History is shaped by mistakes. Some lead to monumental leaps forward in human understanding. Most do not. Of those in the second category, many are simply embarrassing, and result in a good bar story. Meanwhile, other have simply disastrous consequences. Below are 48 of the biggest mistakes that have been committed in history.
1. He Should Have Accepted the Offer
Google sign Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on UnsplashIn 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 over $300 billion.
2. We’ll Pass
person holding black android smartphone Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on UnsplashIn 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.
3. Trains Were Too Wide
a silver train pulling into a train station Photo by Jametlene Reskp on UnsplashThe 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.
4. A Case of Bad Timing
File:Napoleon at Fontainebleau, 31 March 1814 (by Hippolyte Paul ... commons.wikimedia.orgJust 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 men 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.
5. Infidelity is Expensive
File:Tiger Woods June 2014 (cropped).jpg - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.orgTiger Woods’s admission of multiple illicit affairs with women cost him his wife and $750 million. He also lost his sponsorships with Gatorade and others, but even worse, the shareholders of the companies with Tiger Woods endorsements lost an estimate $5 to $12 billion dollars in the wake of the scandal.
6. Gambled and Lost
selective focus photography of bubble Photo by Daniel Hansen on UnsplashThe 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 the 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.
7. I Accidentally Taped Over It!
Buzz Aldrin on the moon in front of the US flag Photo by NASA on UnsplashBack in the days of data tapes, it was easy to accidentally tape over earlier recordings. Unfortunately for NASA, that’s exactly what they did, and the original tapes of the moon landing were erased and re-used. Luckily, they were able to restore the original broadcast and offer the world a glimpse of the historic event.
The admission that NASA accidentally erased the original footage had fed rocket fuel to conspiracy theorists, who already believed the entire lunar program that landed people on the moon six times between 1969 and 1972 was staged on a Hollywood set.
8. The Worst Nuclear Accident in U.S. History
File:Exelon Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.jpg ... commons.wikimedia.orgThe 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 instances cancer, while others insist the radiation caused thousands of cases.
9. Loss of Cultural Knowledge
File:The Great Library of Alexandria - Colorized.jpg - Wikimedia ... commons.wikimedia.orgThe 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.
10. Didn’t Understand the Food Chain
File:Mao Zedong 1959 (cropped).jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgFrom 1958-1962, Chairman Mao Zedong of China launched the “Four Pests Campaign,” which would exterminate rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows. What they didn’t realize was that sparrows ate a large number of insects. Without the sparrows to eat them, locust populations grew and created an ecological imbalance that exacerbated the Great Chinese Famine, which claimed the 15-30 million deaths.
That's right, when Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the extermination of sparrows, he accidentally sentenced 15 million citizens to death, all because he didn't realize that sparrows were mission critical for pest control.
11. Is That Leaning?
people walking on green grass field near white concrete building during daytime Photo by Jainam Mehta on UnsplashThe Leaning Tower of Pisa is a free-standing bell tower in the city of Pisa Italy.
The tower is famous for its lean, but that wasn’t by design. The foundation for the tower was built on ground that was too soft to support its weight, and it started to lean during construction.
12. Threw Away Millions
black and red UK flag pedal trash bin near white wooden door Photo by Steve Johnson on UnsplashA lottery winner in England lost $181 million when her husband accidentally threw away her winning ticket. The woman knew the announced numbers were hers, because she always wrote them down on a separate sheet of paper before giving the ticket to her husband.
13. Brought Down by Foam
File:Space Shuttle Columbia launching.jpg - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.orgOn Feb 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disastrously disintegrated on re-entry, claiming the lives of all seven crew members. Back when the shuttle launched, a piece of foam fell from the shuttle’s external tank and punctured the shuttle’s wing, causing damage that made the rocket unable to withstand re-entry.
NASA knew about the problem when it occurred, and came under scrutiny for their negligence.
14. Cutting Corners
Deepwater Horizon - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.orgIn April 2010, a BP oil rig burst in the Gulf of Mexico, pushing nearly five million barrels of oil from the well. It was eventually determined that years of BP favoring speed over safety and cutting corners were the true causes of the accident.
15. Couldn’t Corner the Market
white and black striped textile Photo by Andrew Kliatskyi on UnsplashYasuo Hamanaka, the former chief copper trader at Sumitomo in Japan attempted to corner the market (get enough market share to manipulate the price) on copper back in 1996.
Before prices dropped and the scheme collapsed, Sumitomo controlled as much as 5% of the world’s copper. He was known as "Mr. Copper" because of his aggressive trading style. On June 13, 1996, Sumitomo Corporation reported a loss of US$1.8 billion caused by unauthorized copper trading by Hamanaka on the London Metal Exchange. It was later revealed that the true losses caused by Hamanka totaled $2.6 billion dollars.
16. Should Have Prepared for Winter
File:RIAN archive 301 An attack.jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgIn June of 1941, Hitler was riding high on his victories and was determined to claim the Russian territories to fulfill Germany’s destiny. Convinced that he would easily win, he ignored the warnings of his military, and reportedly told them that “We have only to kick in the front door and the whole rotten Russian edifice will come tumbling down." Thanks to some strategical miscalculations on the German generals' part, and their unpreparedness for Russian winter, the Germans were eventually forced to retreat.
17. That’s Not the System We Used!
a red planet with a black background Photo by Planet Volumes on UnsplashA group of Lockheed engineers used Imperial units of measurement to build the Mars Orbiter, but the rest of the team used Metric. The use of two different systems caused the spacecraft to approach Mars on a trajectory that brought it too close to the plane. It disintegrated as it passed through the upper atmosphere. The mistake cost NASA approximately $125 million back in 1999.
18. Guitar Groups are Out
File:Beatles ad 1965 just the beatles crop.jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgDick Rowe, an A&R man at Decca Records at the time of the Beatles’ audition, is known in history as "the man who turned down the Beatles." Sources that after Rowe first heard the Fab Four, he told their manager that “Groups with guitars are on their way out.”
After their rejection, he went on to sign the Rolling Stones and several other famous groups, but missing out on the Beatles was a big one: The Beatles have sold 600 million albums worldwide and 177 million in the United States alone.
19. They Defeated Themselves
<a href="https://api.aucklandmuseum.com/id/media/v/93335">commons.wikimedia.org</a>
On September 18, 1788, during their conflict with Turkey, a group of Austrian soldiers bought some hard beverages from a band of locals in the town of Karansebes. They had too much and began to shout that the Turks were coming.
Mass confusion ensued (partly due to language barriers), panicked men began firing at the supposed "Turkish invaders" and by the morning, 10,000 of their own men were dead. With Friends like that, who needs enemies?
20. Safety First.
Free Images : live, equipment, spray, training, flame, fire ... pxhere.comOil workers on the Piper Bravo Oil Rig were evacuated after an explosion killed 167 of the 226 men working on the rig in July of 1988. A safety inspector forgot to replace a valve after a routine check, and when a worker (unaware that a valve was missing) pushed the start button, gas leaked out.
21. Poked the Wrong Bear
File:YuanEmperorAlbumGenghisPortrait.jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgThe Sultan of the Khwarezm Empire in present-day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Iran had agreed to a trade treaty with Genghis Khan, but when the caravan arrived, the Governor of Otrar seized the goods and had all but one of the merchants killed.
Khan then sent a delegation to the Shah to demand punishment, and he responded by shaving the heads of the ambassadors and sending the interpreter home headless. Kahn retaliated by invading and conquering Otrar.
22. A Not-So-Controlled Burn
a large fire is burning in the mountains Photo by Mike Newbry on UnsplashIn 2000, the Cerro Grande fire in New Mexico began as a controlled blaze, but things quickly turned into a disaster. High winds and drought let the fire spread rapidly, and soon authorities had completely lost control. The fire burned for more than a month, destroying 48,000 acres, and displacing more than 400 families.
23. Blind Belief
File:Fukushima radiation dose map 2011-04-29.png - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgThe triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Number 1 power plant occurred largely because the Japanese government had a blind belief that the plants were so safe, a major disaster was impossible—despite warnings that the aging plants were vulnerable. The accident will take an estimated 40 years and billions of dollars to clean up.
24. They Should Have Listened
underwater photography of titanic Photo by NOAA on UnsplashStop me if you've heard this one...
In April 1912, the largest passenger ship ever built began its maiden voyage across the Atlantic from England to New York. It would never finish the trip.
The Titanic was called "unsinkable". It wasn't. The ship sank in the early morning hours of April 15, after crashing into an iceberg and taking on water.
Long before the actual incident, the Titanic's crew received warnings about icebergs in the area. In the interest of saving time, the warnings were ignored. That mistake claimed the lives of 1,517 people.
25. Billion-Dollar Write-Down
File:Sony Movies Logo.svg - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.orgSony thought that they were making a smart purchase when they scooped up Columbia Pictures for $3.4 billion in 1989. The cost of the deal increased when they had to spend $200 million on another production company, and another $500 million to settle a lawsuit. In the end, they were forced to take a 3.2-billion-dollar write-down on the acquisition.
26. They Thought It Was Useless
Sydney Opera House, Australia Photo by Photoholgic on UnsplashDutch navigators extensively explored Australia almost a century before Captain James Cook claimed it for Great Britain in 1770, but they chose not to settle there because it failed to live up to their expectations. The island had been fabled to be overflowing with gold and giants, and they were disappointed by the seemingly barren coastline.
27. Equipment Failure
flying stealth plane during day Photo by Matt Artz on UnsplashAmerica’s most expensive jet was destroyed on a practice flight in Guam when faulty sensors caused the plane to stall on take-off and crash. Luckily, both pilots were able to eject safely.
28. They Wished They’d Kept It
brown wooden signage on gray sand during daytime Photo by Alexis Mette on UnsplashAt the end of the Crimean War, Russia was weakened and had very little money, and they knew that Britain could simply take over their Alaskan territory if they wished. As far as the Tsar was concerned, it was just a useless piece of barren land, so he decided to sell it to the United States, rather than lose it to their British enemies.
Neither party knew about the gold and oil that lay beneath the land. If they had, Russia likely wouldn’t have sold it for 2 cents an acre.
