The Eiffel Tower is up to six inches taller in summer.
Heat expands the iron lattice; the tower physically grows ~15 cm on hot days and shrinks back in winter.
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
Sources · October 15, 2026
Every claim from this day’s challenge, with its verdict, explanation and sources.
Round 1
Christopher Columbus discovered America.
He reached the Caribbean in 1492 — but millions of people already lived in the Americas, Norse sailors had landed in Newfoundland ~500 years earlier, and he never set foot in what is now the United States.
You lose most of your body heat through your head.
Heat loss tracks exposed surface area; a bare head accounts for only about 10% — wear a coat, not just a hat.
Round 2
Cleopatra lived closer to the iPhone than to the Great Pyramid.
The pyramid rose ~2560 BC; Cleopatra died in 30 BC (2,530 years later); the iPhone arrived in 2007, just 2,037 years after her death.
You shrink every day.
Yes — by up to about a centimeter, as gravity compresses your spinal discs. The catch: they rehydrate while you sleep, so you're back to full height by morning.
Tomatoes grown under red light contain no vitamin C.
Light spectrum can nudge plant chemistry, but it doesn't delete vitamins — one study found red-and-blue LED lighting actually raised tomatoes' vitamin C. Variety, ripeness, and handling matter far more.
Round 3
The Webb telescope found more big galaxies in the infant universe than models predicted.
Many 'too-massive' early galaxies turned out to be inflated by bright black holes, but Webb still sees about twice as many massive galaxies as expected — hinting stars formed faster back then.
Scotland's national animal is a mythical creature.
The unicorn — adopted by 12th-century Scottish royals as a symbol of purity and legendary enemy of England's lion.
The "dark side" of the Moon never receives any sunlight.
The Moon is tidally locked, meaning we only ever see one side, but the far side gets just as much sunlight during its lunar day. It is "dark" only to radio communications.