TOP 7 FAILS OF HISTORY

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  • čas přidán 24. 06. 2024
  • The other day I said I would speak at an event here in Missoula. I slept in, missed my speaking slot, and felt like a totally failure. So I read about some of the worst fails of all time to make myself feel better. I may have let some people down, but at least my fail didn't lead to the deaths of millions of people.
    HERE ARE A LOT OF LINKS TO NERDFIGHTASTIC THINGS:
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    ======================
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    ======================
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    ======================
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Komentáře • 4,1K

  • @elephantwarrior53
    @elephantwarrior53 Před 8 lety +527

    Before I watch I just want to say that 'invading Russia during winter' needs to be on here at least once.

    • @elephantwarrior53
      @elephantwarrior53 Před 8 lety +39

      It was! Yay! I don't know if he was talking about Hitler or Napoleon but I don't care!

    • @adammartinelli8274
      @adammartinelli8274 Před 8 lety +9

      Actually, Napoleon invaded during the fall. It was still deathly cold though.

    • @StoneOfMoon
      @StoneOfMoon Před 7 lety +1

      I thought he invaded sometime around November?

    • @lavendermenace8078
      @lavendermenace8078 Před 7 lety

      +

    • @nolanoster3660
      @nolanoster3660 Před 7 lety +7

      It's actually (I think) a line from The Princess Bride, where Vizzini is choosing which wine to drink

  • @ewan.cartwright
    @ewan.cartwright Před 10 lety +280

    you missed the mars rover that crashed because someone used inches rather than cm!

    • @enochlowe8968
      @enochlowe8968 Před 10 lety +3

      It's about historic fails...this is a more current affair.

    • @kaim268
      @kaim268 Před 10 lety +41

      enoch lowe
      if it has HAPPENED then technically speaking it is historic

    • @utubewastingmytime
      @utubewastingmytime Před 9 lety +5

      enoch lowe
      So? History doesn't have to be ancient. 9/11 doesn't hold any historical significance? How about the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine? Obviously, history is being written in the present.

    • @TheTrappedinahouse
      @TheTrappedinahouse Před 5 lety

      I think it is mentioned in another vlogbrothers video

    • @dgillies5420
      @dgillies5420 Před 3 lety

      The manager of that program published a book called (not kidding here), "High Impact Space Program Management!" right before the crash ...

  • @LizardSuit
    @LizardSuit Před 8 lety +188

    What about in 1788 when the Austrian army attacked itself and lost hundreds of men

    • @SharpBloodyMoon
      @SharpBloodyMoon Před 8 lety

      Wasn't the deathcount 8000 or so?

    • @LizardSuit
      @LizardSuit Před 8 lety +2

      +Trickaprilon maybe, I just could not remember the death toll when I was writing the comment

    • @lavendermenace8078
      @lavendermenace8078 Před 7 lety

      +

    • @willmichael5120
      @willmichael5120 Před 7 lety +3

      Especially because they were on campaign against the Ottomans.

  • @seanm7445
    @seanm7445 Před 8 lety +282

    Using the imperial system as you send a probe into space.

  • @JonathonWilder
    @JonathonWilder Před 10 lety +135

    Even greater epic fail: Deny a man the chance to go to art school, he becomes a dictator and the bringer of a world war instead, killing countless lives.

    • @lonestarr1490
      @lonestarr1490 Před 4 lety +17

      I don't think we can blame the art school for that.

    • @miyumi85
      @miyumi85 Před 2 lety +4

      The political climate in Germany was such that, if it hadn't been Hitler, someone else would've stepped into his place. Please note, there is no way to know if this is literally true, since we can't look at a real alternate timeline. But with how much support he got, and so quickly, anyone could've done it. And when it's something anyone could do, someone does.

  • @Frosties1999
    @Frosties1999 Před 8 lety +394

    How about the 12 publishers that turned down Harry Potter?! xD

    • @tovekauppi1616
      @tovekauppi1616 Před 8 lety +7

      I was looking for a comment like this

    • @bemusedalligator
      @bemusedalligator Před 7 lety +40

      JK rowling has said that every time the book got turned down it went through another editing cycle, and would be a much worse book if not for those publishers.

    • @madelinefieldshalva3121
      @madelinefieldshalva3121 Před 6 lety +7

      Which is uncommon. Most books go through more.

    • @bengersbootlegs
      @bengersbootlegs Před 5 lety +1

      Or the studios that said no to star wars

    • @Bushwhacker-so4yk
      @Bushwhacker-so4yk Před 5 lety +2

      Or A Wrinkle in Time.

  • @jlink9225
    @jlink9225 Před 8 lety +90

    Most epic fail in history? Even modern cannons of 1453 couldn't bring down the walls of Constantinople, the finally fell when, drum roll please* A greek merchant left the doors open

  • @hatchermya
    @hatchermya Před 9 lety +48

    the guy who told Elvis Presley that he had no future in music. the company that fired Walt Disney for a "lack of imagination and creativity".

    • @JatPhenshllem
      @JatPhenshllem Před rokem

      Walt was imaginative. Not so sure about the company now.

