Fact or Fiction

It's common knowledge that you should take supposed facts from Wikipedia with a grain of salt. But that might change due to some tighter security and embarassing bloopers.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia provides you with facts and information on almost every topic you could dream up. But there was one minor flaw, the site was open for anyone to edit and all you needed was an internet connection to spread a worldwide rumor.

But the site has recently announced plans to stop this information desecration and is preparing to put a new system into effect that will require any changes to a person's page that is still living be approved by an experienced volunteer before going online.

It's a much needed upgrade according to PC World which put together the top 15 worst blunders to appear on Wikipedia. Ranging from death to Hitler to sea turtles, the list is a collection of entries that have actually been published to the pages of celebrities. To check out the false facts keep reading and remember that age old adage that you can't always believe everything you read.

From PC World

1. Robbie Williams eats domestic pets in pubs for money.
To be fair, we can't disprove this statement, which popped up on the singer's Wikipedia page in 2006. But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

2. David Beckham was a Chinese goalkeeper in the 18th century.
And you thought scoring Posh Spice was impressive.

3. Paul Reiser's dead.
If you fell for this 2008 Wikipedia hoax, well -- let's just say I'm not so mad about you.

4. Sinbad's dead.
Couldn't tell ya what he's actually doing these days, but contrary to a 2007 Wikipedia claim, Sinbad is still around.

5. Sergey Brin's sexy, dating Jimmy Wales, and dead.
The Google god's Wikipedia page has seen more changes than his company's seen betas. Remarks on Sergey Brin's bio have claimed he's gay and dating Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales; he's dead, having ended his life in Moscow; and he's "sexy."
(I'll leave the judgment on the last one up to you.)

6. Tony Blair worships Hitler.
The former British prime minister was a regular target for Wikipedia tampering. That's what we read on Wikipedia, anyway.

7. The Duchess of Cornwall's Christian name is Cow-miller.
Anyone else suddenly have a hankering for a hamburger?

8. The University of Cincinnati's former president is a whore.
Former University of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher was listed as a "prostitute" and a "witch" on her Wikipedia page. Good thing it wasn't true, as that would make for one dangerous combination.

9. Robert Byrd's dead.
United States Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia was pronounced dead by Wikipedia in January of this year. The senator was resurrected by a Wikipedia correction a short time later.

10. Ted Kennedy died in January.
Months before this week's news that Ted Kennedy had passed away, his Wikipedia page reported his death. The entry said Kennedy had died following his seizure at January's presidential inauguration.

11. John Seigenthaler helped assassinate John and Robert Kennedy.
The retired journalist wrote a full editorial about his Wikipedia ordeal, in which he was accused of being somehow involved in the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. The errant info, Seigenthaler says, was on the site for four and a half months.

12. A yacht killed British TV presenter Vernon Kay.
That's a rough way to go. Especially when it never happened.

13. Conan O'Brien assaults sea turtles while canoeing.
Stephen Colbert was to blame for this hoax. I can't decide which is more unbelievable: that Conan assaulted a sea turtle, or that he went canoeing.

14. British TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh published a new version of the Kama Sutra.
He did, however, slap stickers on a bikini model for ratings.

15. Sienna Miller has modeled nude.
I don't care if it's not true -- I'm still going to require proof on this one.