29. There Was No Feast
brown concrete statue under blue sky during daytime Photo by Azzedine Rouichi on UnsplashIn 1532, Conquistador Fransisco Pizarro lured the Inca ruler Atahualpa to a supposed feast in his honor. It turned out to be a trap. Pizarro’s men massacred 80,000 Inca warriors, and captured Atahualpa. As a final humiliation, Pizarro forced Atahualpa to convert to Christianity before executing him.
30. An Unsuccessful Merger
blue audi coupe parked on green grass field during daytime Photo by Udo Meyer on UnsplashUnfortunately for Mercedes Benz, their 1998 merger with Chrysler failed to work out as planned, and less than a decade later in 2007, Mercedes sold the company for $7 billion—about $13 billion less than they’d paid for it.
31. Hydrogen Is Flammable
File:Hindenburg burning.jpg - Wikipedia en.m.wikipedia.orgThe Hindenburg disaster marked the end of the airship era, claiming all 35 passengers and one member of the ground crew. The airship caught fire because of a spark that ignited leaking hydrogen. As the Germans discovered, hydrogen is an extremely flammable and dangerous substance, and using it to fill airships perhaps wasn’t the smartest idea.
32. Fire and Blood
silhouette of trees during night time Photo by Henrique Malaguti on UnsplashA hunter was responsible for starting the biggest fire in California’s history back in 2003. He lost a lit signal flare near the San Diego County Estates and the fire spread. Close to 300,000 acres and 2,322 homes were destroyed. 14 people also lost their lives.
33. Who Left the Gate Open?
brown concrete building under blue sky during daytime Photo by Raimond Klavins on UnsplashForgetting to close a gate isn’t normally that big a deal--unless you’re the unfortunate Roman who forgot to close the Kerkoporta Gate at Constantinople. That unfortunate soul single-handedly lost a siege.
You see, the walls of Constantinople were generally regarded to be impregnable. This contributed to a sense of confidence and security for the Roman defenders, who were under siege by a much larger Ottoman force.
So when one Roman guard accidentally left the gate open at night, a group of 50 Ottomans was able to sneak in under cover of night, slaughtering the Roman guards and raising their flag on the walls. This caused panic in the Roman ranks, who were left with the impression that the city had somehow been conquered overnight. The resulting loss of morale helped the Ottomans to actually conquer and loot the city with a subsequent invasion.
34. Abandoning the Navy
File:Zheng He Treasure Ship (15832736462).jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org500 or so years ago, China had one of the greatest seafaring fleets in the world. They boasted 5 times the size of those being built in Europe.
By 1525, the entire fleet had been destroyed. Chinese elites urged the government to destroy their own fleet, concerned about the rising status of the middle class who had benefited from the international trade that the "Treasure Fleet" enabled. The vessels were either set aflame or left to rot at port. Economists believe this act crippled China's economy and drastically reduced its world influence.
35. Serial Infidelity
Mining Magnate Dmitri Rybolovlev allegedly slept with other women on his yacht, leading his wife to accuse him of "serial infidelity." The divorce battle that ensued forced him to sell assets to raise cash for the settlement.
36. A Fatal Wrong Turn
File:HGM Wilhelm Vita Porträt Franz Ferdinand.jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgWho would have imagined that a wrong turn could turn the entire world on its head? That’s what happened on June 14, 1914, when Archduke Ferdinand’s driver made a wrong turn. He turned down the road where the assassin Gavrilo Princip was enjoying a sandwich. The driver, realizing his mistake, slammed on the brakes and caused the car to stall, which gave Princip the opportunity to fire into the car at close range.
37. Great Ideas That Didn’t Work
classic teal sedan near house during daytime Photo by Peter Secan on UnsplashIn 1957, Ford introduced the Edsel.
The car was a massive gamble. For a year before its release, Ford spent millions on a teaser campaign, which billed the as-yet-unseen Edsel as the car of the future.
Turns out, it wasn't.
The car was introduced with fanfare and excitement... but Ford would stop production in 1959, just two years after the initial sale. Unfortunately for Ford, it failed to live up to the hype created by their advertising campaign. The whole debacle cost them an estimated $250 million.
38. A Strategical Error
File:Pearl Harbor submarine base in the early 1930s.jpg ... commons.wikimedia.orgThe U.S. had three aircraft carriers assigned to Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack, but they had been displaced on missions on the day of the attack. The Japanese had received intelligence that the carriers weren’t there, but decided that it wasn’t important. This turned out to be the wrong decision, as those aircraft carriers later helped the U.S. win the fight against Japan.
39. A Flaw in the Design
File:IAEA 02790015 (5613115146).jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgOn 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.
40. Lost His Hard Drive
gold and silver round coins Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashIn 2009, James Howells bought 7,500 bitcoin when they weren’t worth anything, and by 2013, they had risen to a value of 613 British pounds each, giving him a multi-million dollar portfolio. The only problem was that he’d thrown away the hard drive where the bitcoins were stored.
When he realized his mistake, he went to the landfill to try and recover it, but he was unable to locate it.
41. A Costly Spelling Mistake
Petition to File For Bankruptcy Photo by Melinda Gimpel on UnsplashThe British government was sued for £9 million after a clerical error resulted in the wrong company being recorded as in liquidation. Companies House mistakenly mistook a 124-year-old Welsh company called “Taylor and Sons” for a bankrupt company “Taylor and Son” due to a clerical error that inserted an extra ‘s’ onto a liquidation notice. The mistake cost 250 people their jobs.
