r/MandelaEffect • u/em_etib • Dec 13 '13
52 States in America
Okay, so I didn't even realize there were "only 50" states until a comment in the thread that promoted this subreddit. As I said in my reply, I'm positive it used to be 52, because I could never remember if it was 51 or 52 and my friend would tease me about it. 50 wouldn't have been a problem because it's an easy, even number to remember.
So I remembered as a kid watching Arthur, they had an episode where they mentioned how many states there are in America. I vividly remember this, because afterwards I tried to memorize it. I know they didn't say 50, because like I said, I could have easily remembered flat, even 50.
So I decided to try to find that Arthur episode. It couldn't be too hard--I remember it had something to do with either Buster or Arthur needing to study, they say the incorrect amount of states and someone corrects them. It had to of been in the first 3 seasons because I was really young when I watched it. So I skim the list of episodes, and already in the first season I see "Buster Makes the Grade"... yeah, that sounds about right. Is it really that easy?? I search for youtube and find the video. Skip the part where they're in the classroom... skip the talk in the principal's office... aha! Buster's about to complain how dumb he is. I'll watch this. This is it!!! This is what I remember!!
Buster says he can barely remember the 30 states of America. Muffy rolls her eyes and says, "Buster, there are 50 states!" Uhm, what? She said 50?? I know it's disappointing for anyone who read through expecting her to say 52. But this is what's freaky. Think about it. My memory was so accurate, I was able to track down the episode in <5min. It played out as I remembered--someone saying the wrong number, and someone else correcting them.
I'm currently 22, and I was able to pick out and remember a single moment in a TV show I watched as a kid, where a character of Arthur says how many states are in the U.S. I remembered all of this. And yet somehow my memory of 52 is the only thing that's wrong...?
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u/ACCrowley Dec 17 '13
AH! We have already discussed this in said thread, but Im glad you came here and posted this. This is so god damn validating i cant even. Showing this whole thread to skeptical husband rn
51ers: I too remember there being 51, and 51 feels right because I seem to remember there being 51 for a long time. And then I remember it became 52 at some point, so I remember BOTH. Im 30, born in 83.
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Dec 13 '13
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u/em_etib Dec 13 '13
I know exactly what you mean, seeing 50 just feels... off. There's this disconnect when I look at the number, because it wasn't a flat 50 before.
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u/beautyofdisorder Dec 14 '13
51 has ALWAYS seemed right to me. I have gotten test questions wrong in middle school because of this. The only thing that keeps me to remembering "reality" is the song "Fifty Nifty United States".
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Dec 14 '13
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u/beautyofdisorder Dec 14 '13
Damn. That's exactly what I am thinking. It's the STATES. Everyone should know know how many states there are. And I remember so clearly as well so... you're not alone.
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Dec 14 '13
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u/beautyofdisorder Dec 14 '13
There probably won't ever be an explaination. But just know that you're not alone in your beliefs.
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u/thingsthingsthings Jan 17 '14
For me, it's always been 50 states. In elementary school we sang a song called "50 Nifty United States" and I can't for the life of me imagine altering that song, and the rhyming, to make it 51 or 52.
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u/FXVRFXLD Apr 22 '14
This lyric references "52 States" from ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"
Chop that down, pass it all around Lyrics get hard, quick cement to the ground For any MC in any 52 states I get psycho killer, Norman Bates My producer slam, sharp like bam Jump on stage and then I dun-dah
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (extended Version)
wow just blew my mind, I have always known there to be 50 states. but as soon as I began reading this thread these lyrics came to me and now I think ODB was living in that timeline when he wrote this track. DANG
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u/Shanman150 Dec 13 '13
I don't suppose you remember what the extra states might have been? It was a long time ago, of course. I think some people include Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia when they mention this.
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u/em_etib Dec 13 '13
No, I was really bad with geography. I probably couldn't name all 50 states as it is right now. I just remember Alaska and Hawaii made up the last 2, which is how I finally remembered 52.
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u/UnluckyLuke Dec 13 '13
Hawaii and Alaska are kinda special states (ie: isolated from the others). Sometimes you learn there are 50 states, and you think there are two extra states, and 52 overall.
Makes sense?
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u/em_etib Dec 13 '13
But I was taught Hawaii and Alaska were why there were 52. I didn't do any addition of my own, I was just taught 52 and Alaska and Hawaii were the 2 special ones to help me remember it's 52 and not 51.
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u/chibicakes Dec 29 '13
I remember being taught in fifth grade that Puerto Rico and some other island (Dominican Republic?) made up the recent addition of two extra states, making it 52 states. Anyone else remember Puerto Rico being one?
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u/balloftape Jan 10 '14
Puerto Rico and Guam. Neither are states, but they are protectorates (or territories or something along those lines).
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u/queenpaige May 29 '14
I also remember there being 52 states...I live in Australia, but me and my from used to sing this stupid song that had all the names of the American states, and I'm almost positive there were 52.
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u/sas78 Jun 07 '14
I'm the same - I always thought there were 52. Western Australia here, and very into world history and geography.
