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Lawyers Confess Which Cases They Actually Regret Winning

I sold my soul because of the law....

Lawyers are not the devil. In fact we need people of the law to make sure we're all getting a fair shake. Lawyers take an oath to uphold the constitution and law by any means necessary. Everyone is entitled to competent representation. No matter what. And often that representation may cause some issues. But the law is the law. Fair or not. Let's look further into how we fix that.

Redditor ahtemsah wanted all the lawyers reading to share some life lessons:

Lawyers, what's a case you regretted winning?

Fallen....

"I'm a work comp attorney. Now represent injured people, but used to work on other side insurance defense."

"There was an applicant with a serious injury. Fell off a ladder, busted back with fusion, shoulder screwed, years of treatment. Internal issues, psych issues - really just messed up. 50%+ permanent disability. We were 5 years in and finally getting to settlement time. If we bought out his future medical, settlement pretty far into 6 figures. This guy was the sole provider for wife and 2 kids."

"Then we found out he had a aggressive brain cancer. Expected only couple years to live, at best."

"Thus, we wouldn't buy out future medical anymore. Still got permanent disability for $60k-ish... but can't give medical buyout based on 25+ year life expectancy anymore."

"I felt terrible for the guy and his family. Me and the adjuster tried to get insurance to agree to some sort of amount like 5 year buyout, but the bean counters said hell no. The attorney knew it wasn't me making the decision. Even though he worked on that guy's file for 5+ years he decided to take $0 in fees. I have so much respect for that attorney turning down $10k+ in fees to help his client in a very crappy situation."dieabetic

Family Law Heartbreak. 

"I do family law and I represented a father who had lost most of his custody from heroin use and imprisonment as a result. He came to me saying he was clean and doing good and had his life together and it checked out. He had been clean for almost nine months not counting jail time and seemed sincere in wanting to resume a full relationship with his son. The other side fought viciously to keep him at extremely little custody and supervised at that, but we prevailed and got an order restoring fairly frequent unsupervised partial custody."

"Not long afterwards, only about three months after the case, he was back doing heroin, sold most of his furniture, and for me the most soul-crushing is that he set up a fake GoFundMe stuff for his child's "cancer" (his child didn't have cancer and has never had cancer so you know where that money was going). I withdrew my appearance at this point so I don't know what happened afterwards, but I imagine and hope his custody was taken away."

"Basically the net result of winning that case was that the poor boy had to witness his father relapse on heroin and was exploited for money. Worst case I ever won."DemonFirebrand

$5000......

"Settled a personal injury case for a guy and he was set to get about $5000. He was in jail. I held the money for a couple months and when he got out he came by to get the money without delay. The next day the cops came around and asked if I knew him. I explained that I did. I was told he died that night of an overdose and the only thing found on him was my card, some drugs he had not yet used, and a needle."lessworkiskey

You're Out! 

"Eviction law - basically every other case. Even the morons. It's not rewarding to put people out on the curb. Ever."BeattieLaw

Spoiled....

Giphy

"I got a spoiled brat of a teenager cleared of a shoplifting charge when he absolutely had done it. His rich parents hired me to represent him, I did that to the best of my ability, and we went to trial and won, but I can't say I felt good about it. This kid needed to be taught some accountability for his actions and his parents just wanted to buy their way out of any trouble he got into."unbelievablepeople

back at square one.....

"I won a summary judgment motion, that my firm filed not expecting to win. We had a decent argument, but odds were way worse than a coin flip and judges don't like granting summary judgment because it's an extreme remedy."

"Client initially was thrilled--"case is over"--we tried to break the news gently... nope. Three years later we're back in the same spot we were before we "won" our motion. The other side appealed it up to the state supreme court and won (because the Supreme Court said the trial judge should have denied our motion). So, we are back at square one. North of $100k in legal bills, with no resolution. Maybe it'll settle, maybe it will go to trial. I'll find out in the next 3-4 months."orm518

DANGER! DANGER!!

