Oops! The Most Jaw-Dropping History Mistakes That Blew Up Big Time

Fox thought Star Wars would bomb, so they gave George Lucas the merchandising rights for a cheaper directing fee. Guess what? That little move cost them a mind-blowing $27 billion later. Oops.

In 2010, BP’s rig exploded thanks to shortcuts and cheap gear. Cleaning up, fines, and payouts piled up to about $65 billion. Not exactly a bargain.

In 1986, a nuclear test at Chernobyl went sideways because of design flaws and operator slip-ups. It’s still the most expensive accident ever—talk about a costly experiment.

The Titanic got ice warnings but just zoomed on anyway, leading to one of the most infamous sinkings ever. Lives lost and millions gone down with the ship.

Czar Alexander II sold Alaska for just $7.2 million, missing out on all the oil and gas riches there. Today, that’s like giving away $125 million for a buck.

Scotland tried to start a colony in Panama but botched the plan so badly it lost half the country's money. Talk about a financial faceplant that pushed Scotland to team up with England.

Set to open in 2012 with fanfare, this airport got grounded by 120,000 flaws—yep, that’s a lot of stuff needing fixing, including major fire safety issues. Passengers waited... and waited.

Governor Inalchuq killed a peaceful caravan AND the diplomats Genghis Khan sent later. That’s how you get invaded by an unstoppable Mongol horde that wiped his empire off the map.

In 2000, Netflix wanted to sell its DVD-by-mail thing to Blockbuster for $50 million. Blockbuster laughed, Netflix kept rolling, and now it’s worth over $150 billion while Blockbuster’s history.

France ordered 2,000 trains in 2014, but oops—they were too wide for 1,300 stations. Fixing platforms cost extra millions, turning this into a very expensive sizing fail.

Crusaders were deep in debt, so they looted their ‘Christian buddies’ in Constantinople in 1204 to pay bills. This weakened the Byzantine Empire big time and led to its fall to the Ottomans.

In 2013, James Howells tossed a hard drive with 8,000 Bitcoins mined in 2009. It’s just chilling in a landfill now. That’s one pricey trash bin.

Built in 2014, this building threw shade out the window—in a bad way. Its shiny surface focused sunlight into a laser-hot beam enough to melt stuff. Oops, heatwave!

In 1980, Texaco accidentally drilled into a salt mine under this 11-foot-deep lake. The whole thing flipped, turning the lake into a 1,300-foot-deep whirlpool. Nature’s crazy science project.

In 2011, a tsunami caused a nuclear meltdown partly because backup generators were placed in flood-prone zones. The cleanup price tag? Over $200 billion. Yikes.

Apple’s third founder cashed out his 10% for just $800 back in 1976. Now, that slice would be worth hundreds of billions. Oops, talk about selling too early.

In 1999, NASA lost a $125 million Mars probe because one team used metric units and another used imperial. Space missions aren’t known for forgiving errors like that.

The 23,500-ton ship collided off the Dutch coast, sinking with 11 crew lost and over 1,400 brand-new cars onboard. Talk about an expensive traffic jam underwater.

To save cash, a railroad hired a guy with zero engineering skills who built a bridge that collapsed, injuring 80+ people and bringing an end to ‘lowest bid wins’ on major projects.

Spain’s Isaac Peral submarine might never resurface because someone misplaced a decimal point during production. Talk about small mistakes causing big headaches!

The Seongsu Bridge was designed for lighter cars, but heavier vehicles used it anyway. The result? Collapse and payouts totaling $185,000. Heavy traffic hassle, literally.

At the dot-com peak, AOL bought Time Warner for $182 billion. Then the bubble burst, ads vanished, and they lost $99 billion in 2002. Yikes, that’s a pricey partnership gone wrong.

In 2009, one of the 13-story apartment blocks in this complex suddenly collapsed. Luckily, it didn’t topple the rest. Close call though!

Daimler bought Chrysler in 1998, but culture clashes turned this dream deal into a $29 billion flop. They sold most of Chrysler less than a decade later for way less.

China’s Emperor gave An Lushan a power boost, and An Lushan responded by starting a rebellion that killed millions and ended the Tang Dynasty’s golden days. Power trip, much?

Once the coolest warship ever, the Vasa sank on its maiden voyage because someone forgot to balance it properly. Talk about making a splash right away!