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Dec 21 '13
I'm a Brit and know there are 50 states now, but as a child I'm sure I remember there being 51 or 52. I vaguely have an idea where this may have come from though, I think there might have been a Simpsons episode where they said there were 51 or 52 states corresponding to stars on the flag? Not 100% though.
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u/Abracadabrae Feb 11 '14
There are a couple of gags in the Simpsons about the number of stars on the US flag - Homer "helping" Apu pass his citizenship test by asking why the US flag has 47 stars in 'Much Apu About Nothing' and Grampa Simpson with a 49 star flag (because he refuses to acknowledge the existence of "Missourah") in 'Homer Bad Man.' Great eps by the way, well worth a re-watch.
But the joke both times is that there should be 50 stars total.
I'm Australian, born in '82, and I also had the strong conviction there should be 52 or 51 states. So who knows what's going on there.
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u/cherrywiggles Apr 11 '14
I did the same thing, I always got confused between 51 & 52, until my friend said it was only 50, I was so confused bc it didn't seem right to me, and I think its pretty interesting that so many others agree.
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u/Arturlow Dec 14 '13
I also remember it being 51 or 52. I even remember having a discussion with a friend about it and settling it with "just count the stars in the flag"
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u/em_etib Dec 14 '13
Yes!! I swear I counted the stars on the flag when I was little because I thought it was so cool they corresponded to the amount of states.
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u/UrdnotHorner Mar 04 '14
I always thought that it was 51 states. Even though I know there isn't, 51 just feels right to me.
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May 11 '14
Well I'm not from the US but I'm pretty sure I saw an episode of friends once and someone was trying to name all the states and I clearly recall Rachel saying that he (I think it was Ross) was missing the 51st state
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u/Dawg17 Dec 17 '13
I also thought there were 52 and I'm sure I saw a scene in "All grown up", the series with those tuddlers who are just older, proving he could burp all 52 states, a few years ago. There are no 52 states :)
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u/Msktb Jan 10 '14
I talked to my grandma about this years ago, and she thought at the time there were 52. She was sure Alaska and Hawaii were after the original 50.
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u/changeinpressure May 10 '14
when I was younger, I do remember hearing 51 and believing 51 for some time
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u/nicoleespich May 10 '14
This has happened to me too. I was at work and I don't know what brought up the conversation but I said something about the USA having 51 or 52 states. Maybe I was thinking 52 weeks in a year? Not sure, but regardless, you aren't alone in this.
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u/Imaginemarvelous May 30 '14
Old thread but just thought I'd give my comment, I remember it being 51 because I remember i could never tell if it was 51 or 50 and when I was corrected I would always think, "huh why not an even 50 thats weird"
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Dec 24 '13
I remember specifically learning that there were 51 states and even last week I was confused as to why there were only 50 stars on the flag, "they better update that"
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u/AmericanFatPincher May 15 '14
I recall a suggestion that there might be 51 states soon back in grade school and the teacher, being sort of a rude b*tch, saying something along the lines of oh well they should still keep the flag as is or 51 stars would look weird. I didn't care or even understand politics back then so I shrugged it off. This thread is triggering that memory though. Weird!
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u/mistygreenandblue1 Apr 14 '22
Okay, I was born in 1970.. Let's get this out of the way -I know there are 50 states in the U.S. BUT...
IN SCHOOL (6th grade to be exact), I WAS TAUGHT THAT THERE ARE 52 STATES in the United States..I don't know this for a fact but, I read somewhere that even President Obama "accidently" said there are 52 states. Is it an age thing? Because I'm 99.9 percent sure that P. Obama knows how many states there are in the U.S.
Here's my problem that begs for an answer:
If you look through these posts and if you search through the entire internet.. there are "A LOT" of people around the world, from different parts of the world, (educated people) who claim they were taught that there are 51/52 states. WE CAN'T ALL BE IGNORANT OF THE FACTS, NUTS, INCORRECTLY TAUGHT, OR STRANGER - TAUGHT BY THE SAME TEACHER. Something is definitely WRONG with this picture.. Is this what they call the Mandela effect? I am ignorant to that - but this is really strange. Here's another weirdness - IN THE 1970's, I WAS ALSO TAUGHT THAT PLUTO WAS A PLANET! I know we were taught this for a fact, because as a child, Pluto was favorite planet and I created a huge project with all the planets (including Pluto) Months ago, I mentioned this and some Nasa guy almost took my head off for saying Pluto was a planet.. I was literally told off like an ignorant child for not knowing that Pluto was NEVER a planet - I'm baffled folks! I don't know whats floating in the air we're breathing.. But whatever it is, chooses to crawl up some noses and take a nap - while others, travel through our ears and tickle our brains. One thing is for sure WE ARE ALL NOT ON THE SAME PAGE!
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u/Southern-Ad-3604 Apr 26 '23
that’s bc there’s a arguement on if plutos a planet or not, it was actually considered a planet but it isn’t anymore
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u/Sharkhunter2 Sep 22 '22
When I was a kid in high school 20 yrs ago we were taught 52 states. I asked my friend that was too of our school for every class and he agreed 52 states.