"The one I particular hated happened at my first law job. This woman was a long term client of my boss. In the past ten years or so, she has been caught driving under the influence 8 times, violated home incarceration countless times, been caught with controlled substances a few times, and stabbed two people on home incarceration. My boss at the time was the master of getting people off for DUI's so she had only been convicted of a DUI third and always managed to stay on home incarceration with whatever releases she desired. I always regretted her cases because that woman is truly a danger to the public. She's undoubtedly going to kill someone someday. But I'll be damned if she isn't the luckiest woman alive in getting away with DUIs."EssenceOfEspresso

Define "Win!"

"Family law is a little different in that you never really "win" per se. You may get more favorable rulings or better terms, but unless the opposing party did something illegal or mindbogglingly stupid it's never a decisive "win" really. Although I did have a case where my client fought really hard for the dog, and then ended up turning him over to a shelter. The ex wife received an "anonymous" tip and was able to get him back quickly."WholeMilkStandard

Plot Twist....

Giphy

"I convicted the father of murdering his wife and years later found out he lied when he confessed to cover for his teenage son who actually been the one who killed her. In the meanwhile the son committed suicide father was content to serve his time in prison."curiousidaho

(Personal Protective Order)

"Not my case, but a former associate of mine won a PPO motion hearing (Personal Protective Order) where he represented the person who the order would have been put against (not the victim). The victim's request to put a PPO on his client was denied, and like 2 months later the victim ended up getting put into the hospital by the client (he beat her). That one still bothers him."davonoches

I'm Out.

Giphy

"Guy lost his wife and children in a car accident. He wanted to exercise to get his emotions and mental health back in check. Doctor wrote him recommendations for exercise equipment (ball, chin up bar, nothing crazy) and he submitted the expenses for same to his insurer."

"Client (insurer/adjuster) wanted this fought tooth and nail because exercise equipment was only covered for physical rehab and he was not physically injured."

"I do not practice in this area anymore."ChipSmash

Climb the Pole. 

"I wouldn't say I regret this so much as to this day it amazes me. As a first year associate I was given a (terrible) PI case where my client received a flu shot and thereafter felt pain in his shoulder. He went to another doctor who performed an MRI and determined he had a torn rotator cuff, which was undoubtedly not related. My job was to allege the flu shot caused the rotator cuff tear. Our ortho actually correlated the two (which is the more regrettable position) and the case paid out."

"Being the bottom of the totem pole I had no choice but to take the case, which was handed down by a partner. But at the same time, just overwhelmingly made me feel like the worst stereotyped attorney and just hated having to walk into court on it and feel my reputation being destroyed."ezkwyer

By Default...

"I do juvenile work, criminal law and family law..."

"I represented this client first when he was a juvenile charged with disorderly conduct at school and fighting, then when he became an adult it for was for simple things like possession of marijuana."

"As he got older, it became easier and easier to figure out what part of his life hasn't gone as well as it could and I tried to counsel him and push him to better himself."

"He got his GED, he started going to NA, he started classes at a community college, and found a part time job."

"On the night of his 21st birthday, he was charged with a DWI. Of course I'll take care of that too."

"About 6 months later, we are due in court for trial (on a Monday) and he doesn't show up; which at this point in his life is highly unusual."

"As I'm trying to figure out where he is, the court starts going over Arraignments/First Appearances and then low and behold three people are up for Murder charges. The prosecution starts to tell the judge what the facts/circumstances of the case are and mentions a few victims names."

"Apparently, my client was at a party when these three individuals decided to allegedly do a drive by shooting. My client suffered multiple gunshot wounds and didn't make it to the hospital."

"So... by default, as you can't prosecute a dead person; the State has to take a dismissal. I guess technically a win."

"Either way, it was crushing to me as I thought he had really turned his life around."phitheta219

"blue collar lotto" 

"As a personal injury attorney, I've seen a few clients win the "blue collar lotto" or getting more money than they reasonably know how to deal with. I do my best to educate them, but my job is to try and maximize their recovery, not teach them finance. I have definitely contributed to a few drug habits." Uncivil_Law

No Lessons Learned....

Giphy

"In one of my first cases after passing the bar exam, a young man retained me on a drunk driving charge. No one was hurt, but he totaled his car."

"During trial, the arresting police officer testified that my client was clearly drunk at the accident scene, and that my client was loudly blaming the accident on the ahole who stole his car, crashed it, and then fled before the cops arrived."

