75 Worst Decisions in History

#75: Thomas Austin Infesting Australia With Rabbits

You might not expect it, as they’re adorable, but rabbits are a highly invasive species in Australia. They destroy tons of crops every year, and were introduced sometime in the 18th century. Rabbits first arrived with the First Fleet in 1787, the first major Australian colonisation fleet. Things got out of hand in 1859, when settler Thomas Austin brought 24 rabbits to his property, so that they could have some fun shooting them. In 2022, a study confirmed that pretty much all of Australia’s rabbits came from Austin’s. It’s just one of many examples of outrageous ideas Victorians came up with before patting themselves on the back, as if they’d done some sort of excellent job.

#74: The Deepwater Horizon Spill

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded, killing 11 people and spilling tons of oil across the Gulf of Mexico. It’s considered the worst oil spill of all time, and hopefully it stays that way so long as those responsible learned their lesson. BP was found to be responsible by a judge in 2014, and they were made to pay $20.8 billion in fines. They were extremely negligent leading up to the explosion. For instance, they executed a “negative-pressure test”, which they decided went swimmingly, but as hindsight has shown, that was not at all the case.

#73: Battle of Adrianople

The Roman Empire split into two during its final centuries. While the Eastern Roman Empire wouldn’t fall until 1453, the Western Roman Emperor was deposed in 476. A lot of scholars believe the West’s decline began with the catastrophic Battle of Adrianople in 378. It was a strategic disaster for the Eastern army, who were decimated by Gothic rebels. Emperor Valens died along with approximately two-thirds of the Roman military. It was unique, as the Goths were fleeing Hunnic invasions, so they were seeking a permanent home, as opposed to loot. This set a terrifying precedent for the Romans, which led to a domino effect of them essentially playing whack-a-mole with foreign invasions, who sought to settle within the Empire as the Goths did.

#72: Thatcher's Worst Policies

Depending on who you’re talking to, ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is either the Iron Lady or the milk snatcher. The latter name comes from the fact that she abolished free milk in schools. One of her most inhumane laws was Section 28, which outlawed “promoting homosexuality” in schools. Keep in mind, she was in charge from 1979 until 1990, during the peak of the HIV/AIDs pandemic. Thatcher also decimated the British manufacturing industry, leading to major unemployment and strikes across the nation. Also, Thatcher supported Capital Punishment and went to war with Argentina. In the end, she introduced the Poll Tax, which was so controversial that she ended up losing control over the Tory party.

#71: Pushing Out the Ba'athists in Iraq

Between 1968 and 2003, Iraq was ruled by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. It ended with the American invasion in 2003. America decided to oust Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist government. Many government officials then went on to join a terrorist group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which became known as Al-Qaeda in 2004. After two years, they united with seven other groups to form the Islamic State of Iraq, better known as ISIS. While America sought to make Iraq democratic, many critics believed that banning an entire party was undemocratic. This led to the Islamic State’s invasion of Iraq in the 2010s, where they almost took over the entire region.

#70: Supreme Court Presidential Immunity Ruling

America is a country founded in opposition to rulers who wield absolute power. This means you would expect them to dislike the idea of presidential immunity. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and the President is now above the law. This led to Trump getting away with a whole bunch of illegal activities during his first presidency. In 2024, he became the first ex-president convicted of felony crimes; then, after the election, he became the first felon president. Many criticize the decision as turning America into a dictatorship, and now consider him the most powerful president in U.S. history.

#69: US & China Trade War

For decades, America has had an increasing trade deficit with China. In simple terms, this means America gives China more money than it gives back. This is because China manufactures far more products than America. To solve the issue, Donald Trump decided to introduce extortionate tariffs on all Chinese imports. Trump believes this will motivate a reindustrialisation of the United States. Many economists don’t believe tariffs are an effective way to achieve this. Turns out, the economists were correct, as America needs China more than China needs them. At least Trump never followed through with putting tariffs on literally every foreign country, which is basically self-sanctioning.

#68: The Fall of Dien Bien Phu

France first began invading Vietnam in 1858 and finished the conquest by 1885. This led to the formation of French Indochina, which existed until 1954. Japan invaded in World War II, then, after their surrender, Vietnam proclaimed independence, but France wasn’t having it. A lengthy war ensued, with France failing in 1954 at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. They chose a terrible position to defend, and underestimated the enemy forces. The French assumed they wouldn’t have any artillery, but they were proven wrong. This poor mistake, motivated by hubris, led to their loss of Indochina. It wasn’t a poor decision from Vietnam’s perspective, although afterwards things got far worse in Vietnam before they got better.

#67: The Alamo

The turning point for Texas in its 6-month revolution, beginning in 1835, was the Alamo. It’s since become mythologised by Texans, who consider it one of their finest moments. A major motivation for the revolution was to maintain legal slavery in Texas, which is often overlooked. In actuality, the Alamo was a major strategic miscalculation. It was defended by approximately 200 soldiers, who mostly perished fighting 2,000 Mexicans. They became martyrs afterwards, boosting morale for all Texans who fought against Mexico. Except for that, defending the Alamo provided no strategic advantage. Still, it was a major turning point, and Texas won the war in April 1836. Slavery then became fully legal again in Texas, and stayed that way until 1865.

#66: The FCC Repealing Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is the idea that all data should be treated equally. Without it, your internet service provider can choose what websites it wants you to see and how quickly they load. This means an ISP could take money from wealthy companies, and in return, they could make their websites load quickly. This means websites you enjoy could end up taking hours to load if they don’t cough up to your ISP. In 2017, the FCC made enemies out of the entire internet when it began repealing net neutrality protections. People have tried bringing net neutrality back, but as of 2025, it isn’t protected on a federal level.

