D Thursday, February 4, 2010 News By Ed Carty Britannica U-turn over its Irish civil war facts ONE of the worlds most trusted refer- ences was busy double-checking its facts on Ireland last night after giving a grossly inaccurate account of the coun- trys civil war. A concise version of Encyclopaedia Britannica wrongly described the 1922 conflict over partition as a war between Catholics and Protestants. Editors worked through the night to ensure the extraordinary mistake has not been repeated in online versions used by 4,000 schools in Ireland in a special e-learning programme. Ian Grant, Encyclopaedia Britannica managing director, said the offending article may have been wrongly com- piled by an editor attempting to con- dense complex history. The error was carried on a hand-held device first sold seven years ago but was only spotted this week. Mr Grant said his editorial teams in London and Chicago were confident online databases do not carry mistakes on Irish history. He suggested an inexperienced editor may have attempted to explain the civil war in a small article and confused his- tory with a mistaken perception about sectarianism and the Troubles. Encyclopaedia Britannica contains about 64million words of text from 4,500 contributors worldwide and is put together by about 100 editors. Superheroes take on Hitler with their own frame EVERY battle needs a good guys and baddies and images of World War II now contain some of the most well-known superheroes and villains as youve never seen them before. Superman takes a stand as US soldiers at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria remove art stolen by the Nazis, while Darth Vader oversees Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the Yalta Conference in 1945. The pictures are the handywork of Indonesian artist Agan Harahap, 30, who said that everyone is very serious when they talk about history. Art attack: Superman stands by as US soldiers remove art stolen by the Nazis Enemies: Captain America with Nazi Heinrich Himmler Picture: Newsteam Error: The Encyclopaedias books ASTRONOMY Ireland says a major fireball was spotted over Ireland at around 6pm yesterday evening. It says the rock from space was seen by people in Mullingar, Limerick, Ballybunion and Bantry and would have been travelling with the force of a small nuclear weapon before landing, possibly inland. Fireball seen from all over Ireland index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html