  • @MichiruEll
    @MichiruEll Před 8 lety +52

    In the same vein as the first one you mentioned, the editor who refused JK Rowling's Harry Potter and several years later went on to refuse Robert Galbraith's first manuscript. That is the most epic of epic fails of the history of book edition.

    • @Toblehrone
      @Toblehrone Před rokem +5

      in hindsight, it's one of the biggest epic wins of all time, considering that jk rowling became a massive transphobe.

    • @iplayeddishonored2475
      @iplayeddishonored2475 Před 6 měsíci

      @@Toblehroneand also that fucking pen name, jesus

  • @bigz4302
    @bigz4302 Před 10 lety +131

    epic fail #8-the Archduke Ferdinand's driver took a wrong turn, allowing him to be assassinated leading to WWI

    • @theodorepeterson6569
      @theodorepeterson6569 Před 10 lety +55

      More Archduke Ferdinand faliures: His assassins.
      There were seven of them. It was only THE SEVENTH GUY who actually managed to kill him.
      #1: Claimed he couldn't see the car and so didn't throw his bomb
      #2: Threw his bomb, missed, then jumped into a canal and crunched a cyanide pill... the pill was old, so he vomited it up and the canal water was ankle deep. He was put in prison and later became a history teacher.
      #3: Chickened out because he didn't want to kill the Archduke's wife
      #4: Also claimed he couldn't see the car
      #5: shot at him, but missed
      #6: wasn't even there for the assassination
      #7: Was eating a sandwich in a nearby cafe when he noticed that the Archduke's car was passing because his wife wanted to visit a hospital with survivors from attacker no. 2, so decided to just go ahead and kill both of them.

    • @Beacuzz
      @Beacuzz Před 10 lety +16

      That is a lot of fails. Probably one of the worse assassinations ever and it led a world war.

    • @PragmaticAntithesis
      @PragmaticAntithesis Před 10 lety +13

      Theodore Peterson And WWI caused WWII; then WWII caused the cold war and practically all the wars going on today. So a sandwich & a wrong turn killed millions of people. (Trying very hard not to laugh about this; must resist!)

    • @theodorepeterson6569
      @theodorepeterson6569 Před 10 lety +14

      If Gavrilo Princip had eaten a sandwich in a different cafe, 79 million lives would've been spared...
      Realistically, that might not have happened; the powers of Europe were gonna go to war anyway; they just needed an excuse. Still, it's a possibility.

    • @theodorepeterson6569
      @theodorepeterson6569 Před 10 lety +6

      YAY! I think I'm in the nice part of the CZcams comment section!

  • @Garmstrong2001
    @Garmstrong2001 Před 10 lety +48

    A roman emperor declared war on poseidon and sent his armies to the beach yo stab the water

    • @joelfraser6559
      @joelfraser6559 Před 9 lety

      I think you mean Greek, the Roman god of the sea was Neptune, not Poseidon.

    • @James--Parker
      @James--Parker Před 9 lety +4

      Joel Fraser Neptune is just Poseidon's Roman name. Different language same god.

    • @maddiestokes7138
      @maddiestokes7138 Před 9 lety +6

      The Librarian From Oz The emperors name was Caligula and he was slightly insane. ^^

    • @mallorykendrick1961
      @mallorykendrick1961 Před 9 lety

      The Librarian From Oz Thank you. Thank you so much.

    • @caseygriffin7664
      @caseygriffin7664 Před 9 lety +4

      Slightly?

  • @MadMargaretGaming
    @MadMargaretGaming Před 8 lety +107

    Most epic fail in recorded human history. Shooting Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914.

    • @InTenZeGamingHD
      @InTenZeGamingHD Před 8 lety +3

      Or Austria thinking that Germany was allied to them because they wanted a war and Germany being allied to Austria in hope that there would be no more wars.

    • @TheRacoonGhost
      @TheRacoonGhost Před 7 lety +5

      to be fair the war would probably have started soner or later anyways for some other small reason but yes that was an epic fail

    • @TheBard1999
      @TheBard1999 Před 7 lety +1

      +TheRacoonGhost the bigger fail in war was that Conrad (commander of austro-hungarian army) beg emperor to start the war, to expand their empire and the war ended in anihilation of A-H empire.

    • @lavendermenace8078
      @lavendermenace8078 Před 7 lety

      +

    • @rib_rob_personal
      @rib_rob_personal Před 7 lety

      It was good for the US though because getting involved in WW2 (which wouldn't have happened without that event) beefed up our economy.

  • @audreym
    @audreym Před 9 lety +36

    A really obvious fail in history that everyone is forgetting: the people who built the Titanic thought it was "unsinkable," and because of this decided it would only carry 16 lifeboats although it could have carried 64. It sank on its very first voyage, killing nearly 1,500 people- deaths that would easily have been prevented if they had simply put more lifeboats on board.

  • @paulrtv1
    @paulrtv1 Před 10 lety +10

    The Beatles thing happened to a band called the New Yardbirds, they basically said the band would be as disastrous as a Zeppelin full of lead. Jimmy Page took the term 'Zeppelin made of lead' and re named the band Led Zeppelin.