#65: The Battle of Cannae

The Roman Republic’s greatest enemy was, hands down, Hannibal. The genius Carthaginian general rode across the Alps on elephants, then famously wreaked havoc upon Roman Italy for years. This was the Second Punic War, lasting from 218 to 201 BC. Rome made tons of mistakes, such as the Battle of Cannae. Hannibal fought an army almost twice as big as his, but as Rome soon learned, the only way they could beat Hannibal was not to fight him. Sources disagree on exact figures, but we know for certain the entire Roman army, roughly 80,000 strong, was either killed or captured, with only a few escapees. The Romans became too confident, falling for Hannibal’s trap, which encircled their entire army.

#64: Robespierre Killing Dissenters

As the name suggests, the Reign of Terror was one of the most violent periods of the French Revolution. It’s generally considered to have taken place from 1793 to 1794, until the end of Maximilien Robespierre. He was one of the most influential Jacobins during the Revolution and a major motivator behind the Reign of Terror. It was a period when the French Republic executed tons of political opponents, many without trial. Robespierre oversaw this bloodshed, but in July 1794, he was arrested after making a controversial speech to the National Convention. Robespierre announced he was going to execute internal conspirators, but wouldn’t name them. The convention responded by sending him to the guillotine, before he could do the same to them.

#63: The Boer Wars

Dutch settlers formed Boer republics in South Africa during the 19th century. This brought them into conflict with the British Empire, which fought them in two separate wars. The first was from 1880 until 1881, and the second was from 1899 until 1902. The latter was one of the earliest uses of concentration camps in warfare. Both are largely considered tactical blunders, as Britain sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers to overwhelm the relatively small Boer forces. Despite winning the second war, it came at a great cost of human life. Many argue it was the beginning of the end for the British Empire, which committed countless atrocities, all to loot South Africa of its natural resources.

#62: Battle of Carrhae

Next is yet another major defeat for the Roman Republic. This time, it happened near Carrhae, in present-day south-east Turkey. They were fighting against the Parthian Empire, an Iranian power that spread from Turkey to India. The Romans were being led by Crassus, who did a disastrous job at planning his invasion. This resulted in the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, where roughly 40,000 Romans were destroyed by a force which they outnumbered 4 to 1. Crassus was killed in the battle after they fell for the Parthians' trap, which led them into terrible terrain. Rome fought the Empire for 270 years in total, then continued to fight their successors in the region well into the Middle Ages.

#61: Sending Troops to Tiananmen Square

After the death of Mao, China underwent the New Enlightenment movement during the 80s. This culminated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, with hundreds of thousands of individuals calling for democracy in China. Things eventually got violent, prompting Deng Xiaoping’s government to send in the military, which massacred the protestors. The event is still massively censored in China, with the younger generation only really learning about it when they travel abroad. It’s unlikely that China will ever transition to a Western-style democracy in our lifetimes. It might surprise you to learn that a 2022 survey showed over 80% of Chinese people consider China a democracy.

#60: Swedish Invasion of Russia

If you’re not big on history, it might surprise you to learn that Sweden used to be one of Europe’s strongest nations. Their empire dominated the Baltic Sea during the 17th century. Their downfall came about when they decided to invade Russia in 1708. Russia is infamously difficult to invade, due to its size and harsh winters. The invasion started strongly, but the Russians used a scorched-earth strategy and retreated inland, letting the Great Frost of 1709 decimate the Swedes. Only 543 men followed King Charles XII out of Russia. It was part of the larger Great Northern War, waged from 1700 until 1721, which was a major loss for Sweden.

#59: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Death begets death begets more death is the sad takeaway from most historical wars. But, there are few clearer examples than that of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s demise. His assassination at the hands of Bosnian revolutionaries proved to be the match that ignited a powder keg of anger and vitriol between countries. It started as diplomatic machinations, which turned into military operations, and soon escalated into the full-on declaration of World War 1. The Bosnian assassins couldn’t have known that by killing one man, they were effectively dooming as many as 22 million people to the same fate.

#58: Operation Rolling Thunder

America came up with a variety of tactics to gain the upper hand during the Vietnam War. One of their worst tactics was Operation Rolling Thunder. As the name suggests, it consisted of carpet bombing the Vietnamese countryside. They hoped to destroy communist supply lines, but foliage became the main victim of the operation. Vietnamese forces used effective guerrilla tactics, such as underground shelters, which protected them from bombs. On top of this, they frequently recycled American bombs, then threw them straight back at them. This, as well as peace talks, led to it only being used from 1965 until 1968, after which it was then abandoned.

#57: The Munich Agreement

Appeasement was a policy cooked up by British Politicians in the 1930s, which they hoped would prevent Europe from breaking out into another war. With World War I still on everyone’s mind, they believed that letting Germany break a few terms of the Treaty of Versailles would help avoid it. This culminated in the Munich Agreement in 1938, which ceded a vast portion of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. Controversially, Czechoslovakia wasn’t even invited to the talks. As we now know, this didn’t prevent war; it only made it harder to win. Europe was understandably hesitant to declare war on Germany. If they had instead fought Hitler sooner, Germany would be weaker, and the war might have been less bloody, but we can’t say for certain.

#56: Faulty Equipment Causes Nuclear Accident

The most disastrous nuclear accident in American history happened on March 28th, 1979, at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility. It was caused by a handful of factors, relating to poor equipment and operators' mishandling of the reactor. This caused one reactor to partially melt down, releasing a worrying amount of radioactive waste into the surroundings. Thankfully, they believe no one was hurt in the accident. It also led to an improvement in safety standards, which sought to prevent the disaster from repeating. Almost 50 years later, there have been no nuclear disasters in America that come close to the scale of Three Mile Island.

