Factoid

A factoid is either an invented or assumed statement presented as a fact,^[1][2] or a true but brief or trivial item of news or information.

The term was coined in 1973 by American writer Norman Mailer to mean a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fact even though it is not actually true, or an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print.^[3] Since the term's invention in 1973, it has become used to describe a brief or trivial item of news or information.