History

Did Donald Trump dismiss a longtime Secret Service food tester after JD Vance saw the agent sprinkle an unidentified spice on the President's meal when they were dining out in DC? No, that's not true: There is no evidence supporting this story. In his second term Donald Trump had only eaten out in DC on one occasion, on Sept. 9,…

This is what fact checkers call a "prebunk." A prebunk is like a debunk (another word for fact check), only it's an advance notice of an anticipated false claim. This article is intended to inoculate you from future outbreaks of a specific type of false claims about your favorite entertainment celebrities, sports stars, and politicians. We call this "Viet Spam"…

Did ABC cancel "The View" and replace it with "The Charlie Kirk Show" hosted by the late conservative activist's widow, Erika Kirk, and other people, including Megyn Kelly? No, none of that is true: The show continued to be on air after the beginning of this wave of online rumors. Neither the hosts nor the network made a public announcement…

Did U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "rebrand" itself to be publicly known as Homeland Security Investigators, not ICE? No, that's not true: ICE still exists under the same old name. "Homeland Security Investigators" discussed in social media posts is not a brand-new entity -- it has operated since 2010 as one of the major divisions within ICE, but the correct…

Did the Donald Trump White House publish a press release offering pieces of the demolished East Wing for $500 per item at a website whose name suggested an affiliation with the U.S. president? No, that's not true: An image of the purported press release circulating on social media was full of nonsensical typos and redirected to a nonexistent website. As…

Is a video showing dogs trying to steal honey by poking a beehive with a stick and getting stung authentic? No, that's not true: The video was posted on a TikTok account that says it publishes "high quality 3D animated shorts". According to a specialized detection tool the video was likely made using AI. The footage also contained several glitches…

Did the United States have no children's hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s, when comedian Rob Schneider was a child? No, that's not true: The first children's hospital was opened in Philadelphia in 1855, with 26 operating by 1895, according to an academic paper. Hospitals opened in the 1960s include St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. The claim originated…

Did researchers discover a shocking display of primate intelligence when a band of chimps in the Congo began wearing masks to hide their faces when they were raiding local markets? No, that's not true: This story appeared spontaneously on social media from an account bearing the disclaimer, "story (noun) - an account of imaginary or real people and events told…

Did MSNBC air old 2017 footage of a large crowd in Boston Common and misrepresent it as live footage of the Oct.2025 No Kings protest? No, that's not true: The footage shows the October 18, 2025 No Kings protest as it was taking place. The 2017 protest mentioned on social media took place in a different area of the Boston…

Did Evelyn Duval, the wife of a Louisiana plantation owner, elope with a runaway slave in 1847? No, that's not true: This story is full of precise details, which lend an air of authenticity - but the details do not match up with historic sources. Both the image of the couple and the story spontaneously surfaced on social media in…