  • @nerdomaniac
    @nerdomaniac Před 9 lety +26

    Battle of Karánsebes
    17 September 1788.
    Different parts of the Austrian army was send to scout for the Turkish army and ended up shooting at each other by mistake. Many Austrians where hurt in the heat of battle against other Austrians. The Turks successfully captured the city of Karánsebes.

  • @loluphag
    @loluphag Před 9 lety +35

    That Princess Bride Reference! Also another fail is that 7 publishers turned down Harry Potter.

    • @TheIronicTroller
      @TheIronicTroller Před 9 lety +16

      plus yahoo turned down the opportunity to bu google for 5 mil (there net worth now is 32.7 billion)

  • @annamangnus5970
    @annamangnus5970 Před 9 lety +23

    Slightly less epic fail: at the start of the Second World War, Rotterdam was bombed by accident. They were planning to bomb it, but someone made up their mind because it would be cruel to make so many innocent casualties when the Dutch were gonna surrender soon anyways. Thing is, they had said the sign for "stop don't bomb the city" was to lit up these red light signals, that day it was very cloudy and foggy so the pilots couldn't see shit. They didn't see the "stop don't bomb the city" signs, so they didn't stop and they bombed the city.....

    • @actua99
      @actua99 Před 2 lety

      Actually, Rotterdam was bombed accidentally twice: First by the Germans as you described, and second by the US in '43. They wanted to bomb the harbour (which was important to the Germans), but bad weather and poor navigation meant they bombed western Rotterdam, the bit the Germans had (mostly) missed. If you're interested, check out the _forgotten bombardment of Rotterdam_ on wikipedia.

  • @SexualPotatoes
    @SexualPotatoes Před 8 lety +70

    Why did you point out that bit of your hair?
    I can't unsee it and pay attention to the video.

  • @Eiffiel
    @Eiffiel Před 10 lety +26

    The Princess Bride reference made me happy :)

    • @jontiben171
      @jontiben171 Před 10 lety +3

      It's possibly my favorite movie ever.

    • @Eiffiel
      @Eiffiel Před 10 lety +2

      Mine too! It's got a little bit of everything - and so many quotable lines!! :)

    • @sierrahg2204
      @sierrahg2204 Před 10 lety +4

      I feel dumb, I missed the reference. Love the movie though!

  • @jackiesolis9039
    @jackiesolis9039 Před 9 lety +8

    I forgot his name but in history class we where talking about the American civil war and a war general came across the plans of the opposing side and he completely forgot to tell anyone that he HAD THE EXACT PLAN ON HOW THE WHERE GOING TO BE ATTACKED. Any way a lot of people died and they epically failed the battle. BUT HE HAD THE OTHER SIDES WAR SCHEDULE AND DID NOTHING

    • @Amita23
      @Amita23 Před 9 lety +1

      I think that was General George McClellan. It was the battle of Bull Run or something and he had the General Robert Lee's plans, but didn't really use them. He was overcautious which made him not want to put all his faith into the plans. When Lincoln realized this, he immediately removed him from his position. McClellan later became the candidate of the Democratic party in the election of 1864. (I literally just talked about this today in class)

  • @SilveerStarr
    @SilveerStarr Před 10 lety +6

    One fine day in the 1800s or so, there were only two cars on the roads of the entire state of Ohio. They crashed into each other.
    Not a calamitous failure, but the odds...

  • @ashtuatara
    @ashtuatara Před 10 lety +33

    Let's not forget the 12 Publishing Companies that turned down Harry Potter.

  • @lokidecat
    @lokidecat Před 9 lety +14

    What about the Mars project where half the team used Imperial units, and half used Metric.. and upon landing, the conversion mix-up caused billions of dollars to crash full speed into the planet because it thought it was higher than it was.

  • @annamangnus5970
    @annamangnus5970 Před 9 lety +37

    Wasn't the Trojan horse said to be made as an offering? Like the Greeks were more like: "hey we made this horse as an offering to Poseidon so we'll get home save please don't be rude and take it." And so the Trojans took it?

    • @GeorgeParaskeva
      @GeorgeParaskeva Před 9 lety

      Anna Mangnus yep!

    • @Narnendil
      @Narnendil Před 8 lety +6

      +Anna Mangnus there are a few different versions since it's a story/myth and not confirmed historical fact

    • @peter8259
      @peter8259 Před 8 lety +8

      The Trojan war is mythology, not history. I'm not sure why Hank talks about it as if we know it happened, and know how and why it happened

    • @Krashnachen
      @Krashnachen Před 8 lety +2

      +Peter Lake Sorry to bring up an old comment but the Trojan war has happened.

    • @willmichael5120
      @willmichael5120 Před 7 lety +3

      Well, Troy was a real city and there were probably wars fought there, but the only evidence of the famed Trojan war comes only from poets.

  • @paradoxical3844
    @paradoxical3844 Před 10 lety +34

    In 1788 Austria accidentally attacked its own army, resulting in the death of 10,000 of its own soldiers.

