re: What's the dumbest thing a teacher's ever 'taught' you?

in high school back in the 90's, one of my football coaches who taught American History asked who the first American in space was ?

I raised my hand and answered Alan Shepard

He said I was wrong, that it was John Glenn.

I said no, John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, but not first in space.

He argued with me for 10 minutes and said that whoever was right was owed a coke after football practice.

We opened our textbooks and found a picture of Alan Shepard - first American in space.

He said he owed me a coke and was happy that I had read the textbook chapter before class.

Little did he know that I only knew that because I had seen the movie "The Right Stuff" like 50 times since I was a kid and distinctly remember Scott Glenn playing Alan Shepard as the first American in space....dumb arse coach!

as a side note, on the final exam the question came up "Who was the first American in space?"
A.) Alan Shepard
B.) John Glenn
C.) Gus Grissom
D.) my name

I chose my name and it was the only question I missed