# What's the dumbest moment in history? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779 "2001-03-13T07:05:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![coming\_up\_for\_air](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@coming\_up\_for\_air](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coming_up_for_air)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/21 "2001-03-14T01:32:26Z")
My vote- **The Battle Of New Orleans** , fought after the war was already over. ---
**Author:** ![Pies\_R\_Squared](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Pies\_R\_Squared](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pies_R_Squared)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/22 "2001-03-14T01:33:34Z")
For _recent history_, my nomination is Coca-Cola messin’ with the formula… ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/23 "2001-03-14T02:10:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Hitler signs a pact with Stalin, then doublecrosses Stalin and tackles a two-front war. In all fairness to Hitler (boy, that sounds bad), I don’t think that you can call this stupid, really. The whole point of the war for Hitler was _Lebensraum_ in the east (i.e. the conquest of European Russia up to, say, the Urals). From his point of view he was going to have to fight Russia sooner or later, and sooner was preferable – Russia was still suffering from the effects of (among other things) Stalin’s purges, France was out of the war, Britain was fighting only a small campaign in Africa, and the U.S. was still neutral. > [@](#): > > Hitler - a popular blunder-maker, I see - allows the bulk of the British Expeditionary Force to escape at Dunkirk in 1940. Well there were serious concerns. At first the German forces surrounding Dunkerque was almost entirely made up of panzer units, which _were_ important strategic weapons for a mobile campaign but were _not_ siege weapons. They were also badly depleted at this point, and the Germans (not just Hitler) realized that they still had to conquer the rest of France, so they decided not to risk wasting the panzers, which they would need later. Add to this Georing’s assurance that he could destroy the pocket with air power alone, and you have a bad mistake with good reasons behind it. > [@](#): > > IIRC, the German estimate was 6 weeks to Moscow. Based on the Soviet performance in Finland and the German performance against France, I don’t think one can even put it among the top ten dumbest decisions in history unless everybody could read the future. Actually, the _really_ dumb thing Hitler did as regards the invasion of Russia was to delay it about 6 weeks so that he could crush the remnants of Czechoslavakia (and the rest of the Balkans), a decision made almost entirely out of spite. As we all know, he would need that time later. > [@](#): > > In addition to the stupidity of attacking Russia, I’ll pile on and condemn Hitler for declaring war on the United States, on December 11, 1941. Japanese diplomats had been feverishly trying to secure a guarantee from Germany that she would declare war on the U.S. if Japan and America went to war in the weeks leading up to Pearl Harbor. For what it’s worth, they succeeded. Hitler could have disavowed his promise (and many urged him to do so), but he didn’t. If I had my copy of Shirer here I’d give an explanation of why, but I don’t, so I won’t. Jesus, what am I, Hitler’s apologist? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/24 "2001-03-14T02:26:35Z")
After the _Titanic_, which had insufficient lifeboats to evacuate the whole ship, hit an iceberg & started to sink, a crewman persisted in sending down lifeboats that weren’t full yet, preventing men from getting in the boats _because he’d been ordered to evacuate the women & children first._ ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/25 "2001-03-14T04:54:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by OrcaChow \* > > **Xerox fails to see any value in the work of one of their research teams that came up with graphical interfaces and a pointing device called a “mouse.” They give the work away to kids called Jobs and Wozniak.** > > Sorry, but this simply never happened. Xerox knew that their early GUI _had_ practical and long-term uses; that’s what their Palo Alto R&D faciliy was supposed to do, after all. They certainly were able to recognize its value enough to charge Apple Computer $1 million in stock options to see the prototype GUI and to allow Apple to enhance upon it. > > Not meant to be a hijack, but this old story is _still_ making the rounds, and is a pet peeve of mine. > \*\* I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/26 "2001-03-14T10:15:05Z")
Does this mean I’m the first to nominate the 2000 Presidential Election? That whole thing was just plain dumb. I’m sure there are tons more things throughtout history, but it at least drops in near the top. ---
**Author:** ![GRJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d07c76/32.png) [@GRJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GRJ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/27 "2001-03-14T13:29:14Z")
How about asking Edward I of England to elect a new Scottish king? Salem witch trials. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/28 "2001-03-14T16:59:45Z")
Adam, Eve, