Although we often think about the victories and triumphs when remembering history, society was also built on failures and mistakes; unfortunate events that changed everything in unexpected ways.
Behind all of history's plans there’s a risk of things going very wrong. In these cases that’s exactly what happened.
These moments serve as proof that history was written in chaos and that even great leaders make mistakes.
1
The Bay of Pigs invasion (1961)
A botched U.S. attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro turned into a embarrassment that actually did the opposite.
2
The Mars climate orbiter (1999)
A very expensive spacecraft was lost after engineers mixed up metric and imperial units.
3
The Deepwater Horizon spill (2010)
The largest marine oil spill in history, after a rig exploded.
4
Blockbuster - Netflix
Blockbuster turned down a chance to buy Netflix, now it's extinct.
5
Chernobyl meltdown (1986)
A reactor test gone wrong in Ukraine triggered the worst nuclear disaster in history.
6
The Edsel launch (1957)
Ford's new car ended up being a marketing and design disaster, costing a lot of money.
7
Napoleon’s Russian invasion (1812)
Napoleon’s grand campaign collapsed after logistical failures and a brutal winter, marking the start of his downfall.
8
The Hindenburg disaster (1937)
The future of luxury travel went up in flames upon docking, marking the end of an era overnight.
9
The Scilly naval disaster (1707)
A simple navigational error wrecked four Royal Navy ships and killed thousands of sailors.
10
The Challenger explosion (1986)
NASA's space shuttle disintegrated seconds after liftoff, a preventable failure.
11
The Great Leap Forward
In the tries of industrializing China, the plan backfired and led to widespread famine.
12
Fyre Festival (2017)
Marketed as a luxury experience, actual chaos, old tents, no food and humiliation.
13
The Decca Records rejection of the Beatles (1962)
Label executives infamously claimed “guitar groups are on the way out.” They proved them wrong later.
14
The fall of the Roman Empire
The archetype of systemic failure. Centuries of decay ended in the fall of the world's biggest empire.
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
