Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
'12 Years a Slave' swept the Spirit Awards, and also won "Best Picture" at the Oscars,
but it's just now receiving the recognition it deserves from The New York Times.
You see, way back on January 20, 1853, the paper ran an article on Solomon Northup, whose
memoir, "12 Years a Slave" was turned into the now-Blockbuster movie.
​Here you see the blunder in the article. In the body of the text, Northup's name is
spelled with an extra 'r' and 'o,' and also spelled incorrectly in the headline.
The correction on The New York Times webpage says:
"The errors came to light on Monday after a Twitter user pointed out the article in
The Times archives. (The errors notwithstanding, The Times described the article as 'a more
complete and authentic record than has yet appeared.')"
Twitter, to the rescue? Well, maybe no one was rescued, but hey, that's pretty cool the
power of social media.
One Twitter user, also ironically, best-selling New York Times author, Rebecca Skloot, was
one of the people who pointed out the error.
Later, she joked she is actually a terrible proofreader and speller. (Via Twitter / @RebeccaSkloot)
We're glad Northup is finally receiving the recognition he deserves.