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[[quoteright:350:[[Creator/TheFiresignTheatre https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Firesign_Marx_Lennon_7320.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheBackwardsR Dll Ndil Mdyazh Lziifi?]]]]

-> '''Bob Howard:''' You heard of UsefulNotes/AlanTuring? The father of programming?\\
'''Peter-Fred Young:''' Didn't he work for Creator/JohnCarmack?\\
'''Bob:''' ''[thinking]'' Oh, it's another world out there.
--> -- [[Literature/TheLaundryFiles "Pimpf"]]

This trope is when somebody mistakes one [[HistoricalDomainCharacter historical figure]] for someone else (or, sometimes, for a fictional character), despite the two having little or nothing in common, exemplifying their lack of intelligence. In {{speculative fiction}} settings it may also result from [[FutureImperfect the fog of history getting the information muddled]].

The source of confusion varies. Maybe the names sound alike (UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin and Music/JohnLennon), or their fields are tangentially related (UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison and UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein), or the more contemporary figure is a reference to the older (Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti the painter and [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Michelangelo the turtle]]).

Contrast ArtisticLicenseHistory, which is when ''the author'' gets something like this confused. Compare HistoricalHilarity and WrongfullyAttributed. A common form of InUniverseFactoidFailure.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* This line from the ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Haunter Vs. Kadabra";
-->'''Jessie:''' Oh, James, this is the greatest discovery since Einstein invented the light bulb!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* One issue of ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'' that parodied ''Star Trek'' had the same gag as the ''Family Guy'' episode listed below: it began with a commemoration of the first man on the moon, but when the speaker starts talking about "his beautiful music" it becomes clear that they're talking about '''Louis''' (and not Neil) Armstrong.
* A character in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' who has a ''very'' shaky grasp of 20th century history tries to tell another, similarly ignorant character who Adolf Hitler was. Among other things, he thinks Hitler blew up Auckland (a city in New Zealand) during the Blitz, and that Hitler played in Music/LedZeppelin, leading the other character to say that Hitler couldn't have been all bad then.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/GetFuzzy'': Satchel gets John Lennon mixed up with Vladimir Lenin at one point, leading him to watch one of Lenin's speeches and comment that the song "Revolution" was nothing like he thought it would be.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' - when Vitruvius is addressing the assembled Lego Master Builders (by name), he mentions "Michelangelo, Michelangelo...". The Renaissance artist and the Turtle are sitting next to each other. He also pronounces the former according to correct Italian pronunciation (''Mick''-el-angelo instead of ''Michael''-angelo).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', The Dude is struggling with a UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin quote ("You look for the person who will benefit...") which he cannot remember properly. Donny, trying to be helpful, starts quoting ''[[Music/JohnLennon John]]'' [[Music/JohnLennon Lennon's]] 1967 song "I Am the Walrus".
* In ''Film/ClerksII'', Randall compares a guy in a wheelchair to [[Literature/TheDiaryOfAYoungGirl Anne Frank]], "The chick that was all duhhh, till the miracle worker showed up and knocked some smarts into her". Dante tries to correct him by saying that was Helen Keller and that Anne Frank hid from the Nazis and had a diary. Randall then says he was right all along because the wheelchair guy had a blog.
* ''Film/FacingTheGiants'': A WhosOnFirst-esque conversation involves, among other things, the speaker confusing [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Charles Schulz]] with the pilot Charles Lindbergh (then him with the ''Hindenburg''). [[InvokedTrope He's clearly joking]], though, to mess with TheComicallySerious coach trying to correct him.
* In ''{{Film/Idiocracy}},'' UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler has been replaced by Creator/CharlieChaplin in the historical record, such as it is.
* In ''Film/RatRace'' Randy Pear is on a race across the US to try and win 2 million dollars. His family doesn't know he's a contestant in this so he's had to drag them along from the casino where the race started and he was selected. Midway on ther ace his daughter, Jillian, spots a roadside sign for a "Barbie Museum" and begs to go. Randy refuses until his wife Bev forces the issue... and to the entire family's horror they find out it's not about [[Toys/{{Barbie}} the beloved doll]], but real life member of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie SS Klaus "The Butcher of Lyon" Barbie]] and the museum is run for and by Neo Nazis.
* An early scene in ''Film/TommyBoy'' has Tommy filling in the name "Music/HerbieHancock" on a history test question about the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Later Tommy "corrects" someone who uses the term "John Hancock" for a signature.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'', the short story "Pimpf" has Bob get paired with an intern named Peter-Fred Young, a ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' modder who almost summoned an EldritchAbomination with one of his scenarios. Bob tries to explain what the Laundry does, mentioning UsefulNotes/AlanTuring in the process. [[MeaningfulName PFY]] apparently lacks computer history knowledge and thinks Turing worked for Creator/JohnCarmack (Turing died sixteen years before Carmack was born).