#55: Balfour Declaration

The modern-day conflict between Palestine and Israel can be traced back to the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It was a pledge by Britain that aimed to create a “national home for the Jewish people”. They chose Palestine to be their home, ignoring the fact that Palestinians already lived there, which made it controversial. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was ruled by the British Empire from 1920 onwards. It was considered a betrayal after Britain had already promised they would recognize Arab independence in 1915, in exchange for helping fight the Ottomans. It was one of many examples of a colonialist European power dictating the fate of a non-European one, with effects that are still felt today.

#54: Refusing to Aid the Irish Famine

The population of Ireland peaked in 1841, when just over 8 million people called it home. From 1845 to 1852, the Great Famine caused one of the worst population declines in history. Around 1 million Irish died, and another 1 million fled to places such as America. It was caused by a potato blight, which ruined Ireland’s food supply. Their colonial overlords in the British Empire failed to help in any meaningful manner. They tried importing a small quantity of maize and cornmeal, then decided the market would naturally solve the famine. Some English officials, like Sir Charles Trevelyan, were so brutal that they believed the famine would be beneficial to them.

#53: The Bengal Famine

If you thought Britain would’ve learned from its mistakes after the Irish famine, think again. In 1943, colonial Bengal began suffering from one of the most savage famines in history. It was caused by a cyclone and World War II, but it was made far worse by Winston Churchill. The British prime minister was quoted as pinning the blame on the locals, who he said bred “like rabbits”. One of the primary reasons he barely helped was to deny Imperial Japan resources. Between 1942 and 45, Japan occupied modern-day Myanmar, which neighboured British India. So, helping Bengal may have helped the Japanese, but that doesn’t change the fact that millions died in the famine.

#52: Starting the First Opium War

No war highlights how contradictory the British Empire’s existence was. They considered themselves a civilising force, while at the same time, they got an entire country hooked on opium. Britain had an increasing trade deficit with China, from buying tea and other commodities, but China didn’t buy anything back. So, they sought to solve the issue by flooding their nation with opium grown in British India, which China understandably decided to ban. The British argued it wasn’t immoral, as they considered Chinese people a lesser race. While the British were primarily to blame, China’s ruling Qing dynasty also made mistakes. The Emperor refused to admit it was a war, instead calling it a “border dispute”, and didn’t give the invasion the attention it deserved.

#51: Partition of Palestine

Since 1947, the region of Palestine has been separated into two nations, Palestine and Israel. This decision was made by the United Nations, despite the local Arab population rejecting it entirely. A day after its adoption, a war between Palestine and Israel broke out, which lasted until 1949, ending with an Israeli victory. The region has been suffering since, with many criticising Israel for its oppressive regime, which gives Palestinians fewer rights than Israelis. Many say it’s apartheid, and in recent years, Israel has been internationally condemned for what multiple organisations consider a full-blown genocide of Palestinians.

#50: Spartacus Splits His Army (73-71 B.C.E.)

Spartacus led one of the most famous slave uprisings in history, but a key decision likely doomed the rebellion. At one point, he agreed to split his forces; his co-commander Crixus took a large portion of the army south. There's a reason why 'divide and conquer' is a popular military strategy. Spartacus' move weakened the overall strength of his army. Worse, it allowed Roman generals to defeat each force separately. Crixus and his followers were crushed, costing Spartacus thousands of seasoned fighters. Although Spartacus continued to fight bravely, the rebellion slowly unraveled. His dream of reaching safety - and freedom - collapsed under the weight of Rome's growing counterattack.

#49: The Winter War

The Soviet Union thought it would crush Finland in weeks. Instead, it waded into a frozen nightmare in 1939. Soviet forces were crippled by brutal winter conditions, disastrous leadership, and fierce Finnish resistance. Commanders underestimated the terrain, deployed poorly trained troops, and failed to equip their soldiers for Arctic warfare. Outgunned and outnumbered, the Finns used guerrilla tactics and the deep snow to shred Soviet formations. Troops on skis outmaneuvered tanks, supply lines collapsed, and entire divisions froze or starved. Although Finland was eventually forced to cede territory, the Red Army's staggering losses shocked the world. What was supposed to be a quick victory ended up exposing massive weaknesses in Soviet military planning and command.

#48: Trusting Rasputin

Desperate to heal their hemophiliac son in the early 1900s, Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra made a deal with the devil.They placed their trust in a wandering mystic by the name of Grigori Rasputin. What began as a private act of faith quickly became an international liability. Rasputin gained extraordinary influence at court. He advised on everything from politics to military appointments. As World War I dragged on, rumors of his manipulation, corruption, and debauchery spread like wildfire. Alexandra defended him fiercely, even as his presence shattered public confidence in the Romanovs. Their refusal to distance themselves from his rising power fed widespread outrage. Many historians see his unchecked influence as one of the key decisions that helped pave the way for revolution.

#47: Sykes-Picot Agreement

In secret rooms thousands of miles away, European powers drew lines across a land they did not understand. In 1916, the Sykes-Picot Agreement had Britain and France carving up the Arab world for themselves. By doing so, both countries broke promises made to local leaders who had fought alongside them. When the deal was exposed, it shattered trust and sparked outrage across the Middle East. The betrayal didn't just redraw borders - it planted seeds of bitterness that would outlast colonial rule itself. Many historians argue that the chaos and resentment fueled by Sykes-Picot laid the foundation for a century of conflict, insurgency, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

#46: Officials Ignore Warnings About Fukushima

This wasn't a natural disaster: it was a preventable one. For years, experts warned that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant couldn't withstand a major tsunami. In 2008, TEPCO engineers even ran simulations predicting a wave over 15 meters high - exactly like the one that struck in 2011. Their own experts said the plant's defenses were inadequate. But leadership dismissed the data, calling the risk unrealistic. When the earthquake hit, followed by a towering wave, three reactors melted down. The result was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, one that could have been avoided with basic precautions.