"However, according to two other witness statements tendered into evidence, it was my client's friend (the passenger) who was screaming about who stole the car, not my client (the driver)."

"The cop must have confused the two men during his testimony."

"This discrepancy raised a reasonable doubt in the judge's mind, so she acquitted my client."

"At the time, the acquittal was somewhat unexpected for me (in my personal view, my client was clearly drunk and responsible for the accident, regardless of who was blaming the mystery asshole to the cops), but I was happy my young client got off, no one was hurt, and lessons were learned. And I was quite euphoric to have won my first criminal case."

"The regret? About a month after the acquittal, my young client called me at 3 am from the police station saying "it's me again! The police arrested me for drunk driving again! Can you help me?"

"Not only did I answer no, I instantly regretted getting the earlier acquittal. My client apparently didn't learn any lessons." Horrified_Witness

"I work in medical malpractice defense. Once I had a obstetrician/gynecologist who burned a patient during a procedure. When I met with the doctor, he lied to me throughout the representation over 16 months saying he had no idea how it happened. There is a doctrine in law called "res ipsa" meaning absent some sort of negligence, this accident could not have occurred."

The Burn. 

"Woman came in without a burn, and after the procedure, the woman left with a burn. There's no way this doctor didn't know what had happened. The area of the burn was where he was operating on. It wasn't until I brought up settlement, because this was not a case we could win did he say, "oh maybe I do know what happened." We ultimately settled that case, which is considered a favorable outcome considering the potential high monetary verdict. Sometimes I think this doctor really ought to have lost that case and their license."mclarenf1boi

Criminal defense is a hard business.

"Had this happen to me twice. Got my client out on bail only to thereafter have him up and killed. First time, he was in building supposedly selling, got chased by the police and a struggle ensued where he was shot point blank in the head. Mother told me that it was my fault that he was killed and that i was working with the DA and the police."

"Second time, a young man no more then 16 gets released while waiting trial on robbery. One of the conditions of release was that he maintain a curfew. That very night he breaks curfew goes over to somebody else's house and was killed in a drug Related robbery. Mother blamed me and said that the devil was working through me that we were all demons."

"Criminal defense is a hard business."Armtoe

 "stop suddenly"

"Little late to the party, but I've got one I still think about a lot. Worked in criminal defense, represented a guy in a DUI. He had priors, so another convocation meant time, loss of license, problems. Long story short, he was pulled over by police after they followed him leaving a bar. At trial I elicited admissions from the arresting officer that during the 2.5 miles he followed him for, he did not observe a single moving violation - no speeding, erratic driving, driving over the lines, blowing stop signs, running red lights."

"Didn't even "stop suddenly" at red lights. Also got the DRE officer to testify that the accused only spoke Spanish and they couldn't get an interpreter officer to the roadside to explain the field sobriety exercises, which the officers documented the accused "refused to perform." Jury came back in 15 minutes. Guy was extremely grateful, and his lovely family was very gracious in thanking me and our office. Feel good about the whole thing."

"Couple months later I'm in county to meet with a client, and I see him in one of the pods. Find out sometime after the trial he violently assaulted his 8 year old step-daughter."

"Think about that one a lot." MakeBelieveNotWar

Fee Shifting?

"There was a case that I saw that involved a claim with fee shifting - meaning that if the plaintiff won, their attorneys' fees would get paid by the defendant. Defendant pushed an aggressive legal position at trial that the judge agreed with, and won, avoiding a few thousand in liability to the plaintiff and a few thousand in attorneys's fees. So far so good. But then the plaintiff appeals all the way to the state's high court, requiring a ton of briefing and time. High court agrees with plaintiff, reverses and sends back to the trial court, which now enters judgement against the defendant for a few thousand in damages against the plaintiff and tens and tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees from the appeal. The defense lawyer probably regretted winning at first on that aggressive argument to the trial court."dotajoedotajoe

Gross Dad.

Giphy

"Did a divorce where the husband (who I was representing) wanted to trade custody of his children for a set of bedroom furniture."

"The bedroom furniture was not even like a family heirloom. It was furniture that you could probably get at a Rooms-to-Go or something."