  • @Mtesterman714
    @Mtesterman714 Před 9 lety +49

    Another fail: the 8 yard throw by the Seahawks in the Super Bowl

  • @LunarRaevyn
    @LunarRaevyn Před 10 lety +13

    I think we're afraid of failure because of the possibility of being ridiculed. Also, a simple mistake could possibly grow into epic proportions.

    • @michaelherweg7421
      @michaelherweg7421 Před 6 lety

      Hinata Hajime I believe it is about our social identity, soc idens form the basis of equalibrium in a social group, and the mind does not like large changes. Your dream of a rock band could make your classical fans view you as a well versed musician, not the geek who they ask for test cheat sheets.

  • @CrazyMissLeapYear
    @CrazyMissLeapYear Před 8 lety +22

    YESSSS! THE REFERENCE! AHHHHH! I CANNOT TAKE IT! IT'S... IT'S... inconceivable.

    • @CrazyMissLeapYear
      @CrazyMissLeapYear Před 8 lety

      +Anna Peterson (Annie) (That word was my senior yearbook quote, btw)

    • @joshuajacobson4137
      @joshuajacobson4137 Před 8 lety

      Best comment ever

    • @Eliza.--.
      @Eliza.--. Před 6 lety

      My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

  • @jodicamino2493
    @jodicamino2493 Před 10 lety +3

    We aren't really afraid of failure, just of other people and their reactions to what we deem to be failure. We don't want to see other people disappointed in us. I, for one, am a huge perfectionist. When I got an 89% on my math test, I was practically in tears. But that was only because I generally get higher scores than a lot of people in my class, and when they all found out they beat me (by a lot), it was not a pretty scene. That was what I was afraid of. Because when my friends said "Oh, whatever, I still think you're really smart," I felt better. Why? Because I had been reaffirmed. So no matter how often people tell you that you shouldn't care what others think of you, we do. Maybe we shouldn't, but we do, and that's what causes this fear of failure.

  • @raiderboy105
    @raiderboy105 Před 7 lety +38

    Add tonight to that list. No matter what side you are on. Tonight was an American failure.

  • @fromrecidivismtorecovery2960

    i am afraid of failure because i feel like it's a reflection on me as a person - like, if i fail, even once, it reflects negatively on my character. my biggest failure has been letting my diseases take over my life and not enjoying each moment, each small beautiful thing, each laugh and smile - it's something i'm working on. thanks for the videos (they brighten my days so much) and for just being awesome.

  • @graceforpr6256
    @graceforpr6256 Před 10 lety +33

    Hank, there is lip balm on your shelf. My eyes just drifted to it. This confuses me because I have watched this video a number of times and I just noticed it. This comment doesn't make much sense. My english teacher likes this video. I need to stop typing now...

    • @a.bookmonkey6790
      @a.bookmonkey6790 Před 3 lety

      I’m pretty sure it’s the highly disturbing corn dog flavored lip balm

  • @MaxieSmith479
    @MaxieSmith479 Před 10 lety +4

    "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you have lived so carefully that you may as well have not lived at all, in which case you fail by default."
    ~J.K. Rowling

  • @Wheedlinglemur
    @Wheedlinglemur Před 10 lety +3

    The foundation of all my fears is simply being afraid of being afraid of being afraid. It can inhibit you from doing the things you want to do by knocking back your self esteem to do so. And THAT! can be a real pain in the ass to get over sometimes.

  • @JackLTTP
    @JackLTTP Před 7 lety

    I love these old videos. the lighting completely changes in three consecutive shots, and it makes me smile.

  • @weldin
    @weldin Před 9 lety +33

    Oh! General Iroh at Ba Sing Se!

  • @Tamaki742
    @Tamaki742 Před 9 lety +4

    ANOTHER EPIC FAIL. When Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo, there's this guy who threw a bomb into his car but the Archduke caught the bomb and threw it away... Only for it to hit the car on the back.

    • @Tamaki742
      @Tamaki742 Před 9 lety +5

      ***** Oh, you mean Gavrillo Principe? LOL! It's like he was thinking, "Eh, it's not worth it, just gonna go and have a sandwich," *Duke drove by* "Ah yeah I have to do it anyway lol"

  • @MrHeadpigeons
    @MrHeadpigeons Před 10 lety +6

    One to add to the list would be Columbus discovering America, albeit a happy mistake in a well educated time a highly trusted ships captain missed his course by over 2000 miles and still believed he had landed in India.

  • @Taraalcar
    @Taraalcar Před 10 lety +10

    Concerning the Beatles, that record label also said "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
    I did not get that from Vsauce so don't say it.

  • @WilWaring
    @WilWaring Před 10 lety +1

    Quite a few years ago, my grandfather lived in an area where, nearby, a couple of men were mixing chemicals in their garages. They said they were trying to start a company, and offered him a chance to invest in it. He declined, and today that company is known as Dow Chemical Company.

  • @samsingsongss
    @samsingsongss Před 10 lety +6

    What about the time Australia went to war with emus and lost

  • @SuckDicksForCash
    @SuckDicksForCash Před 10 lety +6

    if you ever feel like an idiot, remember that there are people that actually think the world is 2014 years old.