* ''Literature/TheWitchlands'': ''Sightwitch'' reveals an InUniverse case of this: [[spoiler:The popular song "Eridysi's Lament", named for the FamedInStory Sightwitch Eridysi Gochienka, and which consists of important prophecies, wasn't actually written by her, as she didn't actually have the Sight. It's a compilation of prophecies spoken by her stepdaughter Lisbet.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'', Mr Grainger comments that a plan the staff come up with to avoid starting work earlier sounds like something Literature/BulldogDrummond would have come up with to defeat Oscar Peterson. It has to be pointed out to him that Oscar Peterson is a pianist, and that Bulldog Drummond's arch-nemesis was Carl Peterson.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' has this exchange:
-->'''Will:''' [[UsefulNotes/MalcolmX Malcolm's]] one of my heroes, too.\\
'''Hilary:''' Oh, I idolize Malcolm! He's the only reason I watch ''Series/TheCosbyShow''.
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls:'' A variation (one is a person, the other is an object). In “But Not as Cute as Pushkin” Rory is discussing what to do to impress a girl she has agreed to show around Yale with Lorelai and Richard. It leads to this exchange:
-->'''Rory:''' Well, she’ll go to all my classes with me, of course. And I thought maybe she’d go to the paper with me and then I thought maybe a trip to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.\\
'''Richard:''' Oh, you’re going to show her the Gutenberg.\\
'''Lorelai:''' Steve?\\
'''Richard:''' Bible.\\
'''Lorelai:''' Right.
* In the ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' episode "Girl Meets Communism", Riley makes a mistake very similar to the page image. Maya of all people corrects her at the end, and it seems to be one of the reasons she rejects "grading Communism".
* ''Series/HorribleHistories'': One Cliff Whiteley segment opens with Cliff on the phone telling a newspaper "Albert Einstein was the one with a theory of relativity. Frank''en''stein was the one with a monster. Now print an apology!"
* Bill [=McNeal=] on ''Series/NewsRadio''. "Big Chief Custer? No, he scalped many palefaces that day."
* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', Rimmer notes that one of the people who was laughed at historically was ''Series/{{Columbo}}''. When Lister asks for clarification, Rimmer responds that he was "the man in the dirty mac who discovered America".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* [[InvokedTrope Done on purpose]] by Creator/TheFiresignTheatre for their album ''How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All''.
* Some confusion existed, although given their relative contributions to musical excellence and that fact one was three decades dead, not for very long, between [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]] and 2010's pop balladeer James Morrison.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* In one of the Radio/FredDagg radio skits, Fred mentions that Abraham Lincoln was shot by a man called Booth, who he always thought founded the Salvation Army ([[DontExplainTheJoke confusing John Wilkes Booth with William Booth for those who don't get the reference]]). Of course, he then follows this up by adding he might be thinking of [[NamesakeGag the man who invented the telephone box]].
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* This is combined with CompositeCharacter as the basic concept behind the comedy RPG ''Diana, Warrior Princess''. According to [[FramingDevice the people making a TV series far in the future]], any British royal with the same name must be the same person. So Diana is married to Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose mother is Elizabeth the Queen Mother, sister to Mary Queen of Scots. In the sequel, ''Elvis, the Legendary Tours'', Elvis' archenemy is his brother, [[Creator/AbbottAndCostello Abbot Costello]], and his companions are the left-wing John Lenin and the right-wing Joe [=McCartney=].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': The Computer holds that Communists are Public Enemy Number One, [[ForbiddenFruit making some rebellious types think that there must be something in it]]. However, they're sketchy on the details, and instead of UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin and Creator/KarlMarx, they follow the teachings of Music/JohnLennon and [[Creator/MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]]. Close (in name) but, so to speak, no cigar.
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[[folder:Theatre]]
* In the musical adaptation of ''Film/TheFullMonty'', the lines in "Big Ass Rock":
--> "I've got a friend, like Music/CaroleKing, or was it Music/CarlySimon, used to sing, I always get those two confused, but anyway--I've got a friend."
