Innocent Mistakes that Changed World History

Innocent Mistakes that Changed World History

Throughout history, major changes has been triggered by things or events that seem to be inconsequential at the time. I have always wondered about those tiny mistakes that triggered something that is World changing. Here are some of my favorite Historical Timeline.

     The D-Day

    Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was in charge of defending Europe from the allies in 1944. On the fateful day of the beach landing at Normandy, Field Marshall Rommel took the weekend off to celebrate his Wifes birthday. Theories abound that had Rommel been in the war room that fateful day’s outcome might have been different.

Bombing of Hiroshima

     The Bombing of Hiroshima

   In 1945, the allies demanded Japans unconditional Surrender. The premier responded that he got the message and that he was thinking about it. Unfortunately, he used the word, “mokusatsu” which also unfortunately meant “to contempt fully ignore”. This was the translation that was provided to Truman. Subsequently, Hiroshima suffered the atom bomb days later.

      The Bay of Pigs  Failure

     The bay of pigs was the invasion of Cuba and it was planned in detail. It would be a coordinated mechanized movement from air, naval and troop movements. Unfortunately planners neglected to take into consideration the time zone difference between Nicaragua and Cuba – Making the fighter jets arrive an hour late.

     The sinking of the Titanic

     The company that ran the cruise decided to repalce the ships second officer with a more experienced officer. Unfortunately, the officer being replaced forgot to turnover the key to the locker to the new officer. That locker contained the binoculars that lookouts use for navigating obstacles, such as icebergs. The lookout claimed that he would have spotted the iceberg sooner, only if he had binoculars.

     Hannibal’s Invasion of Italy, 218 BC.

     Hannibal, in his eagerness to demonstrate to his troops that the way is safe through the Alps crossing, enthusiastically rammed his can into the snow. The action triggered an avalanche that killed off about half his entire army. Some estimated 18,000 men, thousands of horses and elephants.

      A Wrong Turn.

    In 1914, An archdukes carriage driver took a wrong turn, giving an assassin that window of opportunity to kill the archduke,his passenger. This was actually the first set of dominoes that put in motion the two world wars we have experienced – all because of a wrong turn by a carriage driver.

     The list goes on but by far those are my favorites. This proves that a tiny spark will cause a raging wildfire under proper conditions.