"Ugh, still makes me ill. That's why I got out of family law." mintrawr

These were some interesting stories! Do you have similar experiences to share about the law? Let us know in the comments.

The Pettiest Reasons To Break Up With Somebody

"Reddit user xxarisx asked: 'What’s the pettiest reason to break up with someone?'"

A woman's hand holds a pink paper heart that is on fire
Photo by Kelly Sikkema

Love doesn't always mean forever.

That is the more concerning part about chasing the dream. It comes with no guarantees.

Anything and everything can change in an instant.

That person you look at so lovingly for hours on end can one day turn into a troll in your eyes.

They might stand in front of the fridge, wasting cool air while trying to figure out a snack.

(Like, how hard is that to decide?)

They may leave the toilet seat up or wet, or both.

They could have night terrors that shake the walls.

All grounds for dismissal for some folks.

You never know someone until you know.

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Haunting Facts About History's Greatest Tragedies
Photo by Fachy Marín on Unsplash

Natural disasters, events gone terribly wrong, and legendary mistakes: The world is full of tragedies, and not just the kind you find in Shakespeare's plays. Here is a curated collection of facts about some of the greatest and most notable tragedies in history.

1. Drinking the Kool-Aid

In 1978, over 900 members of the People’s Temple Agricultural Project, led by Jim Jones, drank powdered soft-drink mix combined with cyanide and prescription sedatives. While many regard Jonestown as mass suicide, most people don't know that the survivors revealed a dark truth: Those that drank the poison actually did so under duress.

2. Don’t Mess With Texas

The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was the Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Storm of 1900. This Category 4 storm hit land in Texas with winds measuring up to 145 miles per hour, resulting in an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 casualties.

3. What’s in a Name

typhoonPhoto by NASA on Unsplash

Recent hurricanes to ravage the Caribbean went by the names Harvey, Irma, and Martha. But until 1947, hurricanes and tropical storms did not have official names. That year, the U.S. Air Force started naming them after the phonetic alphabet the military uses to spell out words over the radio. They weren’t consistently given people’s names until the 1950s.

4. No Hurricane Juniors

In the case of a particularly damaging storm, a hurricane’s name is retired indefinitely.

5. Trouble at Sea

The sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945 resulted in the largest loss of life at sea from a single ship in the history of the US Navy. The ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II and sank in twelve minutes. Only 317 of the 1,196 crewmen aboard survived.

6. Sugar Rush

beige concrete building under blue sky during daytimePhoto by chris robert on Unsplash

The “panic bar” is the device that allows you to open a door by pushing on a bar. It was invented after an incident at Victoria Hall concert venue in England in 1883. 183 children were lost in a stampede caused by boys and girls who rushed to get the gifts and treats being handed out by performers onstage.

The children who rushed to the door were unable to open the bolt, and many were crushed.

7. A Rough Night at the Theater

The worst incident in a theater, though, was the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago in 1903. More than 600 people lost their lives, in part because there were no exit signs and no emergency lighting. Other tragic factors that increased the casualties were ornamental doors that looked like exits (but weren’t), and stairways that were blocked with iron gates during performances to keep people with cheap tickets from taking more expensive seats.

8. Illegal in Ireland

Irish folk singer Christy Moore was found in contempt of court in 1985 for his song “They Never Came Home,” about the victims of a fire at the Stardust nightclub in Dublin. Because the song implied that the nightclub owners and the government were responsible, the song was banned and removed from Moore’s album. The song’s lyrics are still banned in Ireland as libelous.

9. (Un)Happy Land

white buildingPhoto by Matthew LeJune on Unsplash

The Happy Land fire might have the most ironic name in the history of mass casualties. This fire claimed 87 people at the unlicensed Bronx nightclub in 1990 when Julio González set the building on fire after a fight with his ex-girlfriend, who worked coat-check at the club.

10. It Went Over Like a Lead Balloon

The most people ever lost in a balloon accident was 19, when a hot air balloon caught fire over Luxor, Egypt in 2013. The passengers were all tourists on a sight-seeing trip. Along with the pilot, a single passenger survived the incident.

11. A Rough Couple of Years

The period between 1850 and 1873 in modern-day China saw some of the highest mortality ever recorded. Between imperialist expansion, the Opium Wars, and the Taiping Rebellion, the population dropped by more than 60 million.

