1

$125 million for a Grade-school math error

Image: Aaron Lefler

Imagine losing a hugely expensive spacecraft due to a simple mix-up between English and metric measurements . That is exactly what happened to NASA in 1999 when a Mars orbiter designed by Lockheed Martin was lost in space.

The confusion caused a malfunction on the $125 million craft, resulting in the probe’s loss. Although it was unusual for Lockheed to use English measurements for a NASA design (since NASA had stipulated using metric measurements for many years), there were still several instances where the error should have been caught but wasn’t.

2

Toys ‘R’ Us blunder

Image: Taylor Heery

If you think an action figure of a drug dealer isn’t the best idea for a toy store , you’re not alone. Yet, for some reason, Toys "R" Us decided otherwise in October 2014, possibly hoping to cash in on the massive success of the Breaking Bad TV series.

Unsurprisingly, the giant toy retailer was forced to pull from its shelves four collectible dolls based on characters from the AMC hit show, each doll featuring a detachable sack of cash and a bag of meth.

3

Apple Maps' rocky beginnings

Image: CardMapr.nl

When Apple decided to launch its own map application on iOS devices after a conflict with Google in 2012, users quickly realized that the Apple app was not nearly as launch-ready as it should have been .

Locations were mislabeled, roads were missing, and it occasionally steered people in entirely the wrong direction. The problem was eventually, though largely, resolved, but it was an embarrassing misstep for a company known for never launching a product before it was as near-perfect as possible.

4

Bank of America debit card fee

Image: Ali Mkumbwa

Back in 2011, when the backlash against the banking industry had not yet reached its boiling point, Bank of America announced it would charge customers $5 per month to use their debit cards .

It was a bad business decision. More than 300,000 people signed an online petition, and Fox Business Network’s Gerri Willis cut up her debit card on air. The bank pointed to federal regulations as the reason for the charge but ultimately capitulated to consumer demand after a month before the fees went into effect.

5

$33 airline tickets from Toronto to Cyprus

Image: Miguel Ángel Sanz

If buying a business class ticket regularly priced at $2,558 for just $33 sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Except in 2006, when an Alitalia employee accidentally forgot to input two extra zeros when pricing business-class tickets from Toronto to Cyprus.

Due to the exchange rate on that day and the blunder, hundreds of buyers managed to snag fares for just $33. The airline honored those deals, accepting the heavily discounted price for the 509 people who purchased tickets before the error was detected.

6

A $70 million comma

Image: Nattipat Vesvarute

As the folks at NASA and Alitalia have shown us, small errors can lead to costly mistakes. The following blunder comes courtesy of Lockheed Martin , which issued a contract to a customer with a missing comma in the sale price .

The astute customer held the aerospace company to the contract, costing Lockheed Martin $70 million for a C-130J Hercules aircraft in June 1999.

7

Sears misses the ship

Image: Estefania Cortes

A retail giant that faced a situation similar to the one Kodak faced—embrace the new and unknown or cling to the old, successful recipe—Sears sold everything from socks to tires via mail order, shipping across the U.S.

Choosing to stick with the old method, the company ended its catalog and delivery business in 1993 . In 1994, Amazon was founded , filling the business void that Sears had just created. The rest is history.

8

Passing on Microsoft

Image: Jaime Marrero

$60 million might seem like a lot of money to us regular folks, but for someone with very deep pockets like Texas businessman and two-time U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot, it wasn’t all that much.

In 1979, he was offered the chance to buy Microsoft for that sum. However, his final offer to the tech company was just $15 million, and as a result, the Texan missed out on the opportunity to own what would become one of the biggest companies in the world .

9

Blackberry sticks with the old

Image: Thai Nguyen

Another case of a brand sticking with the old instead of embracing the new, BlackBerry was all the rage at the start of the 21st century— until Steve Jobs came along with the Apple iPhone .

While BlackBerry Messenger was extremely popular, with over 80 million users worldwide, the device lacked the new touchscreen functionality and sleek design of the Apple product. From being a market leader, BlackBerry’s market share plummeted to 0.2% by 2016.

10

RadioShack’s downfall

Image: Jelleke Vanooteghem

Not so long ago, RadioShack was a familiar presence on the streets and the go-to place for buying batteries and electronics. But it was that same brick-and-mortar presence, coupled with a reluctance to embrace e-commerce , that ultimately led to its demise .

Eventually, poor profit margins on what they could sell, combined with a loan they couldn’t repay, brought down what was once the go-to place for electronics.

1

Jaws (1975)

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws forever changed the way people looked at sharks. The story of a rogue great white terrorizing the fictional town of Amity Island became the first true summer blockbuster and remains one of the most influential thrillers ever made. Ironically, the film showed surprisingly little of the shark because the mechanical model, nicknamed Bruce, kept malfunctioning during production.

