- 7 months ago
Some mistakes are too big to ignore.
Welcome to WatchMojo.WORLD where we’re counting down the 10 most shocking human errors that brought the world to a standstill. From historical blunders to modern disasters, these mistakes had consequences that shook nations and changed history.
Which of these mistakes do you think had the biggest impact? Let us know in the comments.
Welcome to WatchMojo.WORLD where we’re counting down the 10 most shocking human errors that brought the world to a standstill. From historical blunders to modern disasters, these mistakes had consequences that shook nations and changed history.
Which of these mistakes do you think had the biggest impact? Let us know in the comments.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most
00:08consequential mistakes in history. Even 20 minutes after the disaster the
00:13controllers in the tower still have no idea how serious things are. Number 10
00:19the 2024 crowd strike incident. It's hit transport with air passengers and their
00:25luggage having to be manually processed delaying flights trains have also been
00:29affected. Before July 19th 2024 few people had ever heard of crowd strike it's
00:34amazing how much damage just one day can do. Crowd strike is a cyber security
00:39company based out of Austin Texas that caused about 10 billion dollars in
00:43damage on the morning of July 19th. Crowd strike made an update to its Falcon
00:48sensor software but a bug caused the software to crash. Officials in Europe were
00:53already getting a grasp on how bad the issue was. Germany's cyber security chief
00:58warned people it would be a long day. Systems running Microsoft Windows
01:02crashed resulting in the largest outage in world history. The results were
01:07devastating and disrupted nearly all aspects of daily life upending banks
01:12hospitals air transport and retail. It just goes to show how fragile our tech
01:17heavy existence truly is. Ambulance services across the country have reported a
01:22surge in demand as a result. If you have an urgent problem you should contact your
01:27own GP surgery either in person or by telephone. Number 9 Pickett's Charge
01:33March!
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. There were several flaws in
01:49Lee's plan. Union General George G. Meade had anticipated Lee's attack on the
01:54center of his lines rather than the flanks and concentrated his defenses there.
01:59Now Pickett gave the order. Up men and to your posts. Don't forget today that you are from
02:07old Virginia. The charge exposed Confederate soldiers to heavy artillery and rifle fire
02:12and the army suffered catastrophic casualties. It effectively crippled the Confederate forces at
02:18Gettysburg and forced Lee to abandon the battle and retreat from the north. With this one simple
02:23change the tide of the American Civil War permanently shifted. All to the detriment of Lee and his forces.
02:29What's happening? I can't see. What's happening to my boys? What's happening to my boys?
02:37Number 8 The Cedar Fire. It's gigantic. You never imagine it's as big as that until it happens.
02:45Imagine accidentally starting a fire that burns over 270,000 acres of land and kills 15 people.
02:53The guilt would be unimaginable. Sergio Martinez was a novice hunter who got lost in the Cuyamaca
02:58Mountains of Southern California in October 2003, and started a fire to signal potential rescuers.
03:05Afraid he was going to die in the wilderness, he finally set a signal fire which got out of control.
03:11But the flames quickly spread to the nearby Chaparral, and he lost control of the fire. The low humidity
03:18and Santa Ana winds exacerbated the destruction, and the fire burned through 273,000 acres of San Diego
03:25County. Nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed, and 15 people lost their lives. Martinez was given
03:32five years probation and 960 hours of community service. If you take a look down Fairbrook here,
03:38Fairbrook Place, this is just something you probably see in a movie. That's the only way to describe it.
03:44Number 7. Germany invades Russia. In the summer of 1941, Hitler orders a surprise invasion of the
03:52Soviet Union, catching his ally completely off guard. Back in 1812, Napoleon tried invading Russia.
04:00It didn't work. Like, it really didn't work. Over 100 years later, Hitler made the same mistake,
04:05and to equally devastating results. The entire world watched with bated breath as Nazi Germany
04:11invaded Russia in Operation Barbarossa. It was a catastrophic military blunder, owing mainly
04:25to insurmountable Soviet strength, the vastness of the territory, and the brutal winter conditions
04:30that crippled German forces. Despite having the largest invasion force in the history of warfare,
04:36Operation Barbarossa was a monumental failure. The Soviets successfully repelled the Germans,
04:41leading to massive casualties, and ultimately turning the tide of World War II, and for that
04:46matter, the entire 20th century. If Hitler wants a war, Stalin will give him one.
04:54Number 6. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
04:57126 people were on board at the time of the explosion. Some jumped more than 75 feet into the ocean.