#45: Battle of Isandlwana

In 1879, the British Empire marched into Zululand with arrogance and outdated assumptions. Eager for a foothold in South Africa, the redcoats were looking to intimidate the locals. Confident that a primitive army could never stand against rifles and artillery, they underestimated their enemy at every turn. Worse, they made a series of catastrophic tactical errors. They split their forces across hostile territory, left key supply lines exposed, and ignored advice to fortify their camps. After being lured into a trap with a few tiny wins, the trap snapped shut at Isandlwana. The 1,800 British soldiers were swiftly humbled as some 20,000 Zulu warriors crested the ridge. The British were slaughtered. It remains one of the most humiliating defeats in British military history.

#44: Charles II Fails to Pay His Men

The Second Anglo-Dutch War was supposed to secure England's dominance at sea. Instead, it turned into a costly stalemate that drained the treasury dry. Facing mounting debts, King Charles II made a disastrous decision: He stopped paying much of the Royal Navy. Sailors abandoned their posts, ships rotted in harbor, and key defenses were left wide open. The Dutch seized their moment. In 1667, they launched a daring raid up the River Medway, burning and capturing dozens of English ships. The humiliation forced Charles to sue for peace on Dutch terms. One bad money-saving move crippled England's navy and shattered England's naval reputation for a generation.

#43: The Charge of the Light Brigade

Few battlefield blunders are as famous - or as costly - as the 1854 Charge of the Light Brigade. Tennyson's famous poem put romanticized lipstick on a historical pig. During the Battle of Balaclava, British cavalry received a confusing order to advance rapidly and prevent the enemy from removing captured guns. But the commander on the ground, Lord Lucan, misunderstood the vague message. Instead of attacking a retreating force, he sent some 600 cavalry straight into a valley lined with Russian artillery. The mistake was obvious, but no one stopped it. The Light Brigade rode into a storm of cannon fire and was cut down in minutes. The charge became a national symbol of reckless bravery. It was actually the story of massacre by miscommunication and pride.

#42: Radcliffe Partitions India

When Britain agreed to grant India independence, they needed new borders drawn fast. They turned to a man named Sir Cyril Radcliffe. There's only one glaring problem: he'd never once set foot in India and had just five weeks to divide 175,000 square miles of territory. Working with outdated maps, incomplete census data, and immense political pressure, in 1947 Radcliffe drew the borders that created India and Pakistan. The results were catastrophic. His hurried lines split villages, families, and communities overnight, deepening sectarian divides between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. The partition triggered one of the largest and bloodiest mass migrations in history, displacing over 10 million people and killing up to two million. A rushed decision to divide a subcontinent left wounds that still haven't fully healed.

#41: The Battle of Agincourt

The French knights thought victory was inevitable. They had the numbers, the armor, and the prestige. In the end, they were defeated as much by mud and arrogance as by the English. In 1415, Henry Vs exhausted army was cornered by a massive French force. Instead of blocking the English retreat, the French charged headlong into a narrow, muddy field. Torrential rain had turned the ground into a swamp. Their heavy armor sank into the muck, leaving them easy targets for English longbowmen. Thousands of French knights were slaughtered before they even reached the enemy. The English, vastly outnumbered, barely broke a sweat. Agincourt became a legendary victory and a brutal reminder that pride can drown an army faster than any sword.

#40: Filling the Hindenburg with Hydrogen

The Hindenburg was supposed to be the future of luxury air travel. It was meant to usher in the era of international zeppelin travel. Instead, it became a flaming symbol of human error. It was originally designed to use helium - a much safer, non-flammable gas. Thanks to U.S. export restrictions, its German engineers used hydrogen instead. Engineers knew the risks but pressed ahead anyway, trusting that careful handling would prevent disaster. On May 6, 1937, the giant airship attempted to dock in New Jersey. Somehow, a spark tragically ignited. The ship erupted into flames in seconds, killing 36 people. Filling a massive flying machine with hydrogen was a gamble leading to one of the most iconic disasters of the 20th century.

#39: Russia Selling Alaska to the US

In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million. That's about two cents an acre. At the time, the Russian Empire saw the territory as a frozen wasteland, impossible to defend and barely profitable. They believed it was better to offload it before losing it in a future war. What they didn't realize was how much wealth lay hidden under the ice. Alaska would later yield massive oil, gold, and natural gas reserves. It became a key part of America's future booming economic success. Russia's short-term thinking handed away a resource-rich land for a bargain price. Soviet-Era Russians were likely kicking themselves for having lost out on a valuable foothold in the Western Hemisphere.

#38: Austrians Defeat Themselves at Karánsebes

You don't always need an enemy to lose a battle. Sometimes, all you need are poor leaders and a whole lot of schnapps. In 1788, Austrian scouts were on the prowl for Ottoman forces. They stumbled across friendly locals offering alcohol instead. Soon, drunken brawls broke out between cavalry and infantry. Shots were fired. Someone shouted Turks! and panic tore through the army. Austrian officers shouted "Halt!" in German. Non-German-speaking troops mistook it for Turkish and assumed the Ottomans had infiltrated the camp. Chaos exploded. In the darkness, the Austrian army began firing on itself. Commanders even ordered artillery strikes against their own men. By morning, hundreds were dead, all without the Ottomans ever firing a shot.

