We referred to Amelia Luck, 21, as “the youngest ever female lifeboat helm”. She is currently the youngest woman in that role, but the RNLI website notes that Elizabeth Hostvedt, an 18-year-old Norwegian student, became the first woman qualified to command an RNLI inshore lifeboat in 1969 (‘If there’s peril I’ll be there...’ 12 December, p31).
We misnamed Alan Shepard, the first American in space, as “John Shepard” (The science stories of 2021, 19 December, the New Review, p28).
In a report about the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards (“Biles receives lifetime achievement award”, 19 December, Sport, p17, later editions), we incorrectly said the US gymnast Simone Biles had been “unable to add to her tally [of medals] at the Tokyo Olympics” after withdrawing for mental health reasons. We meant to say she did not add to her haul of gold medals; she won a team silver and an individual bronze at the 2020 Games. Also, Biles has four Olympic golds, not five as the article said.
All ye faithful: A Notebook item (19 December, p50) said the “latest census figures, released last week” show the percentage of the “UK population” who identify their religion as Christian is just over 51%. In fact the figure is from a 2019 ONS survey, which is the most recent data available, and is for England and Wales.
Other recently amended articles include:
‘We are family’: the Israelis sharing life and hope with Palestinians
Bands and DJs count the costs as UK fans fail to show up for gigs
Peter Macnab: Superdrug boss leading the high street fightback
Newcastle v Manchester City underlines the problem inherent in football
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