Post typos, corrections here!

[Ken Jennings]

On page 27, which is for January 25, it says that Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV went to Canossa in 1848. That year, though, is centuries off. The actual year was 1077.

Whoa! I wonder if I had another event there that I subbed in at the last minute.

[mark42]

On page 27, which is for January 25, it says that Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV went to Canossa in 1848. That year, though, is centuries off. The actual year was 1077.

Whoa! I wonder if I had another event there that I subbed in at the last minute.

It looks like it was just an editing goof. The first section for January 25th is labeled "Cold Shoulders" and is about infamous snubs, so the Canossa event makes sense. I noticed that on the following page, the page for January 26th, the top section also has the year 1848, so I'm guessing this is the root of the error.

[Reddpen]

I can't be certain without checking the source material in The Wizard of Oz (or Fred Worth's book), but based on a huge preponderance of Google hits (13K vs. >3K), it looks like Henkle --> Henkel in the wizard's full name: Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, which appears three times in the first several paragraphs of Chapter 11 of Brainiac (pp. 159-60 in the paperback edition). I noticed this only because this FJ from June 29, 2004, came up at random today on the j-archive.com site, and I wondered if maybe Ambroise was misspelled.

[Ken Jennings]

It's "Henkle" in Worth, which may be where the error was introduced if it's wrong. So Jeopardy had "Henkel"?

[Reddpen]

It's "Henkle" in Worth, which may be where the error was introduced if it's wrong. So Jeopardy had "Henkel"?

Hey, you're the one who saw the clue live... going on seven years ago.

In the unofficial, fan-created Jeopardy! Archive record of this game:
http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?g ... ght=henkle
the clue said Henkle. Today I suggested to the archivists that a fix might be in order. Maybe someone involved with the J! Archive has access to a record from the show. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

But even if J! got it wrong... well, do fixes like this ever get made in subsequent book printings? Does anyone know if the wizard's full name ever appears in one of Baum's books?

[Ken Jennings]

Baum's original printing has Henkle, as does Brainiac.
http://bit.ly/fsZYA7

Vindicated!

[safama]

Regarding the last question of MEAT ON PARADE, "Yagyu" cattle should be corrected as "Wagyu" cattle.

Additionally,Wagyu means "Japanese cattle" and Kobe beef is the brand name of the beef comes from
Tajima cattle, one breed of Wagyu.

I'm Japanese trivia buff born in May 1974.

[TOPO]

I was reading the Kindle version and it states that Ardmore, Alabama is 100 feet from Ardmore, Louisiana. It should be Ardmore, Alabama is 100 feet from Ardmore, Tennessee. Not a big mistake, but I spent some time trying figure out where Alabama and Louisiana where that close to each other.

[Ken Jennings]

I know! That one is a doozy. Hopefully it's the worst mistake in the book. Fingers crossed...

[Ken Jennings]

A couple other forehead slappers in Maphead that have been pointed out to me: I call John Glenn the first man to orbit the Earth, which is only true if Yuri Gagarin was a vampire or a werewolf or something. I also say that Chicago is the only top-ranked US college or university that still has a geography department. That's not true; Dartmouth does as well.

[Emc2]

Dear Mr. Jennings,

On June 3, when you attended the Scripps National Spelling Bee at Washington D.C., I was able to listen to your speech on the quest for knowledge. Afterward, all the spellers were given an autographed copy of your Trivia Almanac and in keeping with your journey to the fact finding frontier, I began reading and I love it. I also discovered a few fallacies.

I will post them individually.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

1) Introduction-I know this is nit picking, but you state that you "pictured a 365-day trivia almanac." Technically, because a February 29 entry was included, this is a 366-day almanac.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

2) March 11- In your fact for "You'll Never Wok (a Loan)," you state that "ponya...which would make it the only English loanword from Nepali"(101). Because I was in the spelling bee and read the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, I found that there is another Nepali descent word in English. In the New Third International, "jharal," a Nepali word, means a Tahr, or goat.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

3) June 9- In "Dust to Dust"(233), question 4, the question states "Who wrote and sang "She's Like"(233) and omits the words "the Wind."

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

4) June 18- "In Ye Old Trivia", question 4, is states "What's the alcohol in an old-fashioned?"(242). Old-fashioned is an adjective with no object, so is the question missing a noun at the end?

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

5) July 7- In "General Knowledge"(273), technically, according to multiple sources I googled, Gerald Ford promoted George Washington to General of the Armies of the United States in 1976, not 1975.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

6) July 11- In "The The"(277), question 2, it states "What tiny West African nation added a "The" to its name when it gained independence on April 24, 1970?"(277). According to Wikipedia and other sources I googled, while The Gambia became a republic on 4/24/1970, it actually gained independence from the British Commonwealth on 2/18/1965.

Being independent and being a part of a republic is different. In our country, it's 2 totally different political parties.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

7) August 9- "Mpropable Spellings," question 2, it states "while its "Rock" species represents Canada's Nunavat province?"(321). Nunavat is a Canadian territory.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

August 25- In "Lone Rangers" in question 4 of "Yeah, Good Luck," Nevada actually has 2 national parks. According to the World Almanac 2011, Nevada has the Great Basin (which is in the answer key) and Death Valley national park. Death Valley is found in both CA and NV, so the question could be reformatted as "What's the only national park found in only one of these in these U.S. states?"

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Emc2]

9) September 4- In "So Unpretty"(362), question 5, "George McLellan"(362) should be rewritten as "George McClellan."

This is a minor spelling mistake, but as a Scripps National Spelling Bee participant, I would consider it a "pretty" prodigious predicament.

Sincerely,
Emc2

[Ken Jennings]

I hope emc2 won't mind me posting in his thread...someone pointed out a Maphead goof that's a bit of a forehead-slapper. On page 238, I claim to live near 48 degrees N, 122 degrees E. I hope not, since that's the middle of the Manchurian wastes. That should read 122 degrees WEST.

[alan_leiserson]

My daughter gave me Maphead for my birthday-the map/geography gene being well-recognized and discussed in our family. I eventually came to enjoy the book quite a bit, but I got off to a rocky start with it because of an error on page 3. Ardmore, Alabama is not within a few hundred feet of anywhere in Louisiana. I would have thought anyone would catch that, even if you are not (from Tennessee like me and therefore) inclined to feel this one as a slight.
Alan

[Ken Jennings]

Yep, the Ardmore thing has been mentioned on a couple other threads--or maybe even this one? In any case, Ardmore TN became Ardmore LA at some point in the writing process, to my eternal shame. It will be fixed in the paperback.

[blaublau]

No, I'm not three days (and a few years behind), but on May 5, the answer to the question about Ugly Betty is slightly wrong. It was based on a *Colombian* telenovela (Yo soy Betty la fea), which was produced in conjunction with a Venezuelan broadcaster.

[BH]

Ken,

My hardcover copy of Mapheads transitions from your book on page 246 to Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind (page 257). I did not enjoy the ending to Naked Empire! I got Mapheads as a gift so I don't have a return option. Would like this as a curiosity? If so, I'll trade you - my version of Mapheds with the "Naked" ending for a complete, autographed hardcover version of Mapheads. Let me know.

BH