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May 22 '14 edited Jun 21 '20
[deleted]
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u/Jonnyyyy May 24 '14
52 weeks in a year. OP probably just assumed that was how many states there were as well from a young age and as we all know memories from when we are young are misremembered far too easily.
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u/dsainz2000 Mar 09 '24
I live in New Mexico. Half of America thinks we're part of Mexico and that I speak really good English. Lol Anyway, I grew up having learned that there was 51 states.i don't remember what the missing state is like everyone else but I know I was taught 51. I'm 49 I believed this till I got into a discussion about it about 15 years ago. But hell Mandella died in prison too🤣
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u/Global_Enthusiasm_33 Apr 07 '24
I remember 52 states! Puerto Rico with the capital being San Juan. The Virgin Islands with the capital being St. Croix. I was blown away shocked to lean that these places are territories of the USA and we still split the VI’s with the Uk! In my memory Puerto Rico became a state in 1959 with President Eisenhower. He also took full control of the Virgin Islands in 1960. Presidents Johnson made the VI’s a state in late 63 early 64. This was something President Kennedy was working on before his assassination in November 1963. The VI’s becoming a state was a huge deal and almost like a tribute to President Kennedy in the aftermath of his death. I grew up in the 80s and wrote an essay on this that got me an A+. I remember this vividly. But what trips me out is that I just called my parents to ask them about this. My mom still thought Puerto Rico was a state, but the Virgin Islands deal fell apart when Kennedy died. My dad had no clue to all of it he said they were territories. Sometimes I feel crazy because I have a lot of Mandela Effects/Glitch in the matrix stories/memories that I’m struggling to understand. And I know I’m not crazy!!! Lol
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u/Regular_Suspect_9989 Apr 08 '24 edited Apr 08 '24
I remember new England being a state not a area with multiple states when i was in school i was taught 51 states but my dad told me it was 52 and when i took a test i answered 52 but the teach said it was 50 i argued with her saying you just taught us 51 my dad says 52 i believe him over you and she said she didn't teach it as 51 she taught it as 50 that was when i realized never believe a teacher and do your own research i came looking for this thread because lately its been bugging me again this memory of my teacher denying teaching it was 51 and then testing us saying it was 50 when my dad said 52 my dad was in the navy growing up i always thought new England was beautifull in pictures and wanted to live there and to learn that its not 1 state but a region after all this time ???? WTF. is all i gotta say. also i was born 1979 my school years were 30-40 years ago
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Mar 04 '14
Fifty, nifty, united states
Come on, guys. When you're a kid, it's easy to mishear something. Your brain fills in the rest of the memory, and you have a wrong memory for life.
Not to mention that on any map of the US, one always sees the contiguous states plus Hawaii and Alaska. It would be easy to mistake the 48 + 2 states for 50 + 2, since they're always drawn that way.
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u/summerofsin May 28 '14
I've never had this problem. It seems so common here in this subreddit though.
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Apr 22 '14
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota,Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. FIDDY.
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u/HerewithPopcorn2 Sep 28 '22
I specifically remember being taught in school that there were 52 states, 50+ Alaska and Hawaii....And I'm 55 years old.
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u/Southern_Tea_9270 Nov 02 '22
I know this is a super old thread but I remember 52 states. Clearly. I remember saying 51 in class and then being corrected about it. Reminded there were 50 inland states and Hawaii and Alaska. I remember one being central west and the other being in the New England area
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u/HelgeMoe Dec 20 '22
I know it is 50 States, however I am convinced (as not an American) that we were though in school (40 yo) that the US had 52 states and that Hawaii or something became #52 at one point. I know in my core that it is not so, but still: everytime someone talks about number of states in the US, my subconscious mind tells me 52. I don't even know what the 2 states missing are. But that is my Mandela effect.
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u/Bookawoe Jan 08 '23
What is weird for me is I have always known there were only 50 states. One morning I woke up and was absolutely certain there were 52 states. I was so sure. I started thinking how in the world they put 52 stars on the flag so I looked it up and was dumbfounded by the 50 stars I found. Even then I thought there must be a mistake. Slowly it came back to me and I realizes I was wrong and there were only 50 but it took a few minutes. This was when I was 24 so I was already an adult and remember how strongly I felt (25 now). It's just so weird that I could forget such a well known fact (I'm also American). And it wasn't a short forgetful moment either like I said I was fully convinced for a solid 5 minutes.
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u/Working_Bowl_7749 Mar 21 '23
Got here coz I just found out that what I thought my whole life is a lie. I was so sure there were 52 states, 52 stars...yet it is 50, and when I go through it state by state - yeah they are only 50 so I dunno where this 52 came from.
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u/Comfortable-Two7927 Dec 18 '23
I also remember growing up that there (were) 52 States.
Look up the Mandella Effect, which started with Nelson Mandella with people remembering he died in prison, vs he was out of prison and died. There are tons of examples and all my memories are of the former, not the latter - which we are told is the present reality. Pretty interesting.
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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '13
You know, I have always thought there were 52.