He could travel to the moon but he couldn't get an accurate account of his most important statement. Neil Armstrong's fate of being misquoted has been shared by many others, including a former Alaskan governor and (from Hollywood) the commander of the USS Enterprise. Here are a few memorable things they didn't say.
One giant step, one tiny word
The first words from the first man on the moon? Not "one small step for man, one giant step for mankind," Armstrong long insisted. Instead, he began, "One small step for a man ... ." The Apollo 11 astronaut maintained that the radio transmission swallowed the "a" as he spoke it.
'I can see Russia from my house'
Those words were not spoken by Sarah Palin. Tina Fey, the comedian who skewered the former Alaska governor on "Saturday Night Live," said them, based on a Palin interview with ABC News. In September 2008, the then-GOP vice presidential candidate said regarding Russia that "they're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." That, by the way, is true, on a clear day, from an uninhabited island.
No malaise in Malaise Speech
Contrary to a popular view, Jimmy Carter's tough 1979 speech -- in which he urged Americans to conserve energy -- went off very well at first, with Carter's poll numbers jumping 11 points. "Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns," Carter told the nation. He said "fragmentation and self-interest" prevented Americans from tackling the energy crisis.
'Beam me up, Scotty' ... NOT!
