New York Times vs. Wikipedia

First, read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/opinion/26collins.html?hp

(Or not, but this will be easier to understand if you do)

((No really, you should read it))

(((parentheses)))

After reading that article in the New York Times, I laughed when I came across this correction:

First of all, who read that article and instantly though "HEY, WAIT! Slow down. The Battle of the Field of Blackbirds was sooooooooooOOOOOO NOT IN 1371!!!!"?

I can only presume that their email to the editor of the New York Times went something like this:

"Dear UNINFORMED Editor,

Clearly you've never read a book. As a history teacher for the past 40 years, I understand everything about everything. And EVERYONE knows that the Battle of the Field of Blackbird was in 1389. It would take someone with the knowledge of a 3 week old kitten to make that kind of error. I find it RIDICULOUS that you call yourselves a newspaper. GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT. MY DAD FOUGHT IN THAT BATTLE.

Sincerely,

Wilfred H. Suzelldorf, IV"

[or something]

My next thought was: how hard can finding the date of this battle be?

It is approximately this difficult:

1. Follow the link: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=battle+of+the+field+of+blackbird

2. Click on the 1st result.

3. Control F

4. "blackbird"

5. Here you go:

Apparently the staff at the New York Times are too lazy to use Google, and yet they make obscure allusions to battles from the 1300s.

Really New York Times? Loss of respect...