42. Too Easy to Copy
Day 250: Summer Addiction | I was first introduced to Snappl… | Flickr www.flickr.comWhen Quaker purchased Snapple for $1.4 billion in 1994, their goal was to sell it in every grocery store in the country. But Snapple was so successful in the smaller brand-name grocery stores that companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola made their own copycat brands. Quaker sold Snapple after just three years for significantly less than what they paid.
43. Don’t Drink and Steer
File:Exxon Valdez Cleanup.jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgIn 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.
44. A Fat Finger Trade
text Photo by jun rong loo on UnsplashA Japanese trader cost his company nearly $2 million when he accidentally sold 610,000 shares for 1 yen, instead of 1 share at 610,000 yen. It was a “fat-finger keyboard error”, a mistake in which a trader places a buy/sell order at a far greater size than intended.
45. You Can’t Dock Here!
yellow and blue abstract painting Photo by Didssph on UnsplashWhen a storm caused one of the 12 oil tanks on the MV Prestige to burst, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, expecting to bring the vessel into the harbor before it sank. Because the Spanish, French, and Portuguese governments refused to allow the ship to dock in their ports, the ship eventually split in half and sank, releasing over 20 million gallons of oil into the sea.
46. No Heir, No Empire
File:Alexander the Great mosaic.jpg - Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.orgAlexander the Great succeeded in forging the largest Western empire of the ancient world-- only for it to fall apart because he never named an heir.
Shortly before he gave his last breath, Alexander was asked who should succeed him. He responded simply, “the strongest"...as though that was a helpful answer.
As it turns out, men who've spent their lives conquering much of the known world tend to be a little competitive. Upon his passing, Alexander's generals immediately vied to fill the power vacuum... leaving his carefully crafted empire to crumble.
47. Houston We Have A Mistake
January 28, 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger www.history.navy.milApproximately 17% of Americans were watching on the morning of January 28, 1986, as the Space Shuttle Challenger launched toward space. Onboard were 6 NASA astronauts, as well as Payload Specialist Christa McAuliffe, who was set to become the first teacher in space.
Tragedy struck just 72 seconds after liftoff. Gasses in the external fuel tank mixed, exploded, and tore the shuttle apart. All 7 crew members were lost.
Prior to the disaster, the builder of the solid-rocket boosters advised NASA that they believed the O-ring seals in the solid-rocket boosters could fail at extremely low temperatures. On the day of the launch, the temperature was 15 degrees colder than any previous launch in history.
48. Rejected Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling’s literary agency received 12 rejections for Harry Potter. When the 8-year-old daughter of an editor at Bloomsbury demanded to read the rest of the book, Bloomsbury finally agreed to publish it...but also advised Rowling to "get a day job" as there was little chance of making any money with children’s books.
Nearly 30 years ago, Rwanda's Hutu population initiated perhaps the most successful genocide campaign in recent history, systematically murdering more than 800,000 members of the Tutsi population over a three-month period.
The period before the genocide began was marked by heightened political tensions. Hutus and their supporters would take to radio broadcasts to brand Tutsis "cockroaches," which normalized animosity toward them. It was successful propaganda that altered the lives of millions.
This isn't the first time that people have used propaganda for nefarious reasons – far from it. People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor fitboy15 asked the online community,
"What piece of propaganda did the most damage?"
"That Oxycontin..."
"That OxyContin had a low rate of dependency."
No-Discussion6480
If Dopesick didn't send you down a rabbit hole learning about the Sackler family, then you did something wrong.
"Kids lost..."
"In the 90s, child abduction fear porn was all the rage on the nightly news. And they were always the 1 in a million, crazy stories with horrific deaths and would play weekly. Chris Hanson's "To Catch a Predator" didn't help."
"However, these kidnappings were extremely rare in reality. Kids lost almost all unsupervised play time, which as it turns out is very helpful for learning how to socialize."
[deleted]
Not to mention most kidnappings were done by close relatives of the child rather than complete strangers.
"When Coca Cola..."
"When Coca Cola paid off doctors to say that fat was what caused fatness rather than sugar. This has destroyed the health of generations. It was the total converse of the truth, pushed to all American children (and many internationally) about their health."
andycambridge
There's a looming crisis in Mexico just because of this. The commoner is so brainwashed about sugar that the drink is almost consumed ritualistically/ceremoniously.
This dude!
“Dr.” Andrew Wakefield and his false study."
Xboarder84
People talk a lot about the harms Wakefield did by spreading distrust in vaccines, and that's huge and unforgivable, but the harms he caused to the autistic community are huge and unforgivable too. So much unnecessary hatred.
"When big tobacco companies..."
"When big tobacco industries made doctors endorse cigarettes."
Sandracotta
Made? They gave them kickbacks and direct payments.
Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok's 1968 letter..."
"Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok's 1968 letter in New England Journal of Medicine talking of Chinese restaurant syndrome caused by MSG without any scientific evidence."
doesntcareatall
Indeed, this added a lot of content to preexisting stigma towards East Asians. However blinded experiments could not prove his claims.
"It might not be the worst..."