    • @sparky173j
      @sparky173j Před 10 lety +1

      Ian Shockley While I'm certainly not one of the people you refer to, I can understand why _some_ people could be convinced of it.
      a) their holy book, which is sometimes said to be inerrant or 'god breathed' gives lineages which, when combined with the known date of the death of king Nebuchadnezzer II, gives humanity an age of ~6000 years.
      b) people they trust (e.g. their clergy) tell them it as fact.
      c) if God's holy book was wrong on something, surely God would fix it.
      d) they probably don't have much understanding of the dating methods which indicate the earth's age
      e) who does a person trust: a clergyman they know, respect and believe talks directly to the creator of the earth via prayer; or something they've heard on TV?
      My conclusion (which you're welcome to disagree with) is that thinking the world is ~6000 years old is unfortunate, but not necessarily stupid. Thinking that the world is only 2014 years old is hopefully just a lack of education (knowing about AD/BC and/or BCE/CE). Okay, there's often stupidity as well...

  • @ProjectThunderclaw
    @ProjectThunderclaw Před 8 lety +3

    I'm not afraid of failure. I'm afraid of running out of time to keep failing.

  • @sarahfilep
    @sarahfilep Před 2 lety

    I can't tell you how much I needed this today. I haven't failed yet, but it's probably gonna happen sometime over the next 10 weeks as I take on a huge project at work for the first time. Thankfully, they are supportive and encouraging so literally nothing awful is going to happen if I fail, but still terrified.

  • @alexarnold8461
    @alexarnold8461 Před 9 lety +7

    The charge of the light brigade

    • @joshuahadams
      @joshuahadams Před 8 lety

      Now I have Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" stuck in my head.

  • @Shadic108
    @Shadic108 Před 9 lety +44

    Invading russia in winter

    • @Arian545
      @Arian545 Před 8 lety +4

      +Shadic 108 I think invading Russia is never a good idea, regardless of the weather conditions

    • @samrodgers3021
      @samrodgers3021 Před 8 lety +17

      Unless you are wait for it, the Mongols

    • @wunderkind7762
      @wunderkind7762 Před 8 lety +3

      +Sam Rodgers I KNEW I WAS GOING TO FIND THIS HERE.

    • @autinlee3964
      @autinlee3964 Před 8 lety

      +Nate “Shad” A. To be fair it can work out you just have to bring winter supplies

  • @ye11owflower
    @ye11owflower Před rokem +1

    How does CZcams always know the perfect vlogbrothers video to recommend me for whatever I’m going through

  • @magiksage27
    @magiksage27 Před 11 lety

    I just noticed the essential bordertown book on your bookcase and the amount of happy it made me is way to much right here.

  • @MrMcDCharlie
    @MrMcDCharlie Před 9 lety +4

    The driver who made a wrong turn with Archduke Franz Ferdinand in his car, conveniently passing Gavrilo Princip who shot him, eventually leading to World War 1 was begin to be on that list

  • @vlaenderen
    @vlaenderen Před 9 lety +6

    A good list but this is my top 10:
    10: 26/12/14 A large tsunami killed 230.000 people of whom 62.000 could have been warned. A complet sensorsystem cost about 30 million dollars. A 10 year old english girl knew more than the Thai government...
    9/ April 1991 Gerald Ratner publicly insulted his own product. His stocks dropped 1 billion dollar and he lost everything.
    8/ 25/4/1986 The Tsjernobyl meltdown was caused by a complete mismanaged testprocedure.
    7/ 1929-1940 The maginotlline, millions were wasted by building the wrong fortifications in the wrong place.
    6/feb 1915 - nov 1915 Gallipoli, pointless attacks on an impregnable peninsula. At least 400.000 death on both side
    5/ jun 1812 - jul 1812 Napoleons attack on Russia. The destruction of the French Army (500.000 men lost).
    4/ nov 1519 Moctezuma, emperor of the aztecs took a Spanish sonquistador for a returning god. He gave away his entire civilization.
    3/ 01/07/1916 - 09/11/1916 The Battle of the Somme. About 1000.000 soldiers died in kamikaze attacks that lasted for months and gained nothing.
    2/ 1936-1938 Stalin destroyed the elite of his own army and millions of Russians in what is known today as the great purge.
    1/ 1958-1960 The great leap forward killed 20-40 million people. The only thing bigger than the catastrophes happening in front of everyone was the unwillingness to admid something was wrong (it lasted for 3 years).

    • @masterofmundus1304
      @masterofmundus1304 Před 9 lety

      Awesome top 10

    • @michaelherweg7421
      @michaelherweg7421 Před 6 lety

      Okay, maybe my 65 for putting humor in a formal lab assignment is not something I should chew off my nose over.

  • @freidhoffs1245
    @freidhoffs1245 Před 11 lety

    This actually makes me feel a lot better about some of my epic fails... even though I'm sitting here in a foot cast, beneath which I've injured myself so seriously that I can no longer return to my previous place of residence: a halfway house. Thanks Hank!

