# When initial reports made goofs that stuck ever after **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008 "2017-08-18T21:36:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/21 "2017-08-20T16:40:36Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > That the vietnam war ended in January 27, 1973 with south vietnam protected ? > [@Isilder](#): > > Watergate scandal was far far beyond the Watergate buildings, and so should be called “the Nixon scandal”. We know what Richard Nixon did… So in a way the initial report of the Watergate scandal has erronesously and misleadingly stuck to label the whole scandal. People still ask what the name Watergate applied to. As if that was it. > Nixon recorded anyone anywhere. Those aren’t the kinds of things the OP is talking about. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/22 "2017-08-20T18:08:55Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > General (and later President) Ulysses S. Grant’s name is a misnomer, as he was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. When he was nominated into West Point, the U.S. military academy, his name was erroneously given as Ulysses Simpson Grant. He just went with it. > > Also, it is common knowledge that spinach is a great source of iron. The proof? A typo in a study done in the 1870s, which put the decimal point in the wrong place. In fact, spinach has about as much iron as a leafy green vegetable could expect. I read this somewhere else on the Straight Dope, so take it with a grain of salt. U. S. Grant was born Hiram S Grant. The S didn’t stand for anything on account of being named after two relatives who’s first name began with S. When he enlisted in West Point the army erroneously thought the S stood for Simpson, since that was his mother’s maiden name. He later changed his name to Ulysses Sampson Grant. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/23 "2017-08-20T18:12:16Z")
I didn’t find out until quite recently that the “From Hell” letter reportedly written by Jack the Ripper was actually fabricated by a newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/24 "2017-08-20T18:39:42Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I didn’t find out until quite recently that the “From Hell” letter reportedly written by Jack the Ripper was actually fabricated by a newspaper. Where did you learn that? I thought that the writer of the From Hell letter is, and has always been, unknown. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/25 "2017-08-20T18:59:43Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I read this somewhere else on the Straight Dope, so take it with a grain of salt. > U. S. Grant was born Hiram S Grant. **The S didn’t stand for anything on account of being named after two relatives who’s first name began with S.** When he enlisted in West Point the army erroneously thought the S stood for Simpson, since that was his mother’s maiden name. He later changed his name to Ulysses Sampson Grant. The bolded sentence actually applies to Harry S Truman. As for Grant: [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822 … At a family gathering several weeks later the boy’s name, Ulysses, was drawn from ballots placed in a hat. Wanting to honor his father-in-law, Jesse declared the boy to be Hiram Ulysses, though he would always refer to him as _Ulysses_. … Grant’s father wrote to Congressman Thomas L. Hamer requesting that he nominate Ulysses to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. When a spot opened in March 1839, Hamer nominated the 16-year-old Grant. He mistakenly wrote down “Ulysses S. Grant”, which became his adopted name. [/QUOTE] It’s true that Simpson was his mother’s maiden name. His “[homepage](http://www.granthomepage.com/grantfacts.htm)” states (without citing a reference): > [@](#): > > **Full Name** : Hiram Ulysses Grant. It is frequently said that Grant’s middle name was “Simpson.” It was not. His middle name was “Ulysses” and he admitted that the “S” in his name stood for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/26 "2017-08-20T19:04:49Z")
One of my favorites, quoting from wikipedia: _“The number of human chromosomes was published in 1923 by Theophilus Painter. By inspection through the microscope, he counted 24 pairs, which would mean 48 chromosomes. His error was copied by others and it was not until 1956 that the true number, 46, was determined by Indonesia-born cytogeneticist Joe Hin Tjio.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/27 "2017-08-20T19:10:38Z")
There’s the whole Columbus and the “Indians” thing, which has lasted a pretty long time… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/28 "2017-08-20T20:28:25Z")
Speaking of Indians: Gypsies (Roma) are from India, not from Egypt. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/29 "2017-08-20T20:31:39Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Also, it is common knowledge that spinach is a great source of iron. The proof? A typo in a study done in the 1870s, which put the decimal point in the wrong place. In fact, spinach has about as much iron as a leafy green vegetable could expect. And less because a lot is bound up by oxalates. [http://www.irondisorders.org/diet](http://www.irondisorders.org/diet) But the original Popeye ate sweet potatoes not spinach. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/30 "2017-08-20T20:36:55Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I didn’t find out until quite recently that the “From Hell” letter reportedly written by Jack the Ripper was actually fabricated by a newspaper. > **[From Hell letter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter)** > > The "From Hell" letter (also known as the "Lusk letter") was a letter sent with half of a preserved human kidney to George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, in October 1888. The author of this letter claimed to be the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, who had murdered and mutilated at least four women in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields districts of London in the two months prior to Lusk receiving this letter, and whose vigilance committee Lusk The lett... _Though hundreds of letters claiming to be from the killer were posted at the time of the Ripper murders, many researchers argue that the “From Hell” letter is one of a handful of possibly authentic writings received from the murderer._ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/31 "2017-08-20T20:48:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > [From Hell letter - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter) > _Though hundreds of letters claiming to be from the killer were posted at the time of the Ripper murders, many researchers argue that the “From Hell” letter is one of a handful of possibly authentic writings received from the murderer._ You are so very close to being correct, however. The “Dear Boss” letter seems to have been a journalistic hoax. > **[Dear Boss letter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Boss_letter)** > > The "Dear Boss" letter was a message allegedly written by the notorious unidentified Victorian serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. Addressed to the Central News Agency of London and dated 25 September 1888, the letter was postmarked and received by the Central News Agency on 27 September. The letter itself was forwarded to Scotland Yard on 29 September. > Although many dispute its authenticity, the "Dear Boss" letter is regarded as the first piece of correspondence signed by one Jack the Rippe... ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/32 "2017-08-20T21:12:57Z")
