Finals are upon us, and our heads are about to burst with the compression of useless knowledge.

After next week, you will probably never have to recall why Napoleon Bonaparte was deposed or why the Roman Empire collapsed.

However, many of the facts contained within this Wikipedia entry, entitled “Common Misconceptions,” will undoubtedly come up again and again over the course of your life. And so, it may be time to brush up on what the "Immaculate Conception" really means and/or what is actually the largest desert in the world. [Hint: It’s not the Sahara; our professors misinformed us!]

In just twenty minutes, I learned more about geology, world culture, religion and history by perusing this page than I ever did in my four years at Columbia.

Who says Wikipedia is useless?