  • @capkernel
    @capkernel Před 10 lety +1

    The reason we are afraid of failure might be that we fear being caught, noticed, or laughed at in our failure. It also might have to do with humans desire to succeed, making it so vital.

  • @camfunme
    @camfunme Před 7 lety +3

    The Trojan horse was thought by the Trojan's to be a gift to Poseidon, from the Greeks, for safe passage home and as Poseidon was a patron of Troy they couldn't destroy it, least they incur Poseidon's wrath, and had to move it to his temple... inside the city.

  • @madelinevlam2669
    @madelinevlam2669 Před 10 lety +3

    Albert Einstein had a teacher who said he was idiotic (haven't memorized the speech, but you get it) and look at him now- well... Look at him then! He was smart!

  • @pertemu
    @pertemu Před 10 lety

    this is one of the most uplifting things I've ever heard thank you

  • @moredark100
    @moredark100 Před 9 lety

    Very inspirational!! Thank you for your video.

  • @indigojack99
    @indigojack99 Před 9 lety +4

    "especially when they just developed a bomb that can destroy whole cities"
    If he is referring to the atomic bomb his timeline is off. Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December '41. The atomic bomb was developed in mid-early '45. He's off by almost four years.
    Also the trojan horse was likely just a literary device developed as part of the mythology surrounding the trojan war.

    • @pyrreios5071
      @pyrreios5071 Před 9 lety

      IT IS NOT A 'LITERARY DEVICE!' It is the most important part of the Trojan War! Without it, who knows how long the war would have went on!! PLUS it is not mythology, to the Greek culture it is history as much as our countries being founded! Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean that you have to bring everyone else down too.

    • @indigojack99
      @indigojack99 Před 9 lety +3

      ReleaseTheNinja Alright. I'm trying to bring everyone down. But, the trojan horse was almost certainly developed as a part of the mythology and to add to the story. The greek phrasing used initially to refer to the trojan horse correspond with a battering ram and the earliest references usually relate it more to a way the soldiers overcame the defenses of troy and found a way through their walls.

    • @DumbyDooDoo
      @DumbyDooDoo Před 9 lety +1

      indigojack99 Also, the Japanese bombed the United States because of our crippling economic sanctions imposed for no reason.

    • @justinolmsted448
      @justinolmsted448 Před 9 lety +2

      David Irwin Uh, there kinda was a reason. It was because Japan allied itself with Germany, and the U.S. was against Germany. Also, Imperial Japan was terrible. Like, beyond terrible. Like, so far beyond terrible that it's comparable to the holocaust terrible.

    • @indigojack99
      @indigojack99 Před 9 lety +2

      David Irwin I would say that the Rape of Nanking in '37 is more than enough justification. And the comment above this one also makes a good point about Japan allying with Nazi Germany.

  • @Niniischill
    @Niniischill Před 10 lety +5

    I fear that i'll never find happiness and that high school really will the best time of my life

  • @JeffersonDinedAlone
    @JeffersonDinedAlone Před 10 lety +1

    The man at Decca Records who turned down the Beatles was Dick Rowe, who actually had a double failure, as he also stated that "groups with guitars were on the way out".

  • @liamm2769
    @liamm2769 Před 10 lety +1

    Roman Emperor Claudius' wife (and his niece, and mother of Claudius' step-son, Nero) convinced Claudius to make Nero his successor. Afterwards, Claudius' wife assassinated him, and Nero became emperor. Later, Nero executed his mother. Nero also burnt down the city of Rome while playing 'The Fall of Troy' on his lyre on a hill nearby, so his whole reign was pretty much a fail...

  • @Scheurthiaume
    @Scheurthiaume Před 10 lety +4

    The Princess Bride reference! (:

  • @espositogregory
    @espositogregory Před 10 lety +3

    are you saying my failures fail to be significant? Damn... meta-fail.

  • @DAMIENDMILLS
    @DAMIENDMILLS Před 10 lety +1

    I'm afraid of failure because I'm afraid of how other people will think of me. They might think I'm a clumsy, forgetful little weakling and I also see myself that way. I'm totally fine with myself thinking of myself that way, but I don't want others thinking of me negatively. That's my job.

  • @aleesabarker8352
    @aleesabarker8352 Před 3 lety

    Do yourself a favor and watch this with closed captions on because the little side commentary that is given is what gives me LIFE 😂

  • @supahnarwhal1499
    @supahnarwhal1499 Před 10 lety +3

    What about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand-the driver of the car with franz in it took a wrong turn and had to turn back with an assassin standing there and he killed him, doing this later caused world war 1. Have a nice day.

    • @ryanmasad977
      @ryanmasad977 Před 10 lety

      Probably would have started anyway mate :)

  • @VengefulAsian
    @VengefulAsian Před 10 lety +3

    While i love your series and the point of this video, I must point out the blatant display of ignorance by classifying military and political mistakes as failures of individuals or even "fail" in general. There is a reason behind invading Russia, and bombing Pearl Harbor. The decision itself is not a fail, it is the decisions following the invasion, and incompetence of the system that produced the history as we know today. One good question to ask when encountering fails in history is WHY that person/group made that seemingly stupid decision? Put yourself in their shoes.