#37: The Fall of Singapore

British commanders called Singapore an impregnable fortress. They were wrong. When Japan attacked in 1942, they bypassed Singapore's massive sea defenses entirely. Instead they invaded through the jungle. British leadership had assumed the thick Malayan jungles were impassable and left their land defenses dangerously weak. Japanese forces moved quickly, outflanking and overwhelming Allied troops. Poor communication, outdated equipment, and a total underestimation of Japanese capabilities sealed Singapore's fate. After just a week of fighting, the British side surrendered more than 80,000 troops. It remains the largest surrender in British history. Singapore's fall shattered the myth of Western invincibility in Asia and changed the course of the Pacific War.

#36: Battle of Hattin

The Crusaders didn't just lose a battle at Hattin - they lost the whole of the Holy Land. In 1187, King Guy of Lusignan made a disastrous call: he marched his thirsty army into the desert to face Saladin. Instead of holding their ground near water, the Crusaders staggered across open, dry plains. Saladin's forces cut them off from the wells, harassed them with attacks, and set the fields on fire. Surrounded and half-dead from thirst, the Crusader army collapsed. King Guy was captured, and most of his knights were slaughtered. The defeat shattered Christian power in the region and cleared the path for Saladin to reclaim Jerusalem.

#35: Gen. Meade Doesn't Follow Through

The Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 should have been the end. It could have been the end. Robert E. Lee's army was battered, retreating, and trapped against a swollen Potomac River with no clear escape. Union General George Meade had fresh reserves, higher ground, and the chance to crush the Confederacy once and for all. But the attack order never came. Meade chose caution over decisiveness. He allowed Lee to slip back into Virginia, bloodied, but ready to rally. President Lincoln was furious, calling it a missed opportunity to end the war early. Instead, the Civil War dragged on for nearly two more years, costing thousands more lives. Meade had victory in his grasp and chose to let it walk away.

#34: Brexit

It was supposed to settle a debate. Instead, it fractured a nation. In 2016, then Prime Minister David Cameron called a referendum on the UKs membership in the European Union, confident Remain would win. It didn't. The Leave campaign won by a narrow margin, fueled by anti-immigration sentiment, economic frustration, and vague promises of national sovereignty. The political and economic fallout was immediate: Cameron resigned, the pound crashed, and years of bitter negotiations followed. Brexit destabilized British politics, isolated the UK economically, and sparked renewed tension in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Cameron's gamble to quiet his right flank ended up reshaping Britain's global future, and not for the better.

#33: Battle of Teutoburg Forest

Rome thought Germania was pacified. It wasn't. In 9 C.E., Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus marched three legions into unfamiliar forests, trusting a local ally named Arminius. But Arminius wasn't loyal, at least not to Rome. Using his Roman military training, he lured Varus deep into the Teutoburg Forest. There, Germanic guerrilla attacks shattered the Roman columns. Trapped in dense woods, unable to form battle lines, the legions were systematically slaughtered over three brutal days. Varus fell on his own sword rather than face capture. So did many of his officers. Rome lost 15,00020,000 men, three legionary eagles, and its dream of conquering Germania. The empire's frontier would never again push farther to the north.

#32: Listening to Thomas Midgley Jr.

Thomas Midgley Jr. wasn't just a bad scientist; he may be responsible for more accidental environmental harm than any other individual in history. We are still living with the deadly effects today. In the early 20th century, he introduced two innovations that changed the world. First, he added tetraethyl lead to gasoline, unleashing a neurotoxin that poisoned generations of children. Later, he helped invent CFCs like freon, which would go on to shred Earth's ozone layer. At the time, both were hailed as breakthroughs. But the long-term consequences were catastrophic: elevated cancer rates, global air pollution, and a hole in the atmosphere itself.

#31: The Dred Scott Decision

Few Supreme Court rulings have aged as badly - or caused as much damage - as the Dred Scott decision. In 1857, the Court ruled that Black Americans could not be citizens and had no right to sue in federal court. Worse, it declared that Congress had no power to ban slavery in U.S. territories. The decision enraged abolitionists, widened the sectional divide, and pushed the country closer to civil war. It was a catastrophic legal failure rooted in racism, short-term political appeasement, and a total misreading of the national mood. Instead of settling the slavery debate, Dred Scott lit the fuse that would explode just four years later at Fort Sumter.

#30: Diocletian Splits Rome Into East & West

The Roman Empire became increasingly large in its early years, so much so that Emperor Diocletian decided to divide it into two in the late third century. This was intended to make it easier to govern, but it instead caused its decline. While this decision provided short-term stability by streamlining the empire's administration, it also created two separate power centers with different priorities. The Eastern Empire received Egypt, the wealthiest province, while the West struggled to sustain itself economically. Over time, this separation weakened the cohesion of the Roman Empire and made it increasingly difficult to manage. Eventually, Rome lost most of its Western provinces, culminating in the erosion of control in Italy, when the empire fell to the Normans in 1071.

#29: King Leopold II’s Rush to Africa

The Scramble for Africa remains one of the most appalling European ventures of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution paved the way for Europeans to expand aggressively across the globe, often resorting to exploitation and violence. Among them was Belgian King Leopold II, who claimed sole ownership of the Congo Free State in 1885. His regime became infamous for its widespread atrocities and for plundering the nation's resources, while offering little benefit to its people. In fact, Leopolds government forced the Congolese people to extract rubber from their own land, and punished those who failed to meet quotas with torture and mutilation. It was a private extraction economy, fueled by human suffering.

