26New Coke
Despite the common theory that “New Coke” was a marketing ploy, the main reason for its launch was it consistently beat Pepsi and Coca-Cola Classic in blind taste tests. It performed so well that one bottling company even threatened to sue Coca-Cola if they didn’t launch the new product.
27. Disney had planned on making films based on the video games “Mega Man” and “The Sims,” but canceled those plans after Assassin’s Creed flopped at the box office.
28. Elvis Presley never wrote any of his own songs despite being one of the most recognizable musicians of all time.
29. A sperm whale’s clicks are powerful enough to easily blow out a diver's eardrums or vibrate a diver to death.
30. During World War 2, the US Army was aware that mail to soldiers was critical for morale, but was overwhelmed with the volume and space it took to ship. So they resuscitated a British/Eastman Kodak method where every letter was photographed, and the film was shipped and then printed. It was called V-Mail.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Boris Mikhailov
Boris Mikhailov, captain of the USSR hockey team, was offered a $1 million contract to leave Russia in 1980 after the Miracle on Ice. However, he declined as the KGB was standing next to him when the offer was made.
32. Bing Crosby sang White Christmas for 100,000 tearful troops in France during World War 2. He said the hardest thing he had to do in his career was to not break down himself at that time. Many of the troops would die at the Battle of the Bulge shortly after.
33. Julian Lennon had to buy letters he wrote to his father (John Lennon) at an auction because Yoko Ono wouldn't give them to him.
34. In 1986, the 18-year-old Prince of Orange, Willem-Alexander participated in the 120-mile long ice skating tour known as ‘Elfstedentoch’. He entered under the pseudonym ‘W.A. van Buren’, and managed to finish the tour that passes 11 historic cities in the Dutch province of Friesland.
35. The practice of playing music to the callers on hold was created by a factory owner who discovered that a loose wire in his factory's phone lines made the building a giant receiver. The broadcast from a close radio station was transmitted through the wire and played when calls were put on hold.