12. You Thought the Snowpocalyspe Was Bad

File:Mount Tambora Volcano, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia.jpg ...commons.wikimedia.org

1816 was known as the Year Without a Summer. The eruption of a volcano at Mount Tambora caused a volcanic winter, and snow fell in June. Severe weather across North America, Europe, and Asia caused famine and flooding, which resulted in food riots and disease outbreaks. Fatality rates were twice as high as in other years.

13. Bad Weather Makes Good Monsters

The Year Without a Summer, however, helped to invent some of our most significant modern monsters. A group of writers including Percy Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (later Shelley), and Lord Byron had to stay inside during their trip to Lake Geneva because of the bad weather, and they passed the time with a story-telling contest. This was where Mary Shelley started her novel Frankenstein. Another staycationer, John Polidori, began work on The Vampyre, which eventually inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula.

14. Armed Forces

White Arkansas men hanged up to 237 black sharecroppers in the 1919 Elaine massacre, the worst racial conflict in US history. U.S. troops claimed the lives anywhere from 60 to 200 Pomo men, women, and children at Bloody Island in 1850; and up to 300 Lakota at the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890.

15. A Streetcar Named Disaster

File:Ninth Avenue station from Manhattan-bound platform, September ...commons.wikimedia.org

The worst subway accident in New York City history happened in 1905, when an aboveground train turned too quickly, jumped the track, and fell onto Ninth Avenue. 13 people lost their lives. The accident happened, eerily, on September 11th.

16. Mother Nature’s Worst Day

The most lives ever lost in a natural disaster may be the Shaanxi earthquake in 1556, in modern-day China, which claimed approximately 830,000 people.

17. Can You Say La Grippe

The “Spanish Flu” was the name given to an 1918 influenza pandemic that cost 500 million people their lives around the world. The name comes from the fact that, while wartime censors suppressed news of the pandemic in the US, the UK, France, and Germany, the press in Spain was free to report on the tragedy. This gave the world a false impression that Spain was hardest hit by the flu—and the name stuck.

18. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Big Ben towerPhoto by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

Since the 1200s, London has had problems with air quality, but in 1952, a severe air-pollution event called the Great Smog of London blanketed the city with yellow-black smoke for four days, making it hard to see more than a few feet. The city nearly shut down, and the smog resulted in up to 12,000 lost lives from lung and respiratory tract infections.

19. Not Just a Cherry Poppin’ Daddies Song

While the 1997 neo-swing single is a fun dance tune, the original Zoot Suit Riots were less light-hearted. The series of attacks on Mexican-American teenagers by white servicemen stationed in Los Angeles in 1943 was ostensibly sparked by the fact that the young men’s flashy suits flaunted wartime fabric rationing, but there were also racial motivations.

20. Just the Hali-Facts

The Halifax Explosion of 1917 occurred when a cargo ship carrying explosives collided with another ship in Halifax Harbour, killing 2,000 people and injuring 9,000. It was the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons, and the standard by which large blasts were measured for many years.

21. Lucky Number Seven

trees beside brown concrete buildingPhoto by Rap Dela Rea on Unsplash

Time magazine reported on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 by saying that the bomb’s power was equivalent to seven times the Halifax Explosion.

22. Our Daily Bread

A famine in Malta in 1823 became even more tragic when 110 hungry boys who went to the Convent of the Minori Osservanti to get free bread on the last day of Carnival celebrations fell down a flight of stairs and were crushed.

23. The Luckiest Unlucky Man

Clifford Johnson was injured at the worst nightclub fire in history, at the famous Cocoanut Grove in 1942. He suffered third-degree burns over more than half his body but survived, and was seen as a medical marvel. After hundreds of operations and nearly two years in the hospital, he married his nurse. In an ironic twist of fate, he lost his life in a fiery car crash in 1958.

24. Flamin’ Hot Sportsball

cloud gate in city during daytimePhoto by Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash

Sports teams at the University of Illinois at Chicago are nicknamed the Flames, to commemorate the infamous Great Chicago Fire.

25. Dam Unfortunate

The failure of the Banqiao and Shimantan Dams in China in 1975 caused 171,000 casualties—the largest dam-related disaster in history.

26. Whoops

In 1871, a lawyer named Clement Vallandigham accidentally shot himself while defending a murder suspect. He was trying to demonstrate that the murder victim could have accidentally shot himself. The client was acquitted, but the lawyer didn't survive.

27. The Beheaded Man’s Revenge

a close up of a man with a beard and blue eyesPhoto by shahin khalaji on Unsplash

A ninth-century Norse earl named Sigurd the Mighty was slain by an enemy he had beheaded hours earlier. He tied the severed head to his horse’s saddle, but on the ride home the man’s tooth scratched his leg, and the succumbed to the resulting infection.

28. But Not the Last

The robot fatality was Robert Williams, in 1979. The Ford assembly-line worker was hit in the head by a robot’s arm.

29. Dancing in the Dark

400 people in Strasbourg, France were struck by dance madness in the summer of 1518. They were compelled to dance for about a month for no clear reason. Several danced themselves until their hearts stopped.

30. Hands Off

Queen Sunanda Kumariratana of Siam (now Thailand) drowned when her boat capsized in 1880. Many witnesses stood by, unable to help, because it was a capital offense to touch the queen. Some boatmen did eventually jump in to try and save her, but it was too late.

31. Lager Than Life

Eight people drowned in the London Beer Flood of 1814 when a massive vat of fermenting beer burst, filling the streets with over 1,000,000 imperial pints’ worth of beer.

32. High Expectations

An Austrian named Franz Reichelt invented a parachute in 1912 and tested it himself by jumping off the Eiffel Tower. The invention didn’t work. He didn't get the chance to go back to the drawing board.

33. White Light White Heat

Basilica San Nazaro in Brolo @ Milan | Guilhem Vellut | Flickrwww.flickr.com

In 1769, lighting struck the tower of the Church of the San Nazaro in Italy, where 207,000 pounds of gunpowder had been stored. The resulting fire claimed 3,000 people and destroyed one-sixth of the city.

34. The Fall of the King

King Albert of Belgium disappeared while rock climbing in 1934. His body was found, but it wasn’t until 2016 that DNA evidence proved that his injuries were caused by a fall, putting to bed the conspiracy theories that had existed for decades.

35. A Disarming Crew

Among the people who wrestled the gun away from presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin in 1968 were writer George Plimpton, Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson, and former New York Giant Rosey Grier.

36. Aftermath in Ohio

Kent State University - May 4th Memorial: Prentice Parking… | Flickrwww.flickr.com

Immediately following the shootings at Kent State University in 1970, when the National Guard fired and slew four anti-war protestors, 900 university campuses had to be closed due to protests. 100,000 people rioted in Washington, DC, President Nixon was evacuated to Camp David, and the 82nd Airborne was deployed to protect the White House.

37. Unlikely Advocate

When the British soldiers who shot colonists in the Boston Massacre during the American Revolution were tried in court, their lawyer was none other than John Adams, founding father and future president. After being convinced by the court to take the case, Adams persuaded the jury that the soldiers had feared for their lives, reducing the charge to manslaughter.

38. In Your Heeeeeead

The Cranberries song “Zombie” was written in memoriam for two young boys who lost their lives in a 1993 bombing by the Irish Republican Army in Warrington, England.

39. It Actually Is Rocket Science

January 28, 1986 – Space Shuttle Challengerwww.history.navy.mil

Designers of the parts for the Challenger space shuttle, which exploded in 1986, warned that the shuttle shouldn’t have been launched because a seal could come loose in cold weather. NASA officials disregarded the warning, with one asking, "When do you want me to launch—next April?"

40. Survivor

Imagine the odds of being struck by lightning twice. Pretty rare. I'm sure if that happened to you, you'd think you must have been cursed by some sort of vindictive witch.

So imagine the confusion and suffering of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a Japanese man who survived the bombing of Hiroshima...only to move to Nagasaki immediately after.

The torment he must have experienced is beyond belief.

41. Situation Twenty-One

At the Munich Olympic Games in 1972, a group of armed Palestinians broke into the apartment of Israeli athletes, killing two and taking the rest hostage. The Palestinians then demanded the release of 236 prisoners and a plane to fly them to Cairo.