"It might not be the worst, but when the woman spilled hot coffee on herself from McDonald's. She ended up with 3rd degree burns because the coffee temperature wasn't regulated correctly and McDonald's paid people to make fun of her, and people still do to this day."
mksports
Her burns were so severe that her labia were fused together. She suffered horrifying, debilitating and expensive burns and she was mocked and painted as irresponsible. All she wanted from McDonalds was the cost of her medical expenses, too.
"The United States..."
"The United States FDA Food Pyramid."
yawmush
One of the biggest lies ever told. Grain is more important than vegetables? Yeah, right.
"The War..."
"The War on Drugs."
[deleted]
"Perhaps..."
"Perhaps not the most damaging, but certainly a vile example… when Pope Benedict XVI told the people of sub-Saharan Africa that condoms would actually make the HIV/AIDS crisis worse."
PosterNutbag
It was largely rooted in a belief that birth control goes against the word of god. "Go forth and multiply" taken to the extreme.
Yeah... if you walked away from these not feeling at least a bit ambivalent about the human race, then I don't know what to tell you.
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There is anonymity in privacy, which is why I'm a big fan of living in a large city (and am perfectly okay with it remaining that way). It's easy to keep people out of your business when you're surrounded by millions of other people.
That's not true in small towns, where even the most innocuous personal drama can be distorted. So when scandals happen (and trust that they do) they tend to captivate the local imagination in ways not seen in big cities.
People told us all about the latest drama in their neck of the woods after Redditor Pessimistic_Soviet asked the online community,
"Those of you who live in small towns, what is the current local controversy all about?"
"Dogs are now getting sick..."
"Thousands of crabs washed ashore dead but nobody really knows why; I think they blamed wind turbines at one point. Dogs are now getting really sick and there are warnings for people to stay away from the beach but nobody knows why it’s happening."
MariahCareyButt
It sounds like algae toxins, which wouldn't surprise me.
"The problem with that is..."
"While fleeing another hit and run, and possible DUI, some dude tried to go full speed directly thru the middle of our town square. The problem with that is we have a big historic fountain there. Traffic is usually supposed to swerve arround the fountain, he did not."
"This dude in a white SUV ramps into our fountain, and smashes into the center pillar. Thankfully the fountain was off for the winter, so there was less damage, but they still have no clue how, and how much money it's gonna take to fix this mess."
"The car was removed, but the fountain is still wrapped up in its tarp a month later. There's security cam footage of the ramp and its all anyone could talk about for a few weeks."
raven_1313
It sounds like that fountain is the town's pride and joy so it makes sense that everyone is a bit bent out of shape about it.
"A woman knows..."
"A woman known as a pretty awful person disappeared. 'Everyone' knows it was probably her husband, but the family owns over 10,000 acres and no body has been found. The rest of her family is ramping up an awareness campaign so should be interesting to see where this all goes."
Ordo501
I expect the Lifetime movie to drop any day now.
"A guy wanted to bury his parents..."
"A guy wanted to bury his parents on their (parents’) slightly rural, totally out of the way, virtually-no-neighbors property, but the village said no way. We don’t do that here. We’re classy."
"So he went to the state for permission to build a funeral home/crematorium instead, and he built a giant mausoleum with both their caskets right on the corner of the property where everyone and their grandma can see it when they drive by!"
"And he has zero plans to actually turn this into a functioning business. It’s about half done, no landscaping, and construction vehicles parked all over the place. Gotta hand it to him!"
Axel0812
Okay, this is petty (and brilliant) as all hell and I am LIVING for it.
"A couple promised..."
"A couple promised a lot of cakes and fancy breads to the local festival and didn't deliver. Everyone has been mad at them for the last two weeks."
ChangeWinter4443
I mean... wouldn't you be? We're talking about cakes AND fancy breads here.
"The girl's volleyball coach..."
"Town of about 1800. The girl's volleyball coach got a DWI. The school's principal went to pick her up from jail, and was arrested for DWI himself. Somehow it got out that these two (both married) were having an affair."
stickshaker73
In a small town how did they think they'd be able to keep any of that secret?
"Two places..."
"Two places make dill dip. One accused the other of stealing the recipe."
duckswithbanjos
This is the sort of drama that I can see being developed into an award-winning indie film.
"People here..."
"People here in my town of 396 are still upset that the local Christmas tree was taken down and thrown away with all the lights still on it."
Onlykitten
I mean... I get it. Sounds like a total waste.
"The woman who just got elected..."
"The woman who just got elected mayor owns most of the property downtown, and all the open seats on city council went to her employees. Can’t wait to see the corruption in action."
Blanchypants
Ha, how convenient. I wonder what her explanation for this was. Probably nothing satisfactory.
"Swans..."
"Swans in the local rivers/lakes have been dying from avian flu and we’ve all been warned to keep our dogs away from sick or dead swans in case infection spreads to humans."
allywillow
Need I remind you that we are in the middle of a global pandemic so I hope people do manage to keep their dogs away, just to be on the safe side!
There's something to be said about small towns – they somehow never fail to entertain us with all their drama.
It's fun to hear about it – definitely not as fun to live it.
Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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It's stuff like this which gives birth to the phrase, "This is why we can't have nice things."
