"kennen" is not the same as "wissen" and sometimes it takes a while to get used to the difference. After all, in English we only have 'to know.'

kennen - is for things you can get to know, like people, cities, countries, films, museums, schools, stadiums.

wissen - is for facts about things.

For example:

Ich weiß, dass Neil deGrasse Tyson intelligent ist! - I know that Neil deGrasse Tyson is intelligent!

But you don't know him unless you've met him. So, assuming you've never met him:  Ich kenne Neil deGrasse Tyson nicht.

You can 'wissen' that Brazil is a large country in South America. But you can only 'kennen' Brazil if you've been there.

Ich kenne Brazilien nicht. Ich war noch nie da.

Ich weiß aber, dass Brazilien ein großes Land in Südamerika ist!

If you've met German actor Franka Potente, you can say that you 'kennen' her.

Ich kenne Franka Potente.

Moreover, when you met her, she told you about how hard she works, then you can 'wissen' something about her.

Ich weiß, dass sie hart arbeitet. Das hat sie mir gesagt!

There are your rules of thumb:  wissen is for facts and kennen is for things you can get to know.

How do you remember the difference between kennen and wissen? Comment below!