21 Colossal Mistakes That Became a Lesson (22 photos)

Mistakes don't matter. That's how we often console ourselves. But some of them have a huge impact. Every now and then, someone makes a blunder so spectacular that it changes the course of history. The consequences can be catastrophic, but sometimes they lead to significant improvements in the world.





1. Mao's Great Leap Forward



The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign launched between 1958 and 1962 by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party of China. People's communes were created to support urban industrialization and increase grain production. However, the quotas that Mao set for the peasants turned out to be too high, and people did not have enough food. According to official data alone, about 15 million people died. Historians call this period the Great Chinese Famine.

2. Fox transferred the rights to Star Wars to George Lucas





After the success of American Graffiti, George Lucas wrote a space saga that later became known as Star Wars. At first, Lucas tried to negotiate with Universal, but the studio refused. Only Fox agreed to take on the production and distribution of the film. Lucas insisted on merchandising rights and control over sequels in the contract, and the studio obliged. When Star Wars was released, it became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, earning its creator millions.

3. NASA Ignored Challenger Failure Warnings



The Space Shuttle Challenger was launched by NASA in 1986. 73 seconds into the flight, an external fuel tank exploded, tragically killing all seven crew members. The space agency's leaders knew about the solid rocket boosters' defects, and they ignored designers' warnings about the dangers of launching the ship in cold conditions.

4. The 2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq



The U.S. invasion of Iraq sparked an eight-year war that eventually led to the formation of ISIS. Americans were divided in their opinions: some were against the fighting, others were for it. George W. Bush's attempt to fight terrorism led to the opposite results.

5. Tax Exemption for the Church



The Roman Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, allowing Christians to practice their religion freely. Christian churches were also granted tax breaks. This practice quickly spread and became common in Western civilizations for many years.

6. Selling Alaska



In 1867, Russia ceded Alaska to the United States in a deal that surprised many. Soon after the sale, Alaska was discovered to be rich in resources such as oil, gas, and gold.

7. Alexander Fleming's Accidental Discovery of Penicillin



In 1928, after returning from vacation, Alexander Fleming began to tidy up the laboratory and clean Petri dishes with staphylococci. He came across one of them, in which a type of mold had grown that destroyed all the bacteria. This mold turned out to be a rare strain of Penicillium notatum. The microbiologist managed to isolate the active substance - penicillin.

8. A Hasty Declaration Caused the Fall of the Berlin Wall



On November 9, 1989, Politburo member Günter Schabowski unwittingly contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. At an international press conference, an Italian journalist asked Schabowski when the new rules for citizens traveling abroad would come into effect. The official, checking his notes, replied: "Immediately." The population of East Berlin poured through the checkpoints to the West. The border guards had no choice but to let people through.

9. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident



The destruction of the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of the most devastating nuclear disasters in history, with an estimated cost of over $700 billion. Misunderstanding and failure to comply with safety measures led to catastrophic consequences. Almost 8.4 million residents of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were exposed to radiation.

10. Black Sabbath guitarist lost his fingertips



At the age of 17, Tony Iommi, the legendary guitarist of Black Sabbath, lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand. This happened while working as a welder at a steel mill. Tony decided to continue playing the guitar and made thimbles to protect his fingers. These devices helped him press the strings harder, creating a more powerful sound. The musician began to develop his own method of extracting chords and laid the foundation for a new genre - heavy metal.

11. Typo



In 2005, the Japanese government harshly criticized the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A trader at Mizuho Securities received an order to sell shares at 610 thousand Japanese yen apiece, but he put 610 thousand shares up for sale at 1 yen. This error cost $200 million.

12. Piper Alpha Fire



On July 6, 1988, a miscommunication between shift workers on the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha resulted in the deaths of 167 people. The night shift workers were not informed that a pump had been damaged earlier in the day and subsequently pumped gas into it. The pump failed to withstand the pressure, causing it to explode. The total insured loss was approximately $3.4 billion.

13. The Loss of the Library of Alexandria



The Library of Alexandria in Egypt contained over 40,000 papyrus scrolls and was considered one of the largest libraries in the ancient world. In 48 BC, it burned down in a fire. The fire destroyed all the works stored there, including the works of Socrates and Homer. The cause of the disaster remains a mystery. Some historians believe that Julius Caesar set the city on fire during the war.

14. Static electricity buildup caused the Hindenburg to crash



15. Units error



In 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter probe was launched to study the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere and photograph its surface. The device passed over the surface of the Red Planet at an altitude of 57 km instead of the calculated 110 km and disintegrated in the atmosphere. The deviation was caused by a software error: NASA's jet propulsion engineers were using the metric system (meters and kilograms), while the team at contractor Lockheed Martin was using the imperial system (pounds and inches).

16. Changes in the route of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's motorcade



On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo at the invitation of General Oskar Potiorek. After the first assassination attempt, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary ordered a change in the itinerary of the visit. He decided to visit the people injured in the explosion in the hospital and take a roundabout route, bypassing the city center. Potiorek forgot to warn the driver, who turned back into the city center. When the mistake was noticed, the car stopped in a narrow alley. At that moment, a conspirator ran up and shot Ferdinand and his wife. This murder is believed to have triggered World War I.

17. Translation Error



The bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 is believed to have been caused by a translation error. The Allied forces presented Japan with an ultimatum to surrender and end World War II. Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki responded with "mokusatsu," meaning "no comment." The word also has another meaning: "ignore." The Americans were not satisfied with this answer.

18. Columbus missed Asia



Christopher Columbus, a Spanish navigator, dreamed of finding a route from Europe to Asia. He sailed west and accidentally discovered America, mistaking it for India. Although Columbus never reached Asia, his discovery marked the beginning of large-scale European exploration.

19. Japan Ignored Pearl Harbor's Fuel Tanks, Repair Yards, and Aircraft Carriers



On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft and submarines attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor. Japan concentrated its fire primarily on battleships, ignoring repair yards, fuel depots, and aircraft carriers. After the attack, the United States devoted resources to repairing damaged ships. As tensions mounted, they used carriers and submarines to bolster their naval superiority.

20. Someone Forgot to Lock the Gates of Constantinople



In 1453, the Ottoman Empire stormed Constantinople for 53 days with an army of 80,000 men. The Byzantine defense consisted of about 5,000 soldiers, which allowed the Ottoman Empire to easily defeat them. It is said that the unlocked gates in the city walls made it easier for the Ottoman invaders to enter the city.

21. The Titanic Didn't Have Binoculars



In 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank. The tragedy took the lives of more than 1,500 people. Before sailing, the assistant captain David Blair was transferred to another position. And he left the ship with the key to the safe where the binoculars were kept. This is probably why Captain Edward John Smith was unable to notice the iceberg in time.