05:04A multitude of factors went into the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill. A central mistake
05:09was the failure to correctly respond to the signs of impending disaster. Pressure tests indicated that
05:15the well was not properly sealed, but the readings were misinterpreted.
05:26This error was compounded by a rush to complete the drilling operation,
05:30driven largely by cost-cutting pressures, leading to the decision to proceed with the operation despite
05:36warning signs. The sequence of failures ultimately triggered the calamitous explosion that killed 11
05:42people, and sent 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
05:47Meanwhile, live cameras on the ocean floor show the ferocity of the ongoing leak.
05:53Number 5. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.
05:56They were completely overwhelmed. Coast Guard didn't quite know what to do.
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. But this accident was far
06:11less complex, and is attributed almost entirely to human error. Shortly after midnight on March 24th,
06:181989, the tanker ran aground on Bly Reef, puncturing eight of its 11 cargo holds.
06:28At the time, Captain Joe Hazelwood was below decks, sleeping off, quote,
06:33two or three vodkas he had consumed earlier. Furthermore, the crew was overworked and exhausted,
06:39contributing to third mate Gregory Cousins driving the vessel into the reef. Part of the blame also
06:44reportedly lay on the Exxon Shipping Company for failing to maintain the ship's collision avoidance
06:50system. Number 4. The Tenerife Airport Disaster. Look at it out there, this cloud just rolled right
07:01onto us. I don't think anybody has the minimums now. This disaster on Spain's Canary Islands in March
07:071977 remains the deadliest accident in aviation history, costing 583 lives. Los Rodios Airport
07:15was congested due to a bomb explosion at Gran Canaria. Exacerbating this was a dense fog rolling
07:21into the airport. KLM Flight 4805 took off in the fog, and crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736,
07:30which was still taxiing on the runway. It feels great to be alive. I'd be lying if I said anything
07:36else. An investigation found that the accident resulted from critical miscommunication between
07:42KLM Captain Jacob Veldhuysen van Zanten and air traffic control. Ambiguous and non-standard wording
07:50led Veldhuysen van Zanten to commence takeoff without proper clearance, resulting in the tragic collision.
07:56When I got out on the ground, I could hear people screaming and yelling and all. Within about five
08:01minutes, you heard absolutely nothing. There was no noise at all. Number 3. Space Shuttle Challenger
08:09Disaster. As 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 and color of the
08:22plume. Roughly 40 million people tuned in to watch NASA's Challenger launch into space in 1986.
08:28Unfortunately, the launch was plagued by freezing temperatures. Engineers were worried that the cold
08:33could compromise the integrity of the o-ring seals in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters. The cold
08:39made the rubber less resilient, leading to a weakened seal which could allow hot gas to escape the booster.
08:45We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded. The flight director
08:50confirms that. We are looking at checking with the recovery forces to see what can be done at this
08:55point. Engineers at SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol recommended against launching, but after internal
09:02discussion, management gave the go-ahead. Challenger launched and the o-ring failed just as predicted,
09:08causing the shuttle to break apart and killing all seven crew members.
09:12My job began just at the time that this tragic accident occurred and I was not permitted
09:20to have emotional feelings about it. Number two, the sinking of the Titanic.
09:33What did you see? Iceberg, get ahead, sir. Numerous factors went into the sinking of the Titanic. The
09:38crew were warned of icebergs in the vicinity several times that fateful day, on April 14th, 1912, but
09:44these warnings were largely ignored. Not only that, but the Titanic was travelling at a reckless speed
09:50of 22.5 knots through the area, relying solely on the crow's nest to spot impending obstacles.
09:56This was done mainly to bolster public image, as Atlantic liners had a reputation for being fast
10:07and on time. As 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 to avoid it. Roughly
10:201500 people lost their lives.
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10:461. The Chernobyl Disaster
10:51At long last we have arrived. 12345 explosion.
10:58As anyone who watched the masterful HBO show would know, Chernobyl was an accident waiting to happen.
11:04And happen it did, on the morning of April 26th, 1986. The nuclear plant was, ironically,
11:10running a safety test and pushing the reactor to its limits. Unfortunately, operator errors and
11:15inadequate safety protocols caused a catastrophic surge in power inside of the reactor.
11:27This, combined with cheap building materials, led to a massive steam explosion, which ruptured the
11:32reactor vessel and released a substantial amount of radiation into the atmosphere. The disaster cost
11:38untold lives, damaged the surrounding area, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, making it the
11:44costliest disaster in human history. Do you remember where you were when you heard about these? Let us
12:01know in the comments below. Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and
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