Of course, you could always look past the unfortunate history almost every item possesses.
After all, it's not your fault the shoes you might be wearing were invented by Nazis or the car you're about to get into was developed by Nazis or the dealership you drive by was once run by a Japanese company who associated with the Nazis.
Manufacturing has a long, complex history.
Reddit user, Stoned_Black_Nerd, wanted to know what we use that comes from a dark place when they asked:
"What everyday item has a sick and twisted origin story?"
We don't have to know where something comes from to enjoy it.
After all, time passes, companies change hands, and the people in charge don't share the same beliefs as their predecessors.
Right?
Big Misstep There, Dr. Kellogg
"Sylvester Graham believed unwholesome foods created 'impure' thoughts."
"So he created Graham Crackers to keep women from becoming sluts."- Superlite47
"Kellogg believed we were facing an epidemic of masturbation that could only be curbed with a widespread combination of bland cereal, corn flakes, invented for this purpose, and circumcision."
"Non-religious circumcision in the US basically originated from Kellogg's campaigns."- wildfire393
The Most Kissable Lips
"The CPR doll that we use to practice CPR in most work places in the UK has the face of an unknown French cadaver found dead in the Seine river in the 1800s."
"She is known as The Most Kissed Woman in History. Bleugh!"- Adi3m
Let's Overthrow This Government Then Have A Banana. Good Day.
"Chiquita, banana company, is both directly and indirectly responsible for political violence and human rights abuses in south america"- Cheesydilfdog
"The term 'banana republic' comes from these practices."
"It's synonymous with an economy that almost exclusively produces raw materials, which are then shipped to more 'developed' countries, turned into finished products, and sold back to them."
"Colonial era started it, and it continues to this day."
"It's part of why the homespun cotton thing was such a big deal in India during Ghandi's time'."- WesternTrashPanda
Medical advancements requires years of research, experimentation, and trials done on volunteers, putting their own bodies and health on the line for the greater good of an advanced society.
Most of the time.
When You Need It Absolutely Clean, I Guess
"Lysol was marketed as a feminine hygiene product."- SidAndFinancy
"Listerine was marketed as a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea."- NeedsMoreTuba
Open Wide
"The chainsaw was originally introduced to help during childbirth."- Environmental-Fix-71
"The chainsaws invented to aid in childbirth."- CreatrixAnima
At What Cost Do We Find Medical Breakthroughs?
"The modern speculum was created by a man named J. Marion Sims who performed invasive experimental surgeries on enslaved women without anaesthesia."- beerandbuds
"Most obstetric surgical techniques were originally practiced on enslaved women."
"Because these women were looked upon as disposable, it didn't much matter if they survived the procedure, never mind suffered pain and disability as a result."
"This way the doctors could then safely use these techniques on white mothers."- AlarmedAeriel
"Every medical procedure was first done by doctors winging it."
"Often without anesthesia."
"Patients were non consenting."- BatmanAwesomeo
Nazis.
Just, so many things we use come from Nazis.
And cults.
That Thing Your Parent's Are Afraid Of Happening? It Happened.
"The protective seal on OTC medications were a result of a round of murders caused by cyanide-laced Tylenol in the 80s"-throwingplaydoh
Shave And Some Bloodletting. Two Bits.
"Not necessarily 'sick and twisted' but the red and white pole outside of barber shops use to be used to identify barbers who could perform bloodletting during the Middle Ages especially through the course of the Black Death."- OneOddOtter
"Barber shops."
"They used to be doctors offices where they would make incisions on the patient and let the sickness 'bleed out'."
"It did not work."
"Was the method fell out of practice, they switched to hair."- NotaFossilFool
War Brings About Innovation...? Sigh...
"The founders of Adidas and Puma were brothers and were both Nazis"- Super-Noodles
"Volkswagen was literally, factually founded by Hitler."- DemSumBigAssRidges
"Don't forget Ferdinand Porche he designed and built tanks among other weapons."
"Also Mitsubishi Heavy Industries maker of the AM6 i.e. the Zero"- sd1360
"Volkswagen cars have a nazi background."- Greninja_is_Bestpkm
Check Your Silverware, Folks
"Oneida silverware."
"Check out the Wikipedia page for The Oneida Community ."
"It’s a real pearl clutcher."
"It was a religious communal society founded in 1848 in Oneida, New York."
"The community believed that Jesus already came back in AD 70 and they were creating paradise on earth."
"They practiced complex marriage, free love, and male sexual continence , read: don’t finish."
"Sex was mostly for pleasure, making babies was on purpose and the children were raised collectively."
"Older men had sex with young girls/women; older women sexually mentored younger boys."
"A local dad sued to get his daughter out of this scandalous cult, with claims of mental illness and violence surrounding the case."
"The community supported womens’ suffrage and free divorce."
"And eugenics."
"And when the community split apart, some members moved out West to found… Orange County."- Digressionista
Not A Desirable Source Of Fitness
"The treadmill was used for prisoners as a tool for punishment and profit."
"It was a power source to grind grain or pump water."- orosofia
You Can Never Be Too Sure Of What You're Eating...
"All most any candy with shiny coat and some food dyes made from crushed bugs and the fda allows low numbers of insect parts in some foods."- Apprehensive-Fox3187
"Cheetos."
