I get 'useless trivia' on my iGoogle page which often has fairly interesting facts, although I think I've read most of them at least twice. Today, I saw this one for the third time; 'In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, some people thought comets were the eggs or sperm of planetary systems.'

My initial response? "Surely, surely some people right now in the twenty-first century think that? You could get away with any manner of random ridiculousness with the vagueness of that phrasing."

'In the eighteenth century, some people used harpsichords for sexual gratification.' 'In the nineteenth century, some people thought using their nose as a receptacle for a molotov cocktail was a good idea.' 'In the twentieth century, some people thought Dan Brown was a good writer.'

Just because some people think something, that does not mean many people do. And even if the 'some' becomes 'many', it doesn't mean it's true. It just means some people can be douchewaffles with fuckwit syrup.