The mass remembering of events that did not happen, also known as the Mandela Effect. This is an idea that has been flooding the internet recently, even though the actual concept has been around for a while. It gets its name due to the fact that a large number of people remember Nelson Mandela dying back in the late 80’s or early 90’s, and where shocked to hear about his death (again) in 2013. Below is a snippet from a book published in the 90’s.
Obviously, this concept has really been messing with people, especially when it intertwined with a lot of millennials’ childhoods. Most people remember the book and T.V. series about a family of bears being called the Berenstein Bears, when it is actually called the Berenstain Bears.
There are plenty of other examples of this phenomenon. People are convinced that there are more than 50 states and that Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. were added as states. People recall the 9/11 terrorist as taking place on September 10th. Another one that I was not aware of until today is that “Barbara” Streisand’s name is actually spelled Barbra. Many people have sworn that Chick-fil-a has been spelled either as Chic-fil-a or Chik-fil-a in the past, or that Febreze is supposed to have two e’s, Febreeze.
There are a few theories that come from movies such as the famous quote from "Forest Gump", where Forest actually says “Life WAS like a box of chocolates” as opposed to “Life IS like a box of chocolate”. Another very famous quote that we misremember is “Luke, I am your father”, but if you go back to the movie he actually says “No, I am your father”. The voice behind Darth Vader has misquoted himself on air multiple times. If you watched "Silence of the Lambs", then you surely remember the eerie “Hello Clarisse” scene when Clarisse enters the cell, even though the actual line in the scene is “Good Morning”.
There are plenty more examples of this phenomenon and multiple theories that try to explain it. The theories range from spreading misinformation, to time travel, to different dimensions. Whether you believe this theory or not, it is fun to get caught up in researching it by watching YouTube videos and googling for hours.
Extra Example: In Snow White the Evil Queen says "Magic mirror on the wall" as opposed to "Mirror mirror on the wall".