The movie’s impact stretched far beyond the box office. Many people began viewing sharks as bloodthirsty predators, even though attacks on humans are extremely rare. Author Peter Benchley, who wrote the book on which the film is based, later became a passionate shark conservation advocate and admitted he regretted helping reinforce that stereotype after learning more about these remarkable creatures.

2

King Kong (1933)

Long before computer-generated creatures (unfortunately) ruled Hollywood, audiences were amazed by King Kong , the giant ape brought to life through stop-motion animation . The film introduced one of cinema’s greatest icons, but it also reinforced the old idea that gorillas were savage monsters lurking in mysterious jungles.

Modern science tells us a very different story. Real gorillas are intelligent, gentle, highly social animals that spend most of their time eating plants and caring for family groups. Conservationists helped transform public understanding of great apes, showing that they’re far more vulnerable to humans than humans are to them.

3

The Birds (1963)

Alfred Hitchcock proved that almost anything could become terrifying, even pigeons and seagulls . The Birds imagines a scenario in which ordinary birds suddenly begin attacking people — without any explanation. That uncertainty became one of the film’s greatest strengths.

In reality, birds rarely attack humans, except when defending their nests or chicks during breeding season. The movie helped define the "nature strikes back" genre, but outside the theater, your neighborhood flock is much more likely to steal a French fry than launch a coordinated assault.

4

Cujo (1983)

Few movie dogs have inspired as much fear as Cujo , the enormous St. Bernard whose rabies transforms him from a lovable family pet into a relentless killer . Based on Stephen King’s novel, the film left many viewers unfairly suspicious of one of the world’s gentlest breeds.

Actual St. Bernards earned their reputation in a completely different way. For centuries, monks at Switzerland’s Great St. Bernard Pass bred these dogs to rescue stranded travelers crossing the snowy Alps. They’re famous for patience, loyalty, and calm temperaments, not aggression.

5

Arachnophobia (1990)

For people who already disliked spiders, this movie certainly didn’t help. Aracnophobia mixed horror with comedy as a deadly fictional spider species spread terror through a quiet California town , turning every corner of the house into a potential danger zone.

The truth is much less dramatic. Scientists have identified roughly 50,000 spider species, but only a tiny percentage can seriously harm humans. Most spiders spend their lives quietly eating insects and avoiding people whenever possible, making them surprisingly helpful roommates.

6

Anaconda (1997)

The Amazon rainforest became home to one of Hollywood’s biggest reptilian villains in Anaconda . The enormous snake hunts humans with impossible speed, intelligence, and appetite , creating a memorable creature feature starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, and Jon Voight.

Real green anacondas are certainly impressive; they’re among the heaviest snakes on Earth, but humans aren’t on their menu. Their natural diet consists mainly of fish, birds, capybaras, caimans, and other wildlife. The movie’s giant snake was far larger than anything scientists have ever documented.

7

The Grey (2011)

After surviving a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness, the characters in The Grey face another nightmare: a relentless pack of wolves that seems determined to hunt every survivor . The tense survival story became one of Liam Neeson’s most memorable performances.

Wildlife biologists, however, were quick to point out that wolves almost always avoid people. Fatal attacks in North America are extraordinarily uncommon, and healthy wolf packs generally prefer staying as far away from humans as possible.

8

Orca (1977)

Released only two years after Jaws , Orca offered another giant marine predator, this time driven by revenge after humans kill its mate . Unlike many monster movies, the whale is portrayed with emotion and intelligence, yet it’s shown relentlessly attacking people.

Today’s marine researchers describe orcas as highly social animals with complex family relationships and remarkable communication skills. Despite the nickname "killer whale," there are no verified records of a wild orca killing a human.

9

Willard (1971)

Before audiences feared sharks, they feared rats. Willard tells the story of a lonely man who commands an army of rodents , turning one of humanity’s oldest urban fears into a classic of psychological horror. Its success even inspired the sequel Ben , featuring a theme song sung by a young Michael Jackson.

Real rats are much more impressive than their reputation suggests. They’re highly intelligent mammals capable of solving problems, learning complex tasks, and even detecting diseases in scientific research. Many people today happily keep domesticated rats as affectionate pets.

10

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Unlike many entries on this list, this film is rooted in a real historical event. During the construction of the Uganda Railway in Kenya in 1898, two male lions attacked railway workers near the Tsavo River , creating one of history’s most famous wildlife mysteries.

Scientists still debate exactly how many people the lions killed, and the preserved animals remain on display at Chicago’s Field Museum. Although the true story was extraordinary, man-eating lions are exceptionally rare, and healthy wild lions generally avoid human contact whenever possible.

11

Monkey Shines (1988)

George A. Romero traded zombies for primates in this psychological horror film about a helper capuchin monkey whose protective instincts spiral into something much darker . The story blurred the line between companionship and obsession, leaving viewers uneasy about intelligent animals.

