26Plane crash
In 1992, an Israeli cargo plane crashed in Amsterdam killing 43 people. Israel claimed it was carrying flowers and perfume. It took 6 years and a Dutch parliamentary inquiry before they admitted it was carrying DMMP, a key component for sarin nerve gas.
27. In 1994, a cartoonist named Mike Diana received a criminal conviction for obscenity for artwork in USA. He wasn't allowed to draw comics even for personal use or just for his house.
28. In 1996, a small town named Spanish Fork in Utah mistakenly booked Rage Against the Machine at a venue for tractor and monster truck shows. The locals panicked and businesses boarded up thinking the band's followers would riot and vandalize everything.
29. In 1995, St. Jude's Hospital received an anonymous letter with a $1 million winning McDonald's Monopoly game piece. Although it was against the rules to transfer prizes, McDonald's honored it even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme.
30. In 1991, a man found the first print of the Declaration of Independence inside the frame of a $4 painting he bought at a flea market. It was sold at an auction for $2.4 million.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Kirby
In 1992, a team of game developers used a white puffball as a placeholder graphic while they designed their game’s protagonist. They grew fond of the puffball, and decided to keep him rather than replace him with a real character. He became the iconic character Kirby.
32. In 1995, American actor Chris Farley crashed a House Republican Meeting and did his impersonation of American politician Newt Gingrich.
33. In 1994, the CEOs of the seven biggest tobacco firms testified before Congress that "nicotine was not addictive" despite the overwhelming scientific evidence.
34. In 1998, a group of hackers -- identified only by their "hacker names", including "Kingpin", "Mudge", and "Space Rogue" -- testified before a U.S. Senate committee. They described how they could take make the internet "unusable for the entire nation" with "just a few packets."
35. In 1995, the Church of Scientology imprisoned, dehydrated and starved a mentally ill woman named Lisa McPherson for 17 days until she died.