"Made from discarded cow chow."- AutumnAtronach
What Purpose Did It Ultimately Serve?
"The first machine gun, the Maxim Gun, the Gatling Gun doesn't count as it's a Gatling style weapon, was invented by Hiram Maxim."
"His inspirations for it were he was firing a rifle and got knocked over by the recoil."
"He figured that he could use the roil to continuously fire a gun."
"The other inspiration was he was in Europe and an American said to him 'if you want to make a lot of money, come up with something that will help these Europeans cut each other's throats with greater facility'."- shiftyfired1056
Beneficial Side Affects?
"Viagra was originally a drug to treat altitude sickness."
"The bone was only a side effect."- Altruistic-Honey2341
Taking Pleasure In Pain
"Dog toys with squeakers."
"I’ve recently learned that the squeak noise is supposed to represent the the sound of a suffering small animal."- Roody-Poo_Jabroni
Don't feel bad if something you use in your everyday life was on this list. Like we stated earlier, the people who are in charge of the companies and organizations are not the same as those who developed them.
Life is complicated. You shouldn't have to change your shoes.
People Debate The One Invention They'd Eliminate From History To Change The World Forever
It's hard to imagine that one invention could change the course of world history forever, but if you stop to think about it—there have been quite a few!
Imagine, for example, if we had never figured out large ships?
What would the world look like with only kayaks, rafts, and other smaller crafts?
What wouldn't it look like?
Reddit user NoBand2201 asked:
"You can eliminate one invention from history to change the world forever. What do you eliminate?"
Reddit users had plenty to say about the subject—starting with the most clear and present danger in our times; social media.
A Soapbox
"Facebook has given the village idiot a soapbox and megaphone."
- I_likem_asstastic
"Facebook and the company itself is the worst offender, but social media in general was advancing to its current state way before Facebook."
- aztechfilm
"The village idiots migrated from AOL town square chat rooms to Facebook and Twitter."
- MysteriousBrays
"Could even still be MySpace? Can you imagine the level of background animations, glitter gifs and music a 15 year old profile would have?"
"Also, people are inherently stupid, they would find a way to ingest nonsense."
- Tiemujin
GiphyThe Trolley Problem Is Horrific In Real Life
"I would be interested in seeing how the world would’ve turned out without the atomic bomb."
- tomi210210
"The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were basically a real life application of the trolley problem."
- shiny_xnaut
"Agreed. Regrettably so."
"In the near term, it would have been disastrous for Japan."
"From "What If? Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been" The US and allies already had plans to shift their strategic bombing campaign over to Japan's rail network and other transportation networks in Sept or Oct. Japanese civilians were already on reduced daily caloric intake."
"With US B-29s, along with other US and British bombers operating off Okinawa (and US and British Naval aircraft) hitting all the transportation network, etc... we would have seen nation wide famine throughout Japan."
"Millions would have died brutal and agonizing deaths."
"Then calculate for all the tens of thousands dying on a daily basis throughout the Asian/Pacific theater of operations."
"Then very likely another major war in Europe between the USSR/Warsaw Pact and NATO."
"Many who just oppose 'the bomb' somehow think that if the Manhattan Project had failed, or we had dropped the bomb on a deserted island as a demonstration; that all military actions would have been put on hold."
"Not even close."
"They forget how truly brutal and savage WW2 was; especially on certain fronts like the German/Soviet front and the actions in the Pacific and China."
"A proposed naval blockade would have eventually brought Japan down, but certainly the loss in life would have been far worse - in the millions."
"Few people know that in Europe, after the German surrender in May 1945, another 1 - 2 million died from disease, starvation, the cold, etc."
"That was in an area where the Allies had a far greater ability to bring in food, medicines, etc for the civilian populace and POWs. In Japan, we would not have had anything like that logistical footprint to work with."
"Severely slashed food intake combined with the onset of Japan's winter months .... you are talking nationwide famine on a historic level."
- Rogue1371
"At the time, half of Japan's military leaders were in favor of surrender, while half were against it."
"But even the surrender group was split between the 'surrender now for best terms' camp and the 'make the war as bloody as possible to force the US into more favorable terms' camp."
"And the anti surrender camp was so strong that there was a battle fought to keep the emperor's decoration of surrender from being broadcast."
"So the question of whether or not the bomb were needed is a question historians will be debating for centuries."
- PiLamdOd
GiphyPlastics
"I'm very interested to see what todays world would look like if plastic wasn't invented."
- llama606
"The medical world would suffer, I think. Most everything else would be able to cope."
- PG67AW
"I don't know. We started using plastic in all of our vehicles in the 1940s. Cars would be completely different."
"And every computer part ever made needs it - so that's two really huge parts of the world just obliterated right there."
"This would also mean no trash bags, no plastic grocery bags, no scuba gear, no space craft, no fire extinguishers, no air conditioning, no microwaves. Humanity would've persisted but wow it'd be a mess."
"But hot damn it would've been good for the planet."
- origional_esseven
"Nah, all those plastic pieces would be replaced by some sort of metal equivalent or glass if it needs to be clear."
"Flexible plastics would be replaced by rubbers"
"Plastic is literally just a cheaper and easier-to-make alternative to already viable and more recyclable materials. Greed is why we use it."