#28: Sending Diego de Landa To Convert the Yucatán Peninsula

Diego de Landa was a Spanish Catholic missionary, sent to the Yucatán peninsula to convert the Maya people to Christianity. Once there, he sought to completely erase the indigenous beliefs, which he deemed heretical. In 1562, he ordered the burning of thousands of Maya books, claiming they were superstitions and lies of the devil. This became known as the Tragedy at Mani, and it erased tons of information about American history. In addition to this, Landa oversaw the torture of Maya people who refused conversion. His methods were so despicable, that he was eventually recalled to Spain and put on trial for his illegal Inquisition.

#27: Romanos IV Recruiting a Diverse Army

The Roman Empire spent centuries of the Medieval era fighting off Islamic invasions from the East. The Roman-Seljuk border, on the edge of Anatolia, became the Roman Wild West, inspiring epic poems called the Acritic Songs. This all went downhill in 1071, when Romanos IV entered battle with the Seljuk Empire at Manzikert. His biggest mistake was recruiting a highly diverse army, composed of mercenaries from various backgrounds, with no loyalties to the Empire. This led to a military disaster, with most of his forces fleeing, or even deserting to the Turkic side, which wasn't surprising, given that many were Turkic themselves. Rome never fully regained control of Anatolia, a region it had called home for over a thousand years.

#26: Jefferson Removing an Anti-Slavery Passage From the Declaration of Independence

The Founding Fathers fought hard to establish equality for all. It just so happened that equality prioritized white, property-owning males over others. The original draft of the Declaration of Independence was more progressive than the final document, with Jefferson including a passage condemning slavery. It referred to the practice as a cruel war against human nature, which was ironic, considering Jefferson himself owned hundreds of slaves, but at least it was a step in the right direction. However, the omission of this passage allowed the cruel act to continue for decades, and sowed the seeds of conflict that would later blossom into the Civil War. As a result, the eventual abolition of slavery was far more violent than it could have been.

#25: Titanic Untested

The RMS Titanic was tested multiple times before its maiden voyage, and was deemed unsinkable. The vessel was an extraordinary feat of engineering, and the initial trials went remarkably well, with the ship successfully sailing down the River Lagan in 1911. Subsequent sea tests in 1912 successfully confirmed her speed and structure. Unfortunately, these all overlooked the real-world extreme conditions, for example, the watertight compartments only reached the D-deck, meaning if water overflowed into upper compartments, it was doomed. Some argue that the disaster resulted from speeding at night, or turning into the iceberg rather than hitting it head-on, which only prolonged the collision. Ultimately, if it had only been tested more thoroughly, the tragedy might have been prevented.

#24: King Charles I Dissolving Parliament

The Divine Right of Kings proved to be a myth when King Charles I was executed in 1649. This incident was spearheaded by Oliver Cromwell, whose revolutionary actions stemmed from the King's repeated dissolutions of Parliament. Charles did this, in part, after trying to secure funds for his wars abroad, and Parliament refused to comply. He then began imposing forced loans, putting people who refused to pay in prison. Eventually, they passed the Petition of Right, seeking to limit his power, but Charles simply dissolved them, and ruled without Parliament for 11 years, a period known as the Eleven Years Tyranny. His defiance culminated in the English Civil War in 1642, which was ignited by his relentless disregard for democracy.

#23: Operation Cyclone

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan began in 1979, lasting an entire decade. America was vehemently opposed to communism, and sought to prevent Soviet success. This is where Operation Cyclone comes in. It was a covert CIA operation that provided financial and military aid to the Afghan mujahideen fighters. While the mujahideen ultimately prevailed, this operation unintentionally fostered the rise of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. After the war, the absence of a stable government caused a civil war, paving the way for a violent Taliban regime, notorious for human rights violations and collusion with terrorist groups. The region is still unstable today, and there have been numerous attacks on America since, orchestrated by the very groups it funded.

#22: Lenin Installing Himself As a Dictator

Vladimir Lenin was a passionate revolutionary, who helped overthrow the Tsar in the February Revolution of 1917. After the Tsar's abdication, the Constituent Assembly was democratically elected, intended to be Russia's new form of government. This was monumental, since it was the first-ever election in Russian history. The assembly did not last long however, as it was dissolved by Lenin shortly after its first session commenced, when the Bolsheviks failed to secure a majority. His seizure of power set the stage for the Soviet Union's totalitarian regime, with Lenin establishing the secret police, and laying the foundations for Stalin's subsequent reign of terror.

#21: Louis XVI's Financial Aid to America

During the American Revolution, Louis XVI decided to provide substantial financial and military aid to the Thirteen Colonies. While this support played a crucial role in securing the Americans victory, it severely crippled France's economy. The effort cost the country 1.8 billion livres, which was more than double their annual income. This caused a further strain on an economy that was already burdened by massive debt from the Seven Years War. By 1789, Louis XVI had hiked taxes massively, igniting the French Revolution. Of course, there were a myriad of factors that contributed to the uprising, like deep social inequalities and harvest failures, but funding the American revolution was a disastrous miscalculation.

#20: The Bay of Pigs Invasion

In April 1961, the United States of America aided anti-Castro Cuban exiles in an invasion of their former country. It was a complete disaster. The Cubans knew they were coming, thanks to some loose lips by the exiles - and the CIA knew they knew, yet failed to inform President John F. Kennedy. Furthermore, the original invasion plan, which had been drafted under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, called for U.S. air and naval support, which Kennedy withheld after a certain point. The debacle only served to solidify Fidel Castro's rule, while also showing communist leaders worldwide that the U.S. could be defeated. Oh, and it made possible the whole Cuban Missile Crisis thing.

