The New York Times today issued a correction for an error in a story that appeared in its pages 161 years ago about African-American Solomon Northup, whose memoir '12 Years a Slave' won the best picture Oscar this year.
In an article that appeared on Januray 20, 1853, the Times had misspelt Northup as "Northrup".
The error was pointed out by a Twitter user a day after the movie based on Northup's life won the top award at the Oscars.
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The 1853 article spelled Northup's name wrong in two different ways. It appeared as "Northrop" in the body of the article and "Northrup" in the headline.
"An article on Januray 20, 1853, recounting the story of Solomon Northup, whose memoir '12 Years a Slave' became a movie 160 years later that won the best picture Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday night, misspelled his surname as Northrop. And the headline misspelled it as Northrup," the NYT correction said.
The newspaper said the errors came to light yesterday after a Twitter user pointed out the article in The Times archives.
'12 years a slave' set in pre-Civil War US is based on the life of Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who is abducted and sold into slavery.
NYT said the errors notwithstanding, "The Times described the article as 'a more complete and authentic record than has yet appeared'."
Actress Lupita Nyong'o won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie.
