Paper clip
The person who started the Norwegian paper clip myth was a person who worked for Norway's patent office. He visited Germany in the 1920s to get patents for some Norwegian inventions. He came across Vaaler's patent, and did not realize that it was not the same as the Gem paper clip. In a pamphlet put out by the patent office in celebration of its first 50 years, he wrote about how Vaaler was the inventor of the paper clip. This was put into many Norwegian encyclopedias after World War II.