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In 1853, the New York Times ran a profile on Northup, a free man kidnapped in the 1840s, sold into slavery, and then rescued 12 years later. That story was eventually made into the Oscar winning film 12 Years A Slave.

But some particularly observant readers noticed that the 1853 article spelled Northup’s name wrong, on two different occasions.

The article was corrected, 161 years later.

Watch video above for more.

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Write to Francesca Trianni at francesca.trianni@time.com.

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