No matter how bad you think you messed things up at work you can always take heart in the fact that in 1788 the Austrian army attacked itself and killed 10,000 of its own men. These are the 25 biggest and most embarrassing mistakes ever made.
25
NASA accidentally taping over the moonlanding. In fact, there are no known original recordings of the event.
24
It took 177 years to build the Tower of Pisa and only 10 years for it to start leaning
23
Not having enough life boats on the Titanic because it was "unsinkable"
22
Decca Records turning down the Beatles because they weren't sellable. Enter EMI.
21
NASA loses a Mars orbiter because part of the team used metric units and the other half used English.
20
Napoleon thinking he could invade Russia in winter
19
Hitler thinking he could do any better than Napoleon
18
The Persians sending Genghis Khan's ambassador back to Genghis Khan without a head and bringing the wrath of Mongolia down on themselves
17
The Dutch discovering Australia 100 years before the British but ignoring it because they thought it was a useless desert
16
Russia selling Alaska to the US for 2 cents an acre because they thought it was a useless tundra
15
Inca ruler Atahualpa agreeing to meet Conquistador Fransisco Pizarro during which 200 Spanish horseman ambushed and defeated 80,000 Inca warriors
14
Although no one is sure whether or not the Trojan Horse actually existed, if it did, it was worthy of this list
13
Filling the Hindenburg with hydrogen
12
Somebody leaving a gate open and allowing the Turks to sack Constantinople in 1453
11
14th century China abandoning its navy and pursuing a policy of isolationism. It arguably could have been much more influential than any European power.
10
Archduke Franz Ferdinand's driver making a wrong turn that led right to the feet of his assassin, Gavrilo Princip. Two World Wars that could have been at least postponed by a Garmin.
9
The Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor when not a single US aircraft carrier was in port
8
Faulty construction leading to the meltdown of the Chernobyl Reactor, the consequences of which are still being counted to this day
7
The 12 book publishers that rejected Harry Potter
6
Alexander the Great not naming an heir which led directly to the fall of his empire
5
Not giving Hannibal siege equipment, which lead to Hannibal basically ignoring Rome, which led to Rome basically destroying Hannibal
4
Although nobody knows who was responsible, the burning of the library of Alexandria was potentially the world's single greatest loss of knowledge ever
3
Thinking that the West Indies was Southeast Asia
2
Assassinating Caesar in order to save the Republic and not realizing that the assassination would all but ensure its demise
1
In 1788 the Austrian army accidentally attacked itself and lost 10,000 men
