The following is a sampling of errors contained in various editions of The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.

Jack Benny (comedian) - Some editions erroneously report he was born in "Waukegan, IL."
Correction: He was born February 14th, 1894, at 4:04 a.m., at Mercy Hospital, in Chicago, Illinois. Visit our profile of Jack Benny for additional information.


Billie Holiday (singer) - Some editions erroneously report her real name as "Eleanora Fagan" and her birthplace as "Baltimore, MD."
Correction: She was actually born Elinore Harris, April 7th, 1915, at 2:30 a.m., at Philadelphia General Hospital, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Visit our profile of Billie Holiday for additional information.


Buddy Holly (singer/songwriter) - Some editions misspell his full name at birth "Charles Hardin Holly."
Correction: He was born Charles Hardin Holley. The spelling change from Holley to Holly didn’t take place until he received his first recording contract from Decca Records in 1956. They had inadvertently spelled his last name "Holly" and he kept it that way for the remainder of his career. For additional information, visit our profile of Buddy Holly.


Soichiro Honda (automotive and motorcycle pioneer) - Some editions mistakenly report his year of death as "1992."
Correction: He actually died of liver failure, August 5th, 1991, at Juntendo University Hospital, in Tokyo, Japan.


Steve McQueen (actor) - Some editions erroneously report "Slater, MO." as his place of birth.
Correction: He was born in Beech Grove, Indiana, and later raised in Slater, Missouri.


Huey P. Newton (co-founder of the Black Panthers) - At least one edition reports he was still alive well into the 1990s, when he actually died in 1989. Consult Huey P. Newton's profile for more information.


Rosa Parks (Civil Rights pioneer) - At least one edition claims she died in "1977," when in fact, she was very much alive until 2005.


Sen. John Tower (U.S. Senator) - At least one edition reports he was still alive well into the mid-1990s, when he actually died in a plane crash in 1991.



It is not our intent to denigrate this fine publication, but merely to point out the above inaccuracies to prevent further dissemination of the erroneous data.