Two of History's Worst Mistakes

If you're one of my ex-girlfriends then you already have a very biased selection for this week's Top 3. However, I was only a mistake to my parents, so this post with discuss history's worst fuck ups.

Let's face it, History, in a sense, is a written account of all the mistakes we've ever made. Hence the quote, "Those who don't learn history (or read related blogs about it) are condemned to repeat it. So read the following mistakes and please, don't try to repeat these at home.

The Mars Metric Mistake

In 1999, NASA, which stood for "Not Actually Safe Anymore" back then apparently, made one of the biggest mistakes in it's history. The team that built the Mars Orbiter (pictured above) did half the calculations in the metric system and the other half in the English measurement system. This caused the 125 million dollar project to go careening off into the abyss of space like a metaphor for humanity.

A written statement by NASA following the event definitely cleared things up.

"People sometimes make errors," said Edward Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science in a written statement. 

Yes, this is true. Go on...

"The problem here was not the error, it was the failure of NASA's systems engineering, and the checks and balances in our processes to detect the error. That's why we lost the spacecraft."

I may be the layman over here but uh, the error seemed like a huge part of the problem to me. You can't blame the "checks and balances" for not working when they shouldn't have to be there in the first place. These are scientists at the highest level and they shouldn't be messing up on something as simple as unit conversion.

The Most Wrong Turn in All of History

Franz Ferdinand: A Suave Mario 

It's very important that people understand this story, and this blog does a great job of setting the scene.

"On the morning of 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo by 19-year-old assassin Gavrilo Princip. This launched a series of events that led to World War I, in which more than 16 million people died. This war led to economic calamity and helped bring about the Great Depression, a period that was especially bad in Germany, a nation which had the additional burden of paying war reparations to the winning powers.

"The financial hardship, coupled with the “humiliation of Versailles” (the treaty that Germany signed to end the war), led to the rise in German nationalism that helped a former lieutenant named Adolf Hitler come to power. Once again, war raged in Europe and around the world, this time with the death of 60 million people. This second world war ushered in the age of nuclear weapons and its end led directly to the Cold War, which consumed inconceivable amounts of money and almost pushed the world to the brink of nuclear devastation."

The Archduke's driver, Leopold Loyka, was driving the Duke and Duchess one day when he made a wrong turn. To correct this error, he slammed on the brakes causing the vehicle to stall out. With the engine smoking like a bad mother, Franz and his wife were sitting ducks.

Coincidently, Gavrilo Princip, the assassin, had given up on his assassination plan and was at a deli eating a sandwich, taking it out on himself that he had failed. He scanned the street ahead of him and tried to take his mind off of his failure. Until, a very familiar looking car turned the corner and broke down right in front of the deli.

Princip wiped the mustard from his handlebar mustache and shot three times at the car from five feet away. The first shot hit the Duke in the neck, causing his Duchess to cover him with her body which took the next bullet. The third one was supposed to kill the driver but it made a wrong turn.


Till next time!