Nostradamas
Current: Nostradamus
Googling for "Nostradamas" in English suggests you might have meant "Nostradamus" instead, but when you (currently) go ahead and search for that anyway, you get many references as well. So is this a spelling Mandela Effect change, or did this great man of mystery have an extra piece of wizardry up his sleeve, just lying in wait for 500 years, when his power to confuse Google would be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world?
Most people know the real controversy here is the vague wording in his prophesies, and the retroactive modern-day reinterpretation of them after the event. For example, he predicted the rise of Hister, which everyone assumed meant Hitler, but in fact the Hister was the name of a river, so was he merely saying one day it might rain a lot more than usual and cause it to swell?
- Ian Scott 0 Comments
Officially, how many victims?
MMDE: Jack the Ripper killed 7 women
Current: Jack the Ripper killed 5 women
Jack the Ripper's crimes still send shivers down the spine today. It was a hard life for most Londoners back then, and there were many murders in the extreme-poverty stricken streets. Officially, the police have records 5 as being done by him, but most people remember 7, and some 11.
The press were all over the killings, and, as today, eager to dramatise and exaggerate anything they thought would sell more newspapers. Whilst not as extreme as the hoax War of the Worlds Mandela Effect, it is conceivable they reported more murders as being "by Jack" for this purpose.
The murders were never solved, and although the police did link others to the official 5, that is the number on record.
- Ian Scott 0 Comments
He won again?
MMDE: Leonardo Di Caprio won an Oscar before 2016
Current: Leonardo Di Caprio won his first Oscar in 2016
Many people were surprised to hear that the Oscar Leonardo Di Caprio won in 2016 was his first, and are claiming this is a Mandela Effect.
The are sure they remember the ceremony, and even got a strong sense of deja-vu when they saw the 2016 one because they thought his acceptance speech was uncannily similar to the one he gave earlier.
It's been suggested they are confusing this with the BAFTAs, but they are clear they are well aware of that and this is definitely the Oscars.
- Ray Wu 0 Comments
His most famous speech
MMDE: We will fight them on the beaches
Current: We shall fight on the beaches
Ask most people to quote the famous 1940 speech from Winston Churchill about fighting on beaches and the chances are they will start "We will flight them on the beaches". This is interesting, because it's not what he said. Are they experiencing a Mandela Effect?
Today, all references show it to be "We shall fight on the beaches".
It's a historic and very famous speech - so how come it changed this way? Even Wikipedia says 'the next year American journalist H. R. Knickerbocker wrote that its words "deserve to be memorized by us all", observing that "With Churchill's picture these words are placarded in homes and offices throughout the British Empire.'. Well, almost.
- Ray Wu 0 Comments
You cannot be serious
MMDE: Texas did not pass a law honoring The Boston Strangler for services to population control
Current: Texas passed a law honoring The Boston Strangler for services to population control
This is a borderline MMDE, but still very surprising - if not shocking - to those who first hear of it.
Why on earth would any state actually pass into law something honouring one of their worst mass murderers? Shockingly, it's true. And for a good reason, even if it's unfortunately a very embarrassing one.
It turns out one legislator was sick of the panel he was on constantly rubberstamping proposals without reading them, so with April 1st coming up he put forward a special one of his own, just to catch them all out. And it worked spectacularly. His proposal was that the Boston Strangler be "officially recognised by the State of Massachusetts for his noted activities and unconventional technique involving population control and applied psychology." He didn't use the term "Boston Strangler" but his actual name, Albert De Salvo, instead.