#19: The Donner Party's Shortcut

One of the most infamous pioneering groups in American history, the Donner Party consisted of 87 settlers who set out for California in the 1840s. By the time they reached their destination, only 48 remained, thanks to a multitude of costly errors. They set out too late in the season, leading to unfavorable weather throughout the journey. They were undersupplied and accepted more members as they went, leading to further shortages. They didn't have a guide and took a route that was untested. There was infighting and even murder within the party. And when the group was stranded by a blizzard in the Sierra Nevada mountains, some were forced to resort to cannibalizing their deceased members to survive! The Donner Party did everything wrong!

#18: Churchill Decides to Invade Gallipoli

During the First World War, fighting had stalemated in Europe and Russia was engaged with the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus. Seeking to divert Central Powers forces from Europe and cut off the Ottomans, the Allies, with Winston Churchill spearheading it, decided to attack present-day Turkey. To reinforce naval forces, the Gallipoli peninsula was invaded. The campaign was a colossal failure. The Allies drastically underestimated the Ottoman forces, and used inexperienced troops and commanders, resulting in a 10-month-long engagement with over half a million men killed or wounded. The Allies were forced to retreat, with Britain's reputation suffering heavily over the debacle and Churchill losing his job. At least Turkey, and the Allied New Zealand and Australia gained some national pride over their roles.

#17: Battle of the Little Bighorn

Also known as Custer's Last Stand, the Battle of the Little Bighorn is one that has been romanticized in the folklore of the United States. However, General George Armstrong Custer's numerous mistakes have left its legacy far more muddled. In 1876, Custer met his end when attacking a force of allied Plains Native Americans near the Little Bighorn River in Montana. Custer was outnumbered and had split his forces into several smaller groups, and the Natives had superior rifles. Custer had rejected not only reinforcements, but also several Gatling guns, which may have turned the tide of battle. His decision to attack before the rest of the Army arrived resulted in Custer's death, and around half of his men.

#16: Napoléon's Invasion of Russia

The French can't seem to catch a break on this list. The Little Corporal’s Grande Armée of 680,000 soldiers strolled into Russia hoping for a quick and easy defeat, only to find the Russian forces to be constantly retreating. Using what is known as a scorched earth tactic, the Russians would burn down villages so that the pursuing French army would have no supplies to feed their vast numbers. Eventually, winter came and the French forces were subject to starvation, hypothermia and eventually, defeat. It was a harsh lesson, but one that every military leader has since taken to heart - never underestimate the environmental factors when fighting on enemy soil.

#15: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Now it's time for the Russians (or in this case, the Soviets) to take a beating, as the 1979 invasion of this middle eastern country was decidedly NOT a win for them. Wanting to protect Communist interests in the country, the Soviets sent over 100,000 soldiers after the assassination of the President of the Afghanistan Communist Party. However, due to the alien nature of the communist way of life, an Afghani and Muslim resistance rose up with monetary aid from a certain Western, Capitalist arch enemy of the Soviets. The ensuing conflict would result in the death of almost 15,000 Soviet soldiers, a Soviet withdrawal, and a continued Civil War in the country.

#14: Spanish Armada's Failed Invasion of England

The summer of 1588 saw the formation of a Spanish Armada, which set sail for England in an attempt to overthrow Elizabeth I to restore Catholicism to the nation. However, the Spanish and Portuguese vessels were engaged in the English Channel by an English and Dutch armada. Although the Spanish Armada had larger ships and more men, the defenders had more ships that were more maneuverable and better armed. The Spanish were defeated, forcing a retreat. Not only did they fail to restore Catholics to power in England, but their failure arguably emboldened Protestants across Europe and led to the decline of Spain as an international power.

#13: The Fourth Crusade

Pope Innocent III called for the retaking of Jerusalem by Christians. The holy city was then Muslim-controlled, and the plan was to attack the Ayyubid Sultanate in Egypt, the largest Muslim empire at the time. However, a series of blunders led to the Crusaders doing nearly the opposite of their stated goal. When not enough Crusaders embarked from Venice, the army that arrived there could not pay for passage. Furthermore, these same crusaders sacked Zara, a Catholic city, under Venice's instruction to recoup their investment. The pope excommunicated them. Then these crusaders retook the Orthodox Christian-controlled Constantinople for Alexios IV, who promised them support in retaking Jerusalem. However, they sacked the city when he was deposed. The Fourth Crusade only served to weaken Christian-controlled Byzantium.

#12: Chernobyl Meltdown

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster is arguably the world's worst nuclear incident that wasn't intentional. On April 26th, 1986, the number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded during a safety test. While the disaster was partly the result of failures in Soviet safety procedures and the design of the reactor itself, operator error also played a major factor. Extreme conditions were created due to the negligence of those in charge. Additionally, the test was conducted by the less experienced night shift at the plant, instead of the day shift. The end result was an unprecedented catastrophe that, had it not been contained, could have poisoned most of Eastern Europe.

#11: Hernán Cortés' Alliance With the Aztecs' Enemies

The Aztec Empire once ruled a vast and culturally diverse region of Mesoamerica, home to roughly six million people at its greatest extent. Hernán Cortés, a Spanish explorer, arrived in Mexico in 1519 on a mapping expedition. He quickly realized how politically fragmented the region was, and allied with some of the Aztecs' enemies, of which there were many. Although Cortés brought just over 2,000 Spaniards, these alliances swelled his forces to well over 100,000 soldiers. Their superior technology, and immune systems, decimated the Aztecs in 1521, and resulted in a full-blown cultural genocide of the indigenous peoples.

