Fact Checks

UN Security Council resolutions after 9/11 authorized the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001.

The initial U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan began on 7 October 2001 as Operation Enduring Freedom.

The war’s start date is best defined as 20 February 2014, based on Russian documentation of the Crimea operation.

Russia controlled the DPR and LPR from 2014 onward, making the Donbas war an international armed conflict involving Russia.

Jerusalem’s status is disputed: Israel and Palestine both claim it as a capital, and neither claim is widely recognized internationally.

Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, Jerusalem was intended to be an international city (corpus separatum) under a special international regime.

Buzz Aldrin is the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew.

Buzz Aldrin became the oldest living astronaut after Jim Lovell died in August 2025.

The Visigoths’ entry into Rome on 24 August 410 was enabled by someone opening a gate at night, but the identity of the person(s) is not securely known.

During the sack, Christian basilicas functioned as places of sanctuary and were largely spared from violence, though this does not mean the sack was bloodless or harmless.

UFO cover-up conspiracy theories assert that governments (especially the U.S.) suppress evidence that UFOs are of non-human or extraterrestrial origin, despite a lack of evidence supporting those claims.

In the Roswell incident, Roswell Army Air Field issued a July 8, 1947 press release claiming a 'flying disc' was recovered, and the Army quickly retracted it as a weather balloon.

The Nuremberg Trials are commonly described as a single 1945–1946 trial, but in fact they were a package: the International Military Tribunal (IMT) ran from 20 November 1945 to 1 October 1946, and additional Nuremberg proceedings continued afterward under U.S. authority (1946–1949).

The London Agreement (8 August 1945) created the IMT and included the Charter (“Nuremberg Charter”) as an integral annex.

U.S. federal investigators concluded that what struck Donald Trump’s ear was a bullet (whole or fragmented), not teleprompter glass.

The shooter fired eight rounds from a position roughly 120 meters (about 400–450 feet) from Trump’s stage.

The Qing court (Empress Dowager Cixi) supported the Boxers and issued a de facto declaration of war against foreign powers on June 21, 1900.

The Boxer Protocol required China to pay an indemnity of 450 million taels of silver over 39 years (with interest bringing the total close to 1 billion taels).

The article accurately reflects that official French and British investigations found no evidence of a murder conspiracy and concluded the deaths resulted from a traffic crash rather than an assassination plot.

The article’s juxtaposition of the 1999 French judicial outcome (paparazzi not criminally responsible) with the 2008 British inquest verdict ('unlawful killing' involving paparazzi) is not a factual contradiction because the proceedings applied different legal tests and jurisdictions.

The 1953 overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was organized/instigated by the United States (CIA) and the United Kingdom (MI6).

A principal motive for the coup was to protect British oil interests after Iran nationalized its oil industry.

Musk became the largest individual financial contributor to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Musk was given 'special government employee' status as a senior figure leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by executive order in January 2025.