When Did Neil Armstrong Pass Away?

Some of you may have seen a news blurb a week or so ago that Neil Armstrong passed away.  If you're not already familiar, Neil Armstrong was the first human to step on the Moon, back in 1969.  Because of this huge science accomplishment he's an American icon and most people know who he is.  However, there was a "rumor" last week that he passed away.  I first saw the "news" that Neil Armstrong passed away a couple of weeks ago on Twitter.

At first I thought, that's sad, he was an important person in space travel and it's sad to see him leave us.  Then I thought, wait a second, I thought he passed away last year?  And why isn't there more news about this on other news sites?  Hmmm.....

So I did a quick web search and found that Neil Armstrong died in August of 2012, not 2013.  Apparently what happened is ABC news updated a web article on Neil Armstrong from last year to note the one year anniversary of his death.  The date on the article changed, leading people to think that Neil Armstrong just passed away this year.  It doesn't sound like this rumor developed as a way of deliberately confusing people.  It was an honest change by ABC news that was a bit confusing and led to people thinking Neil Armstrong just passed away this year. It just goes to show you that if something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.  In those cases it's always a good idea to find another source and check things out for yourself.