Typos are inevitable. While some of them may be minor spelling errors, others can become a huge slip-up when placed in bigger markets, such as newspapers and books. Famous typos in history have shown us the importance of proofreading and how costly errors could have been avoided with another read-through. Enjoy these six most famous typos printed in newspapers and books below.
6. Finnegans Wake
Starting our list of famous typos is Finnegans Wake. In a novel by the famous author James Joyce, there are some fun additions to the text. While Joyce was writing Finnegans Wake, he wrote a few sections of the book by dictating them to his friend, novelist Samuel Beckett. While they were working, a knock sounded at the door, and one of them told the visitor to “come in,” which Beckett included in the manuscript. Joyce reportedly discovered the typo, but kept it in the novel anyway, contributing to the chaotic style.
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5. The Guardian
Fifth on our list of famous typos is The Guardian. Typos can happen from time to time, but The Guardian seems to have a never-ending curse of typos. The British daily newspaper has become so famous for its misprints that the satirical magazine Private Eye nicknamed it the “Grauniad” in the 1960s. Some notable misprints include blaming unrest on “writers” instead of “rioters” in 1838, and someone was condemning “heartless milliners” rather than “heartless sneerers” in 1928. Yikes.
4. “100PT Splash Heading Here”
Next on our list of famous typos is the dreaded “Insert text here” typo. In December 2017, a newspaper in Cambridge, England, put “100PT SPLASH HEADING HERE” as a placeholder for the real heading before print. However, they never replaced the text, leaving a bold reminder of their misprint right on the front page. I guess the typo really did become the “SPLASH HEADING HERE” that the newspaper needed.
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3. “Dewey Defeats Truman”
Rounding out the top three most famous typos in newspapers and books is “Dewey Defeats Truman.” On November 3, 1948, Americans saw the headline on the Chicago Daily Tribune, but Truman had in fact won the presidency in a comeback. Between tight publication deadlines, a union labor strike, and overconfidence in polling data, the Chicago Tribune made a costly error. By the time they corrected the mistake, thousands of copies had already been printed, including the one held by Truman himself.
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2. “M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i”
Second on our list of famous typos in newspapers and books is the tricky spelling of Mississippi. It’s the one state that constantly trips up spellers, and even has a little jingle to remember all the letters. However, one newspaper forgot to say “M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-pp-p-i” before printing their headline. Instead, in bold black ink, the text says “M-i-s-s-i-p-p-i,” leaving out the “s-s-i” that belongs in the middle. The best part about this typo? The article is about literacy improvements.
1. The Wicked Bible
Last but not least, on our list of famous typos in newspapers and books is the Wicked Bible. In 1631, printers Robert Barker and Martin Lucas released a new edition of the King James Bible. However, there was one crucial error in Exodus 20:14, where the commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery” was misprinted as “Thou shalt commit adultery.” The printers were summoned to the Star Chamber, fined £300, and lost their printing license. While many of the copies were destroyed, a few remain in prized book collections today.
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