Capuchin monkeys really are among the smartest New World primates and have even been trained to assist people with disabilities. At the same time, experts strongly discourage keeping monkeys as pets because they remain wild animals with complex social and behavioral needs.

12

Frogs (1972)

Despite its title, Frogs is surprisingly unfair to amphibians. While frogs appear throughout the movie, most of the actual attacks are carried out by snakes, insects, turtles, and other wildlife during a bizarre uprising against environmentally destructive humans.

Outside Hollywood, frogs are among nature’s most valuable allies. They consume enormous numbers of insects and serve as important indicators of environmental health. If frogs begin disappearing from an ecosystem, scientists often see it as an early warning that something is seriously wrong.

1

Early life

Image: Mikhail Nilov

Born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky , Muhammad Ali was originally named Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., after his father, who was himself named after the 19th-century abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay. Throughout his childhood, Ali struggled with dyslexia, which caused him to struggle with reading and writing during his school year.

2

The start of his boxing career

Image: Johann Walter Bantz

When Ali was 12 years old, a thief stole his bicycle. According to historians, police officer Joe E. Martin, who was also an amateur boxing coach, found Ali fuming over the theft. Martin suggested that Ali take up boxing in order to better channel his anger. At the time, no one could have imagined that this suggestion would jumpstart the start of the most prolific boxing career in history.

Ali made his amateur debut in 1954. Shortly afterward, he went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, and the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

3

Sonny Liston

Image: Attentie Attentie

Many consider the 1964 fight between Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali to be the first major stepping stone on Ali’s journey to greatness. At the time, 22-year-old Ali was the favorite contender for Sonny Liston’s world heavyweight championship title. The fight was highly publicized and controversial, with the brash and confident Ali openly mocking Liston during press conferences and interviews. Despite the odds being 8:1 in Liston’s favor, Ali won the fight in the seventh round, becoming the new world heavyweight champion.

4

Refusing military service

Image: Aleksandar Popovski

Ali’s fights were not just limited to the ring . In 1967, he stood his ground and refused to be drafted into the military, citing his religious beliefs and objection to the Vietnam War. Although he was highly criticized for this decision and stripped of his boxing titles, Ali remained steadfast and appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court. In 1971, the Court overturned his conviction.

5

From Clay to Ali

Image: Art Rogers, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0

In 1964, the same year he became the world’s heavyweight champion, Ali’s religious beliefs caused him to change his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. The name comes from the words meaning "one who is worthy of praise" (Muhammad) and "most high" (Ali). At the time, heavily criticized by the press who refused to call him by his new name, Ali simply stated, "I am Muhammad Ali, a free name."

6

The Rumble in the Jungle

Image: Прикли, CC BY 4.0

Boxing fans remember 1974 as the year of what is arguably the greatest boxing match in history. Advertised as " The Rumble in the Jungle ," a 32-year-old Ali faced the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion, George Foreman. Though Foreman was expected to easily win, with 4-1 odds in his favor, Ali triumphed by knockout in the eighth round. This fight introduced the world to Ali’s iconic "rope-a-dope" tactic, which earned him the victory of what at the time was the world's most-watched live television broadcast.

7

Thrilla in Manila

Image: charlesdeluvio

All three fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier are undeniable highlights in boxing history, with their first bout famously known as "The Fight of the Century." However, Ali and Frazier’s third and final fight , advertised as "The Thrilla in Manila," is perhaps the most memorable, ending with Frazier conceding after the 14th round. Interestingly, the fight’s name originated from Ali’s remarkable talent for rhyming, as he declared, "It will be a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila."

8

Quotes and Poetry

Image: Fitzgerald Whitney, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0

Let’s take a moment to step away from Ali’s outstanding boxing career and focus on one of his often-overlooked talents: his use of words . Ali’s struggles with dyslexia didn’t affect his poetry skills, which he often used to intimidate and attack his opponents. Not only that but his numerous interviews and press conferences gifted us with some truly remarkable quotes. We’ll leave you with one of our personal favorites: "If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it."

9

Later years and death

Image: Nelson Ndongala

In 1984, at just 42 years old, Ali announced to the world that he suffered from Parkinson’s Syndrome. Despite his declining health, his spirit remained unshaken. He became a spokesperson for people afflicted with this disease, appearing before Congress in 2002 alongside actor Michael J. Fox to raise awareness for Parkinson’s . In 2016, Ali passed away at the age of 74, surrounded by family and loved ones.

10

1996 Summer Olympics

Image: Peter Robbins

We’ll end this article with an image that perfectly captures Ali’s unparalleled tenacity and fighting spirit. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta, Georgia, Ali took on the challenge of carrying the Olympic torch and lighting the Olympic cauldron. At the time, the former boxer was bravely battling Parkinson’s Disease. However, in a showcase of moving resilience, Ali represented his country and proudly carried the Olympic Torch to its destination.