  • @graceclymer6673
    @graceclymer6673 Před 11 lety

    Throughout these videos, I'm always discovering things I have in common with the vlogbrothers, and now quoting The Princess Bride is one of them. My life is complete.

  • @2AMChronicles
    @2AMChronicles Před 10 lety

    One of my favorite videos...
    Still not sure why we fear failure so much, but it's terrifying none the less.

  • @Jakromha
    @Jakromha Před 9 lety +8

    What about all those record labels that turned down Linkin Park, or Hybrid Theory as they were called back then.

    • @potterheadtwins6509
      @potterheadtwins6509 Před 9 lety +5

      Not as good or as successful as the Beatles. Not by a long shot.

    • @Jakromha
      @Jakromha Před 9 lety +3

      Jim Fleming Not as successful maybe, but way better than the Beatles.

    • @Kyler1Ace
      @Kyler1Ace Před 9 lety +2

      Jakromha Did... did just you like BOTH of your comments?

    • @Jakromha
      @Jakromha Před 9 lety

      Kyler Lumpkin You can actually see who liked my comment. See for yourself I'd say.

    • @Kyler1Ace
      @Kyler1Ace Před 9 lety

      Jakromha touche, (plus that little thing that goes over the e) sorry, I'm kind of an impulsive speaker and I'm pretty sure I wasn't on my ADD pill the day I said that. No use deleting my comment though, I still said it whether or not I should've.

  • @bringingtherukas7473
    @bringingtherukas7473 Před 10 lety +5

    dont think the beatles one is that good, plenty of great people were told that they were not good enought at what would eventually make them famous, Micheal jordans high school coach didnt pick him when surely the kindergarden teacher could have seen those skills.

    • @xxthegamingninjaxx2949
      @xxthegamingninjaxx2949 Před 10 lety +9

      What makes it funny is that they said "We don't like your sound and guitar music is on its way out." Ah the stupidity of humanity.

    • @wayback24
      @wayback24 Před 10 lety +3

      I think you miss the point of the Beatles one. It wasn't a Beatle fail, but a Decca Studio Executive fail.

    • @mlleariane6667
      @mlleariane6667 Před 10 lety

      ***** Relinds me of what happens with JK Rowling when she tried to publish Harry Potter

    • @bringingtherukas7473
      @bringingtherukas7473 Před 10 lety

      *****
      by that logic every idol, x factor, pop star should be on the list, look at the amount people who thought they were good.

    • @mlleariane6667
      @mlleariane6667 Před 10 lety

      Exactly

  • @tripleg719
    @tripleg719 Před 11 lety

    thank you for that princess bride reference- it is very appreciated

  • @devilskinn
    @devilskinn Před 10 lety +2

    A lot of things, actually, but, momentarily, the big issue is: stagnation. Career-wise especially, but also intellectually, socially, financially. I fear I won't be able to learn anything new, that I am not smart enough, not courageous enough to expand my horizon, to do something that will make me happy or that such a thing does not even exist. I know that "okay" will never satisfy me, but I can't seem to get to awesome. And I am very impatient and over-analytic, which complicates things :)

  • @Nonamearisto
    @Nonamearisto Před 10 lety +3

    2:07 "Oddly Enough... Always Men."
    It's one thing to be a self-loathing white man, Hank, but another thing to try and hide it from us while half-admitting it by flashing it on the screen too fast for most people to see. Gender equality is all and good, but don't go around disparaging men. It's no better than disparaging women.

    • @MekakushiDubs
      @MekakushiDubs Před 9 lety +4

      I don't think that women were participating in or allowed to participate in a lot of the mention things so that's why it was men.

  • @tortoisemuzik3
    @tortoisemuzik3 Před 11 lety

    I don't know why, but, Sir! You just made my day better :)

  • @legocarlinistXIII
    @legocarlinistXIII Před 10 lety +1

    curse you Hank, it's 2 a.m. and i cant stop watching!

  • @lokiwintersoldier6954
    @lokiwintersoldier6954 Před 8 lety +2

    " hey, hey guys just a thought, how about we don't invade one of the coldest nations in the world in the middle of winter without warm clothes? No? Ok."

  • @rebeccaoratto2537
    @rebeccaoratto2537 Před 7 lety +1

    "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure..."

  • @sasha_prisyazhnyy
    @sasha_prisyazhnyy Před 7 lety

    Both of you are so inspiring! Thank you for your job! I watch VlogBrothers for inspitation and CrashCourse for information (also, it is funny in a good way sometimes). BTW, where do you get your energy from?
    Although our nations' relations are strained at the moment, it feels so great that good things are accessible globally, regardless of nationality, social and political status!

  • @Emma-zy2xq
    @Emma-zy2xq Před 7 lety +1

    So the thing with the Trojan horse- as a Latin student, I felt I needed to contribute this. So the Trojan horse is believed by many historians to be either a metaphor, or completely made up. The horse is the symbol of Neptune/ Poseidon, so it is believed that there may have been an earthquake that knocked down Troy's walls, allowing the Greeks to attack. As Neptune is the earth shaker, for story purposes, it may have been made into an actual wooden horse. Another theory is that the battering rams of the time often resembled horses, so the Greeks may have used a battering ram to break down the walls of Troy, then Virgil dramatized it into the story we know today. Anyways, just a fun tidbit for anyone looking through old vlogbrothers videos

  • @BleachandFMAFan
    @BleachandFMAFan Před 10 lety

    I laughed so hard at your Vizzini reference. I even heard Wallace Shawn say it!

