The Biggest Screwups That Changed History

The Farcical Collapse of an Invasion

Cuban exiles landed on the Bay of Pigs on April 17^th, 1961, but the 8 B-26s turned out to be woefully inadequate support. Pinned down, with their backs to the sea, no means of retreat, and no chance to advance into Cuba’s interior, the invaders were cut to pieces. The invasion had failed, but on the following day, JFK made a final gesture. With Castro’s forces now on full alert, any followup strikes by the B-26s would require fighter protection.

So the president authorized 6 fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Essex to fly cover over the Bay of Pigs for an hour on April 18^th, to protect the B-26s as they carried out another strike. However, the invasion, which had already gone from failure to fiasco, was destined to conclude with a farce. The rendezvous between the carrier jets and the B-26s was missed. The Pentagon had failed to factor in the one hour time zone difference between the bombers’ base in Nicaragua and Cuba.

_________________

Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

American College of Surgeons – Time Me, Gentlemen! The Bravado and Bravery of Robert Liston

Atlantic, The, October 24^th, 2012 – ‘Time Me Gentlemen’: The Fastest Surgeon of the 19^th Century

Business Insider, June 16^th, 2017 – Spinach Doesn’t Have As Much of a Key Nutrient Needed in Your Blood as You Might Think

Cracked – 12 Tiny Things That Changed the Course of History

Daily Beast – How a Fart Killed 10,000 People

Daily Mail, July 3^rd, 2013 – Sorry Popeye, Spinach DOESN’T Make Your Muscles Big: Expert Reveals Sailor’s Love of the Food Was Due to a Misplaced Decimal Point

Dawson, Jim – Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart (1998)

Ere Now – Some Mistakes Have Turned Out Well: Math Error, 1492

Extreme Tech – Tech Wrecks: Lessons From Some of the Biggest Hardware Screwups

Folk Texts – Breaking Wind: Legendary Farts