- musicalrssnroulette
GiphyThis Punderful Thread
"The wheel"
- azmetrex
"Some men just don't want to watch the world turn.'
- LongFeesh
"Someone would just reinvent it."
- toKenblaKKman
"This would have devastating consequences."
"I mean, without the wheel, what would Jesus take?"
- Ekaj__
GiphyThe Smaller Ones
"Cigarettes"
- corgiheavenlavender
"Early tobacco manufacturers, selling cigars and pipe tobacco:"
" 'He wants us to stop selling the smaller ones? Hokay man, whatever you say!' "
- CAustin3
"Only difference is there would be more pipes and cigars. People have smoked tobacco since around 4000 B.C."
- DontUpvoteNotWorth
"There's an ungodly amount of boutique and other fine cigars."
"Without the smaller cigarettes, you wouldn't have had the Affordable ads that addicted the world."
"Cigars remain a luxury good instead."
- Helphaer
GiphyGender Reveal Crossbows
"Gunpowder. I wanna be able to carry a saber everywhere."
- Specialist-Ad475
"Then how are we going to kill everyone at a gender reveal?"
- TackYouCack
"Gender reveal crossbows"
- Youpunyhumans
"I came here to say this. Imagine what the world would be like without gunpowder."
"European countries wouldn't have colonized everything and many countries would have been allowed to advance and use their own resources as they see fit or at least have a chance to protect their homes."
- all-boxed-up
"You can have the guns but I want my fireworks!!"
- inval1d_name
GiphyThomas
"Thomas Midgely adding lead in gasoline. One of the single worst ideas ever."
"Lead is extremely poisonous. I’m sure you’ve heard of lead poisoning."
"And it stays around a very long time. Everything- and I I mean everything - has dangerous amounts of lead in it."
"The grass, water, food you eat, even your body has at least 50 times the natural amount of lead because for 60 years every car on the planet spewed lead out of it’s tail pipe until it was discovered that it is killing millions across the world."
"Lead made engines run a bit more smoothly. That’s why it was put in to petrol in the first place."
"But nobody would admit to how dangerous it was until the 1970’s. The lead is still here to stay though."
- cjheaford
"That guy went on to invent CFCs for an encore, and punched a hole in the ozone layer."
- Tariovic
"Yeah lead poisoning is related to developmental and learning disorders as well mood disorders."
"The affects of lead poisoning on society and on discourse in society is rarely talked about."
- Ser_Dunk_the_tall
"Adding this guy onto my to-kill-list when I get a time machine."
- Parano78
"Not sure you could do a better job killing him than he did of killing himself."
"After being left with severe disabilities after contracting polio, he devised a pulley and rope system to get himself out of bed. One day he got entangled in the ropes and was strangled to death."
- Tariovic
GiphyPunishment From A Greek God
"Those impossible to open plastic things that holds in stuff"
- differentiatedpans
"Scissors in the clamshell packaging seems like a punishment a Greek god would dole out."
- MyKarmaHitMyDogma
"I've got scissors specially designed to open clamshell packaging...... that came in clamshell packaging!"
- KriegerClone02
"I don't understand why band saw manufacturers don't cash in on that market."
- hitmannumber862
GiphyWe're Not Cars
"Cars."
"Our cities are ridiculously car-centric and not made for a human being. But guys, here me out :"
"We are not cars! We are humans and we made an environment suited for something else entirely!"
- Commercial_One_4594·
"100% agree."
"Humans have been caged to sidewalks which are too narrow to walk side by side, left crumbling, and often vulnerable to 2 ton weapons that can end your life in an instance while letting the careless driver more times than not to walk free."
"Also 75% of the urban fabric in cities are dedicated to cars and their storage and everyone is just okay with the waste of space and the lack of sensible design and potential to house people where those asphalt deserts lay!"
"It's absolutely maddening."
- SwimmerNos
GiphyMass Communication
"Movable type is the answer. Nothing else would have remotely as big an impact if you wanted to change world history."
"The first form of mass communication allowing thousands of minds to consider the same problem with the same information and distribute each of their answers to everybody else... how to dig mines, how to build bridges, how to improve crop yeilds, which metal treatments and alloys worked better."
"And also how to build warships carrying guns, how to train troops to use guns, which gun designs worked best, new ways to make guns."
"Gutenberg's invention of the BUSINESS of printing allowed/caused one section of the world to not only re-work every aspect of it's own society but to conquer the entire rest of the world."
"Every single aspect of our world is a consequence of this and we are all members of the resulting civilization -- Published Civilization."
"We're going through another similar, though not quite as profound transformation currently."
"Ever since Gutenberg, mass communication has required resources like patrons, publishers, etc. and consequently those roles created gatekeepers. Smartphones and social media have allowed ANYONE to say ANYTHING and reach a world audience with zero resources."
"There were always 'flat-earthers' but when their mass communications were the mimeo machine prints they could run themselves and convince people to read, they remained insignificant."
"Now the one-in-a-million are all talking to each other and consequently there are thousands of them able to organize.
"People need to remember that Gutenberg also gave Europe 500 years of bloody religious war."
- Oknight
GiphyIt's your turn, fam.
What's an invention you think might have changed the whole game?
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