Nome, Alaska name. A British officer making a chart wrote “Name?” next to this village when he didn’t know the name. The mapmaker read this as “Nome” and put that down as the name of the village, and it’s stuck since then. The town tried to change it’s name once, but the US Post Office refused to accept that. (There’s another theory that this village was named after the Nome valley in Norway, which was somewhat near the birthplace of the towns’ founder. But that’s much less fun.) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/33 "2017-08-20T21:45:39Z")
Arab, Alabama vs. Arad, Alabama. The name of the town was an unintentional misspelling by the U.S. Postal Service in 1882 of the city’s intended name, taken from Arad Thompson, the son of the town founder and first postmaster Stephen Tuttle Thompson. Two other names for the town were sent to the Postal Service for consideration: “Ink” and “Bird”. Arab has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[4] from Wiki: [Arab, Alabama - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab,_Alabama) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/34 "2017-08-20T22:03:45Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Nome, Alaska name. > > A British officer making a chart wrote “Name?” next to this village when he didn’t know the name. The mapmaker read this as “Nome” and put that down as the name of the village, and it’s stuck since then. The town tried to change it’s name once, but the US Post Office refused to accept that. > > (There’s another theory that this village was named after the Nome valley in Norway, which was somewhat near the birthplace of the towns’ founder. But that’s much less fun.) In a similar vein, the current distance of 60’6" from home plate to the pitcher’s rubber was due to [misreading the intended distance.](https://calltothepen.com/2017/03/07/mlb-history-pitching-rubber-moved-current-distance/)When the dimension was changed from 50 feet in 1893, it was supposed to be 60 feet even, written as 60’0", but the zero was read as a six and the mistake stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/35 "2017-08-20T22:55:59Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I don’t think this counts. It’s not based on a news report but rather the result of deliberate propaganda from the RAF in WWII. Not propaganda but misinformation to disguise RADAR. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/36 "2017-08-21T14:01:16Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Carrots improve your eyesight. It’s not completely false–vitamin A is necessary for vision. For a person with low vitamin A levels, eating carrots will improve their eyesight. But once you reach the needed level, additional vitamin A does not improve your eyesight. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/37 "2017-08-21T19:19:30Z")
The New York Times account of the 38 witnesses who saw Kitty Genovese being attacked for half an hour but didn’t bother call the police is completely false: > **[A Picture History of Kew Gardens, NY - Kitty Genovese - The popular account...](https://web.archive.org/web/20070510003952/http://www.oldkewgardens.com:80/ss-nytimes-3.html)** > > The popular account of the Kitty Genovese murder is mostly wrong as shown by the evidence from her killer's trial and other sources. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/38 "2017-08-21T20:52:04Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > The New York Times account of the 38 witnesses who saw Kitty Genovese being attacked for half an hour but didn’t bother call the police is completely false: > > [A Picture History of Kew Gardens, NY - Kitty Genovese - The popular account of the Kitty Genovese murder is mostly wrong as shown by the evidence from her killer's trial and other sources.](https://web.archive.org/web/20070510003952/http://www.oldkewgardens.com:80/ss-nytimes-3.html) That’s a good one. There’s also “the woman who sued McD’s and won millions as her _coffee was too hot_” > **[Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants)** > > Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, also known as the McDonald's coffee case and the hot coffee lawsuit, was a highly publicized 1994 product liability lawsuit in the United States against the McDonald's restaurant chain. > The plaintiff, Stella Liebeck (1912–2004), a 79-year-old woman, purchased hot coffee from a McDonald's restaurant, accidentally spilled it in her lap, and suffered third-degree burns in her pelvic region. She was hospitalized for eight days while undergoing skin grafting, fol... " a 79-year-old woman who suffered third-degree burns in her pelvic region when she accidentally spilled hot coffee in her lap after purchasing it from a McDonald’s restaurant, ultimately Liebeck was only awarded $640,000. Liebeck was hospitalized for eight days while she underwent skin grafting, followed by two years of medical treatment." Coffee was dangerously hot, McDs had been warned, she suffered serious injury and collected less than a million. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/39 "2017-08-21T23:41:07Z")
Does the Drake Equation qualify? Everyone ‘knows’ that the Drake Equation is used to calculate the probability of life in the universe. And by plugging a few numbers in, it is basically proved that there must be countless civilizations out there. In fact it was produced as a discussion paper at the initial SETI conferences - designed to stimulate ideas about how best to search for any detectable communication transmissions from other sources. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008/40 "2017-08-22T00:16:01Z")
The initial report was that “Mama” Cass Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas choked to death on a ham sandwich. She was very obese so it was easy for people to believe in a negative way. In fact she didn’t choke on anything; it was her heart that gave out. However many people from the Baby Boomer generation believe that choking while eating did it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-initial-reports-made-goofs-that-stuck-ever-after/794008.md?page=3)