mdwalker

Factual error: P.T. Barnum did not enter the circus business until 1870, when he was 60 years old.

mdwalker

Factual error: The head master of the school criticizes Belle for "teaching another girl to read." But beginning in 1692, well before the movie is set, all parents in France were required, by royal decree, to send all their children, boys and girls, to school until at least age 13.

mdwalker

Factual error: When the Reindeer aircraft is on the ground at Gander, Jimmy Stewart pulls the landing gear handle, but only the left main gear folds up. All three landing gear (left, right, and nose) would have folded together.

mdwalker

Factual error: When Jett is supposedly drilling for oil, just before the gusher comes in, the equipment he is using is not a drilling rig, but a pump for an existing well already producing oil.

mdwalker

Factual error: In the US Navy, liberty (what civilians usually call "shore leave") does not commence at 6:00 in the morning. It commences at 1600 (4:00 in the afternoon) and you have to be back on board by 0700 the next morning. Weekend liberty commences at 1600 Friday and expires on board at 0700 Monday.

mdwalker

Factual error: Throughout the movie, the characters talk of "the" engine room. The Queen Mary (aka Poseidon) has four engine rooms: forward port, forward starboard, aft port, and aft starboard. There are also four shaft alleys (one for each propeller shaft), along with two generator rooms and five boiler rooms.

mdwalker

Show generally

Factual error: Throughout the series, there are repeated instances of "I Corps" being pronounced, "Eye Corps." Since Army corps are designated by Roman numerals, it should be pronounced, "First Corps." (I wonder how they would have pronounced "III Corps" or "XVII Corps?").

mdwalker

Factual error: Three B-29 bombers took part in the Hiroshima mission, flying together at 31,000 feet. Enola Gay carried the bomb, Greate Artiste carried scientific instrumentation, and an unnamed third plane carried photographic equipment. The bomb detonated at 1000 feet above the ground, so it is highly unlikely that anyone could have seen it falling.

mdwalker

Factual error: Marie Curie did set up mobile X-ray units during WWI, but they were not on the battlefield, but in field hospitals, well behind the front lines. (No one wants a field hospital to be hit by rifle or artillery fire).

mdwalker

Factual error: The "Olympic team" sailing on the ship consists of approximately 18 men. The actual 1952 US Olympic team consisted of 286 competitors (245 men and 41 women), plus a large number of coaches, trainers, and so on.

mdwalker

Pompeii's Gate to Hell - S4-E8

Factual error: This episode includes a segment about an abandoned dry dock in San Francisco. At one point, one of the commentators several times refers to the U.S.S. Ward as a "battleship," and marvels that it was built in 17 days. The Ward (DD-139) was a 1200-ton destroyer, not a battleship, and was launched after only 17 days, but then took another two months to complete. By way of comparison, the California (BB-44), an actual battleship of 32,000-tons built during the same time period, too nearly five years to complete.

mdwalker

Factual error: The firefighters arrive at the gas station and proceed to spray water on the fire. You cannot put out a gasoline fire with water; it requires firefighting foam. Water would only spread the fire even more.

mdwalker

Factual error: Pulver supposedly had been on the ship for 14 months without the captain knowing he was aboard. But, the captain would have had to interview him when he came aboard, assign him his duties, and complete a fitness report on him every six months. In addition, all of the officers take their meals in the wardroom, so the captain would have seen him several times a day.

mdwalker

Factual error: The Captain, Roberts, Pulver, and the doctor are the only officers ever seen or mentioned. No Executive Officer, and no officers in Deck, Engineering, Operations, Supply, etc. Also, Dowdy is apparently the only Chief Petty Officer on board.

mdwalker

Factual error: There is no such thing as a Laundry and Morale Officer. The ship's laundry was under the auspices of the Supply Officer, as were numerous other functions. In the novel on which the movie was based, Ensign Pulver was described as "one of the engineering officers."

mdwalker

Factual error: None of the sailors has either service ribbons or rate insignia on his uniform. Even if they were all fresh out of boot camp, they would have had to have at least a rate insignia.

mdwalker

Factual error: Sacajawea was not a "tracker." Lewis and Clark hired her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, and her as interpreters, because she spoke the Shoshone language. (She was 16 and pregnant at the time).

mdwalker

Factual error: At the start of the movie, Frank is shown departing the Enterprise along with enlisted men. On large ships such as carriers, there are two separate brows (i.e., "gangplanks"), one for officers and one for enlisted personnel.

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Show generally

Factual error: In the series, Columbo does not carry a gun, and in several episodes it is mentioned that he doesn't like guns and/or that he doesn't know very much about them. In the real world, all LAPD officers must carry guns, and they must re-qualify with them at the range six times each year. Also, due to the very nature of their work, they are knowledgeable about numerous types, makes, and models of guns.

mdwalker

Factual error: Throughout the show, flintlock firearms are used. The show is set in 1600, and the flintlock was not invented until about 1630.

mdwalker