For the most part, history concerns itself with victories and good decisions; there’s a reason for the saying, “History is written by the victor.” But in many cases, the mistakes are just as crucial a part of a story as the right choices are, and sometimes the mistakes are an interesting story all on their own...
10. George Bell (CEO of Excite) rejected the offer to buy Google — twice
9. Heinrich Schliemann finds Troy, but destroys it
8. A wrong turn put Franz Ferdinand in the right place to start WWI
7. Cost-cutting, broken radar caused the Exxon Valdez oil spill
6. Constantinople fell due to one gate left open
5. The Austrian army attacked itself and killed 10,000
4. Weak weather forecasting left the Germans wide open for D-Day
3. Mao Zedong’s agricultural mistakes led to the Great Chinese Famine
2. A few pairs of binoculars might have saved the Titanic
1. A mistranslation helped to bring about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings