10 Human Mistakes That Made the World Stand Still

WatchMojo

These infamous human errors cost the world dearly. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most consequential mistakes in history.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most consequential

00:09mistakes in history.

00:11Even 20 minutes after the disaster, the controllers in the tower still have no idea how serious

00:17things are.

00:19Number 10, the 2024 CrowdStrike incident.

00:23It's hit transport with air passengers and their luggage having to be manually processed,

00:27delaying flights, trains have also been affected.

00:30Before July 19th, 2024, few people had ever heard of CrowdStrike.

00:34It's amazing how much damage just one day can do.

00:38CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company based out of Austin, Texas, that caused about $10

00:43billion in damage on the morning of July 19th.

00:46CrowdStrike made an update to its Falcon sensor software, but a bug caused the software to

00:51crash.

00:52Officials in Europe were already getting a grasp on how bad the issue was.

00:56Germany's cybersecurity chief warned people it would be a long day.

01:01Systems running Microsoft Windows crashed, resulting in the largest outage in world history.

01:06The results were devastating and disrupted nearly all aspects of daily life, upending

01:11banks, hospitals, air transport and retail.

01:14It just goes to show how fragile our tech-heavy existence truly is.

01:19Ambulance services across the country have reported a surge in demand as a result.

01:24But if you have an urgent problem, you should contact your own GP surgery, either in person

01:30or by telephone.

01:31Number 9.

01:32Pickets charge.

01:39Confederate General Robert E. Lee made the biggest mistake of his life on July 3rd, 1863,

01:45when he ordered his troops to charge on Cemetery Ridge.

01:48There were several flaws in Lee's plan.

01:50Union General George G. Meade had anticipated Lee's attack on the center of his lines rather

01:56than the flanks, and concentrated his defenses there.

02:08The charge exposed Confederate soldiers to heavy artillery and rifle fire, and the army

02:13suffered catastrophic casualties.

02:15It effectively crippled the Confederate forces at Gettysburg, and forced Lee to abandon the

02:20battle and retreat from the north.

02:22With this one simple change, the tide of the American Civil War permanently shifted, all

02:27to the detriment of Lee and his forces.

02:37Number 8.

02:38The Cedar Fire.

02:40It's gigantic.

02:41You never imagine it's as big as that, until it happens.

02:46Imagine accidentally starting a fire that burns over 270,000 acres of land and kills

02:5215 people.

02:53The guilt would be unimaginable.

02:55Sergio Martinez was a novice hunter who got lost in the Kayamaka Mountains of Southern

02:59California in October 2003, and started a fire to signal potential rescuers.

03:05Afraid he was going to die in the wilderness, he finally said,

03:09I'm going to signal fire, which got out of control.

03:12But the flames quickly spread to the nearby Chaparral, and he lost control of the fire.

03:17The low humidity and Santa Ana winds exacerbated the destruction, and the fire burned through

03:22273,000 acres of San Diego County.

03:26Nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed, and 15 people lost their lives.

03:31Martinez was given five years probation and 960 hours of community service.

03:36If you take a look down Fairbrook here, Fairbrook Place, this is just something you'd probably

03:41see in a movie.

03:42That's the only way to describe it.

03:44Number 7.

03:45Germany invades Russia.

03:46In the summer of 1941, Hitler orders a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, catching his

03:54ally completely off guard.

03:57Back in 1812, Napoleon tried invading Russia.

04:00It didn't work.

04:01Like, it really didn't work.

04:03Over 100 years later, Hitler made the same mistake, and to equally devastating results.

04:08The entire world watched with bated breath as Nazi Germany invaded Russia in Operation

04:13Barbarossa.

04:14Join your German comrades.

04:15They understand your suffering and will care more for you than your own officers.

04:22It was a catastrophic military blunder, owing mainly to insurmountable Soviet strength,

04:27the vastness of the territory, and the brutal winter conditions that crippled German forces.

04:33Despite having the largest invasion force in the history of warfare, Operation Barbarossa

04:37was a monumental failure.

04:39The Soviets successfully repelled the Germans, leading to massive casualties and ultimately

04:44turning the tide of World War II, and for that matter, the entire 20th century.

04:49If Hitler wants a war, Stalin will give him one.

04:54Number 6.

04:55The Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

04:57126 people were on board at the time of the explosion.

05:02A multitude of factors went into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.

05:08A central mistake was the failure to correctly respond to the signs of impending disaster.

05:14Pressure tests indicated that the well was not properly sealed, but the readings were

05:18misinterpreted.

05:26This error was compounded by a rush to complete the drilling operation, driven largely by

05:31cost-cutting pressures, leading to the decision to proceed with the operation despite warning

05:37signs.

05:38The sequence of failures ultimately triggered the calamitous explosion that killed 11 people

05:43and sent 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

05:53Number 5.

05:54The Exxon Valdez oil spill.

06:01Before Deepwater Horizon, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest in American history,

06:06dumping more than 10 million gallons into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

06:10But this accident was far less complex, and is attributed almost entirely to human error.

06:16Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the tanker ran aground on Bly Reef, puncturing

06:22eight of its 11 cargo holds.

06:28At the time, Captain Joe Hazelwood was below decks, sleeping off, quote, two or three vodkas

06:34he had consumed earlier.

06:36Furthermore, the crew was overworked and exhausted, contributing to third mate Gregory Cousins

06:41driving the vessel into the reef.

06:43Part of the blame also reportedly lay on the Exxon shipping company for failing to maintain

06:48the ship's collision-avoidance system.

06:56Number 4.

06:57The Carrife Airport disaster.

07:05This disaster on Spain's Canary Islands in March 1977 remains the deadliest accident

07:10in aviation history, costing 583 lives.

07:14Los Rodeos Airport was congested due to a bomb explosion at Gran Canaria.

07:19Exacerbating this was a dense fog rolling into the airport.

07:23KLM Flight 4805 took off in the fog and crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736, which was still taxiing

07:31on the runway.

07:37An investigation found that the accident resulted from critical miscommunication between KLM

07:43Captain Jacob Veldhuysen-Van Zanten and air traffic control.

07:47Ambiguous and non-standard wording led Veldhuysen-Van Zanten to commence takeoff without proper

07:53clearance, resulting in the tragic collision.

08:07Number 3.

08:08Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

08:10As recorded on E-207 and E-204, the first visual indication that the anomalous plume

08:15penetrated the external tank was seen at 64.66 seconds as an abrupt change in the shape

08:21and color of the plume.

08:23Roughly 40 million people tuned in to watch NASA's Challenger launch into space in 1986.

08:28Unfortunately, the launch was plagued by freezing temperatures.

08:32Engineers were worried that the cold could compromise the integrity of the O-ring seals

08:36in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.

08:38The cold made the rubber less resilient, leading to a weakened seal which could allow hot gas

08:44to escape the booster.

08:57Engineers at SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol recommended against launching, but after internal

09:02discussion, management gave the go-ahead.

09:05Challenger launched, and the O-ring failed just as predicted, causing the shuttle to

09:09break apart and killing all seven crew members.

09:23Number 2.

09:24The sinking of the Titanic.

09:36Numerous factors went into the sinking of the Titanic.

09:38The crew were warned of icebergs in the vicinity several times that fateful day on April 14,

09:441912, but these warnings were largely ignored.

09:46Not only that, but the Titanic was traveling at a reckless speed of 22.5 knots through

09:52the area, relying solely on the crow's nest to spot impending obstacles.

10:02This was done mainly to bolster public image, as Atlantic liners had a reputation for being

10:07fast and on time.

10:08As a result, ships often travelled at full speed and treated warnings as mere advisories.

10:14But in this case, the iceberg was spotted too late, and the ship was going too fast

10:19to avoid it.

10:20Roughly 1,500 people lost their lives.

10:50Number 1.

10:51The Chernobyl disaster.

10:58As anyone who watched the masterful HBO show would know, Chernobyl was an accident waiting

11:03to happen.

11:04And happen it did, on the morning of April 26, 1986.

11:08The nuclear plant was, ironically, running a safety test and pushing the reactor to its

11:12limits.

11:13Unfortunately, operator errors and inadequate safety protocols caused a catastrophic surge

11:19in power inside of the reactor.

11:27This, combined with cheap building materials, led to a massive steam explosion, which ruptured

11:32the reactor vessel and released a substantial amount of radiation into the atmosphere.

11:37The disaster cost untold lives, damaged the surrounding area, and cost hundreds of billions

11:43of dollars, making it the costliest disaster in human history.

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