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* As revealed in ''Meet the Soldier'', the Soldier of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' attributes the story of Noah's ark to Sun Tzu instead:
-->'''Soldier''': Then [Sun Tzu] used his fight money to buy two of every animal on Earth, and then he herded them onto a boat, and then he beat the crap out of every single one! And from that day forward, any time a bunch of animals are gathered together in one place, it's called a ''[[{{Feghoot}} zoo]]!'' (''beat'') Unless it's a farm!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'': While trying to [[GodwinsLaw compare a character]] to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, Jim gets names mixed up and winds up claiming that Hitler was married to [[Series/GreenAcres Eva Gabor]] (instead of Eva ''Braun'').
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* {{Conversed}} on ''Fundies Say the Darndest Things''. [[http://www.fstdt.com/QuoteComment.aspx?QID=90002 One acquisition]] for their museum of stupid fundie quotes said the following:
--> "[[Music/JohnLennon Lennon]], the founder of Russian Communism, said that if you tell a lie loud enough and often enough people will believe it."
* Website/NotAlwaysRight has some examples from customers, especially of museums and historical sites, including [[http://notalwaysright.com/the-art-of-ignorance/15928 this example.]] While the employee never figures out what the patron actually means, they don't, despite repeated insistence to the contrary, mean to say "[[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Machiavelli]]." And he wasn't French either.
* ''WebAnimation/OverSimplified''; in the cold open to the "Cold War" video, a German general instructs one of his underlings to bring him [[UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin Lenin]], and can only sputter in disbelief when the guy comes back with [[Music/JohnLennon Lennon]] instead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan tries to encourage his son and says:
--> "Just look at Helen Keller. Deaf, dumb and blind, and she wrote that whole diary in her little attic during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. She doesn't sound so dumb to me."
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Cry Freedom Fighters!", Plastic Man mixes up UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and [[Series/TheJeffersons George Jefferson]], and refers to John Paul Jones and [[Music/TheBeatles Ringo]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the song "You've Got a Lot to See", Brian sings to an old lady shut-in about all the things out in the world that she's missing. [[AWildRapperAppears A group of wild rappers appear]] during the bridge listing events she's missed, including:
-->'''Diane Simmons:''' Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.\\
'''Meg:''' Neil Armstrong? Wait, was he [[Music/LouisArmstrong that trumpet guy]]?
* Even after meeting the historical Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, Fry from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' keeps confusing him with Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' had a character named Pepper Mills who would ask historical characters for their autograph, then realize that she had mistaken them for someone else.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' has a musical segment in which [[StalkerWithACrush L]][[TheDitz o]][[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} la]] sings about Presidents Day. She promptly lapses into naming celebrities instead. It's when she gets to Johnson that this trope comes into play. She passes a picture of both [[UsefulNotes/AndrewJohnson John]][[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson sons]] and says that they aren't the ones she's referring to. Upon reaching a picture of "Magic" Johnson, she says "There he is!"
* ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'': Maz doesn't even come close in "Mr. Nice Guy":
-->'''Maz:''' You're like that famous psychoanalyst: Dr. Jekyll!\\
'''[=SheZow=]:''' You mean Dr. Freud.\\
'''Maz:''' Yeah, her.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe", Marge phones Moe's and asks for Homer. Moe tries to cover by saying that he thought she was asking for Heimlich Himmler, the guy who invented the Heimlich maneuver [[note]] '''Heinrich''' Himmler was a Nazi official. Henry Heimlich is the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver [[/note]]. When Marge says they are different people, Moe claims they are both in the tavern.
** From "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E12TennisTheMenace Tennis the Menace]]":
-->"I'm Andre Agesi." "[[Wrestling/AndreTheGiant The wrestler?]]"
** In "Bart the Genius", Homer thinks Albert Einstein invented the light bulb.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Ranting-Channing-Crowder-confuses-Helen-Keller-a?urn=nfl-283342 Former NFL player Channing Crowder confuses Helen Keller and Anne Frank in an interview.]]
* Author and humorist Creator/RichardArmour once jokingly declared that [[Creator/KarlMarx Karl]] was the funniest of the Creator/MarxBrothers.
* [[Series/GilligansIsland Bob Denver]] once recalled that a few people mistook him for Music/JohnDenver, or at least they thought the two entertainers were related.
* American intellectual and waspish commentator Creator/GoreVidal was conflated, often, with fey London hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, a man famous in his own right for style and sartorial fashion.
* When UsefulNotes/NelsonMandela died, an Indian merchant [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/billboard-confuses-nelson-mandela-for-hollywood-actor-morgan-freeman-9018633.html rented a billboard]] to pay tribute to him. Unfortunately, a picture of still-alive actor Creator/MorganFreeman was used instead.[[note]]Funnily enough, Freeman played Mandela in ''Film/{{Invictus}}''[[/note]]
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