26Richard Harris' Forgotten Car
Richard Harris was so drunk through the 1970s that he forgot he owned a Rolls Royce. It sat in a New York garage for 25 years before he found an old photo of himself with it and his accountant confirmed it was still there running up $90k in garage storage costs.
27. The film "It's a Wonderful Life" was considered a box office failure upon release in 1946. A clerical error placed the film in the public domain in 1974 causing many local TV networks to play the film for free, popularizing it as a Christmas classic.
28. US President George Washington's official portrait has a spelling error: one of the books in the painting is titled "Laws and Constitution of the United S-a-t-e-s."
29. The Berlin Wall came down by mistake. The East Germans had planned to slowly open the border and announced it at a press conference without including a plan. When a reporter asked when it would be opened, the party official mistakenly said "Immediately, without delay" causing a run on the wall.
30. On Nov 20, 1980, a Texaco oil rig accidentally drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Company salt mine under the Lake Peigneur. Due to a miscalculation, the 14-inch (36 cm) drill bit entered the mine, starting a chain of events that turned the lake from freshwater to saltwater.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Medal of Honor Mistake
During the American Civil War, an entire regiment of 864 men was accidentally awarded the Medal of Honor as a result of a typographical error.
32. In New York City, there is a pizza-sized plot of land sitting in the middle of a sidewalk. As a result of a surveying error, it was left as part of an estate. The heirs refused to donate this small plot of land to New York City and instead put a mosaic on the plot in 1922. The mosaic is still there, surrounded by a sidewalk.
33. The City of St. Albert in Alberta forgot which Saint Albert they were named after (Albert of Louvain), and erroneously built a statue of and promoted the wrong St. Albert (St. Albert the Great) for 23 years until they realized the mistake.
34. In 1971, Super Bowl V was the first Super Bowl after the AFL / NFL Merger and was known as the Blunder Bowl because there were 11 turnovers and numerous other miscues by both teams and referees. The MVP award was given to Chuck Howley from the losing team-the only time that's ever happened.
35. In 2005, a Japanese company called Mizuho Securities Company lost at least $225 million on a stock trade due to a typo error. The typo accidentally listed 610,000 shares of their company at 1 yen apiece, instead of what they intended: one share for 610,000 yen ($5,041).