Nearly every detail of this scenario had been foreseen by police psychologist Georg Sieber, who the German government had tasked with coming up with possible Olympic disaster scenarios. Sieber had 26 scenarios; the 1972 events were Situation Twenty-One.

42. He Should Have Accepted the Offer

Google signPhoto by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

In 1999, the founders of Google approached Excite CEO George Bell, offering to sell him the search engine for $1 million. When Bell refused, they lowered the price to $750,000, which he also rejected. Today, Google is valued at $365 billion.

43. We’ll Pass

In 2009, Facebook turned down a pair of programmers for jobs. No big deal, right? Must happen all the time at FB HQ....

A few years later, though, the pair developed WhatsApp. Facebook subsequently purchased that venture for a cool $19 billion.

44. Trains Were Too Wide

The French state railway SNCF spent $15 billion on a new fleet of trains, but unfortunately, they were the wrong size, and were too wide for their 1300 platforms. The mistake cost them an estimated $50 million to correct.

45. A Case of Bad Timing

File:Napoleon at Fontainebleau, 31 March 1814 (by Hippolyte Paul ...commons.wikimedia.org

Just over 200 years ago, Napoleon’s army attempted to invade Russia.

Whoops.

A combination of factors spelled doom for the invasion. There wasn't nearly enough food for the soldiers and horses. Poor discipline was rampant in the ranks. And, of course, none of the men were prepared for the unimaginable brutality of a full Russian winter.

It was a devastating failure. Napoleon lost 500,000 troops.

46. A Flaw in the Design

On 26th April 1986, engineers at the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station, a Soviet facility, were testing a new cooling system designed to reduce the risk of a meltdown. Their test caused a meltdown, and the resulting explosion destroyed Chernobyl’s reactor 4.

The Chernobyl Forum predicts that the eventual toll could reach 4,000 among those exposed to the highest levels of radiation. That said, what many people don't know is that the plant actually remained a fully-functioning power plant for years after the disaster.

The disaster destroyed reactor 4, but reactors 1-3 remained open for business. Due to high levels of radiation, plant employees could no longer live beside the facility, but many continued to commute to work to supply power in Europe. The final reactor only ceased operating in 2000.

47. Gambled and Lost

The Spanish telecom company Terra took a gamble when they purchased the search engine Lycos in 2000 for almost $12 billion. At the time, Lycos was the third most visited site in America... but that was before dot.com bubble burst. In just about a year, most internet companies in America lost millions in value. And Lycos was perhaps the biggest loser.

Terra would eventually sell the search engine in 2004 for just $95.4 million. That's an astonishing loss of $11.6 billion dollars on their investment.

48. Don’t Drink and Steer

The Exxon Valdez, 25 Years After — FBIwww.fbi.gov

In 1989, an Exxon oil tanker was headed to California when it ran aground on the Bligh Reef off the Alaskan coast. The tanker spilled around 760,000 barrels of oil into the water, and the captain was later accused of being drunk at the time of the accident. He was convicted of negligent discharge of oil.

49. The Worst Nuclear Accident in U.S. History

The nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in March of 1979 was the result of mechanical failures that were made worse by poor training and oversights in the human-computer interaction design. It was the most significant nuclear disaster in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history.

There are conflicting reports on the cost of the disaster, with some sources stating that the radiation exposure wasn't significant enough to result in additional cancer fatalities, while others insist that thousands more have been observed.

50. Loss of Cultural Knowledge

The Great Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world, and was dedicated to the Muses—the 9 goddesses of the Arts.

The burning of the library resulted in an irreplaceable loss of knowledge and literature.

Couple sitting together on bench
Photo by Nong on Unsplash

Dating can be hard, but ultimately, we all know some things we want and what would make us feel happy and fulfilled in a relationship.

Fortunately, just like the red flags we might see in a relationship, there are green flags that can point us in the right direction, too.

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We've all had our clumsy moments and ended up with some cuts, bruises, or bumped elbows.

But some of us have really gone above and beyond when it comes to being adventurous, and some of the reasons we've ended up going to the hospital have been downright stupid.

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