#10: Mao's Great Leap Forward

Murdering millions of your own people is always a bad idea, but that's just what happened in China during the early-mid 20th century. In an attempt to rapidly industrialize the nation, the communist leaders tried to institute a demand for crops that the people couldn't meet. The resulting famine caused deaths around the country. However, famine was not the only cause of death during the Great Leap - many reports of torture, beatings and people taking their own lives have surfaced throughout the years. An exact death toll is nigh impossible to nail down, but it's been estimated anywhere between 23 and 55 million people - and no amount of progress is worth such a steep cost.

#9: The Toppling of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran

Once again we travel to the middle east, but this time it's some devotees of Capitalism that would make the mistake. The mission was known as Ajax in the US and Operation Boot in the UK, but the principles were the same - protect Western oil interests in Iran. How? By overthrowing the democratically elected Prime Minister and installing a monarch more sympathetic to the US and the UKs demands. That's exactly what they did - the CIA even hired local mobsters to incite riots. What followed was the death and subjugation of many of the Iranian people, and a period of unrest that would eventually lead to the Iranian revolution of 1979.

#8: Escalating the Vietnam War

In the 1960s, Communism was spreading to Southeast Asia, and the prospect of a country willingly embracing it was intolerable to the West. In 1956, an election to unify Vietnam was scheduled, but the United States, supposed champions of the free world, opposed it, for fear of Communism being democratically, and peacefully, adopted. Eventually, in 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred, involving alleged attacks on U.S. Navy ships by North Vietnamese patrol boats. One of these attacks apparently did not even happen, but that didn't seem to matter. The U.S. used it as a pretext to escalate things further, and eventually became embroiled in one of their bloodiest wars. The conflict claimed 58,000 American lives and over a million Vietnamese.

#7: George W. Bush Invading Iraq in 2003

Whether you believe it was motivated by weapons of mass destruction, the 9/11 attacks, or a need for oil, we can all agree that this 2003 attack on the middle east was divisive for the American people, and devastating for the Iraqi. It kicked off a costly 8+ year Iraq war, which, rather than fighting terrorism, arguably fostered it, most notably giving rise to ISIS. On the homefront, it turned America into a nation divided, with one half of the population supporting the war, and the other half vehemently against it. In other words some were a little bit country and some were a little bit rock n roll. Shout out to South Park fans.

#6: Austria-Hungary Decides to Start a War

In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated by Bosnian Serb nationalists. Austria-Hungary couldn't let the killing of their next ruler go lightly and decided to attack Serbia in retaliation. However, with Russia allied with Serbia, they wanted support from Germany in any conflict. And by delaying their attack, Austria-Hungary ensured that Russia and its allies, France, and later the United Kingdom, entered the conflict as well. All these events spiraled into the First World War. Granted, advances in military technology and the numerous European alliances ensured a massive conflict was bound to break out, but Austria-Hungary was the first to declare war.

#5: Russia Invades Ukraine

Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. Despite Russian claims of Ukrainian nazism, it was more likely to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. Regardless of the reasons, the invasion has been costly for both countries and the world economy. Tens of thousands have been killed on both sides. A refugee crisis has developed, not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia, as thousands seek to flee the draft. Plus, countries worldwide have imposed sanctions on Russia, destroying its economy. This is an ongoing conflict, so the full extent of how bad a decision it is can't be stated at this time. However, even the ramifications thus far are horrendous.

#4: Japan Brings the United States Into World War II

During WWII, Japan had invaded China and Korea. This prompted harsh sanctions from the USA, Britain, and the Dutch, who all had territory in the Pacific and/or ties to China. This effectively robbed them of many necessary resources, including oil. Rather than lose face by withdrawing, Japan decided to declare war on the United States, attacking Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941. This was a huge mistake! The USA retaliated with a costly and brutal war in the Pacific, leading to millions of deaths and the only instance of nuclear weapons used in warfare. The long-term effects on Japan were immense and still ripple through the country today.

#3: Hitler Invading Russia

There is a quote that reads: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it and that's exactly what the Nazis did in 1941. Despite studying Napoleon's first invasion of Russia as reference, the Nazis attempted invasion of the Soviet Union resulted in a catastrophic loss of life, and, in the eyes of many, was the downfall of the Third Reich. Just like Napoleon, they planned on achieving a swift victory that never came. Operation Barbarossa, as it would come to be known, lasted over 5 months, and resulted in over 5 million deaths.

#2: Angering Genghis Khan

Many angered the Great Khan during his reign over the Mongol Empire, but none so spectacularly as Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, Shah of the Muslim Khwarezmian Empire. The result of infuriating the Khan meant the destruction of Ala ad-Din's empire, but keep in mind that didn't have to be the case. Genghis wanted peace with the Shah, saying "I am master of the lands of the rising sun while you rule those of the setting sun. Let us conclude a firm treaty of friendship and peace. The Shah refused, killing some Mongolian envoys. The result was, as previously stated, less than favorable for the Shah. It just goes to show- never mess with a mongol.

#1: The Victorious Allies Impose Harsh Terms on Germany After World War I

The Treaty of Versailles. The moment that would define the next half of the 20th century. The moment that would lead to the rise of fascism, the Nazis and eventually the Holocaust. After a long and brutal World War I, the victorious Allies were tasked with punishing the losers, and punish them they did. The most important factor of the treaty was that Germany had to take total and complete blame for the war, which meant they had to disarm and pay reparations to all the affected countries. This would virtually bankrupt the European country and set the stage for a very sinister time in human history.

Were there any particularly egregious mistakes we forgot to include? Let us know in the comments section!