  • @NicholeParker
    @NicholeParker Před 8 lety

    I'm so afraid of failure because I trained myself to be that way. As the oldest child I hold myself to an impossible standard to be the perfect example for my siblings and the child my parents want and it's led to many a breakdown and some pretty strange quirks.

  • @Gingehfish
    @Gingehfish Před 10 lety

    This was the first vlogbrothers video I ever watched. I made it back on my second 'journey' :) DFTBA.

  • @dankap
    @dankap Před 11 lety

    This is surprisingly inspiring.

  • @julienlandry9863
    @julienlandry9863 Před 10 lety +1

    I'm in school to be a ship captain. Sometimes I think how easy it is to screw up, destroy an ecosystem, lose hundreds of millions of dollars of ship and cargo, kill the crew, oh yeah and if I do survive out of all of this, go to jail for the rest of my life. So if that's not a good incentive to study then I don't know what is... speaking of which, I should go back to studying...

  • @alisonb9814
    @alisonb9814 Před 10 lety

    After it was pointed out, I couldn't stop watching the hair bob around hahaha.

  • @roselover411
    @roselover411 Před 10 lety

    Getting involved in a land war in Asia! That is also a Princess Bride reference and I love it ^^

  • @leahtrachtenberg9868
    @leahtrachtenberg9868 Před 10 lety +1

    We, as humans, strive for perfection. We also want to fit into certain categories. We pick these categories based on what we think is important. When we fail it means we are not perfect. It also usually makes us feel that we don't fit into that category anymore.

  • @tylerrissell9837
    @tylerrissell9837 Před 6 lety

    Thanks Hank @vlogbrothers.

  • @mostly_harm1ess
    @mostly_harm1ess Před 4 lety +1

    Thomas Midgely Jr. - He introduced tetraethyl lead as an anti knock agent in cars and chlorofluorocarbons as refrigerants, both of which are extremely damaging to the environment and/or humans

  • @BeccaPlenderleith
    @BeccaPlenderleith Před 11 lety

    The Princess Bride quote makes this video even better.

  • @LoveParis4eva
    @LoveParis4eva Před 11 lety

    that princess bride reference made me wayyy too happy :)

  • @windyvista3657
    @windyvista3657 Před 10 lety +1

    A grand parent of one of my friends turned down a deal to buy Dr. Pepper
    around 80 years ago when Dr Pepper was failing during the great depression

  • @JH1010IsAwesome
    @JH1010IsAwesome Před 10 lety

    I'm not afraid of small failures, but I have made one particular huge failure and my friends still tease me about it to this day.

  • @eileenm8008
    @eileenm8008 Před 11 lety

    HANK GREEN THAT PRINCESS BRIDE QUOTE WAS THE BEST THING OF LIFE!!!!

  • @jayan.s.1672
    @jayan.s.1672 Před 10 lety +1

    The Princess Bride reference (: That is one rare case where the movie is just as good as the book.

  • @ruthpayne9146
    @ruthpayne9146 Před 8 lety +1

    Much smaller mistake, but before Steven Spielberg's ET came out, they asked if ET's favorite candy could be M&Ms, but the M&M company turned it down, thus Reese's Pieces was the one. Big mistake.

  • @Manofaction0
    @Manofaction0 Před 10 lety

    I read somewhere a long time ago that our view of stupidity is either A: learning from someone else's mistakes or B: someone learning a life lesson we've already learned ourselves. Either way, no one wants to be the subject of those situations.

  • @wrathanet
    @wrathanet Před 10 lety +2

    To be fair to the Trojans, they didn't exactly have much history to go on. The conversation probably went something like this:
    "What the **** is this?"
    "It's a giant wooden horse, sir."
    "I know what it is! Where did it come from?"
    "Well, the Greeks are all gone, so I guess they made this as an offering to Poseidon for a safe journey home?"
    "Hmm..well, we are running low on fire wood. Whatever, let's bring this thing back to the city while we round up some people to take it apart."
    Also, research on atomic weapons didn't even begin in America until a year after Japan attacked. But just to reinforce the epicness of the fail, Japan went through with the attack despite their CHIEF ADMIRAL telling them it was a bad idea.

  • @user-rd8xg2um4w
    @user-rd8xg2um4w Před 10 lety +1

    Epic fail number 3: hahaha movie joke! Love it

  • @KunamaElgar
    @KunamaElgar Před 11 lety

    Yeah being afraid of letting people down is a big one for me. It leads to perfectionism, because I want to do the best I can... but sometimes I don't feel like the work I'm doing is good so I stop and do something else... that's called procrastination and I'm good at it :/ Getting better though, and I've gotten some encouraging results at uni recently :)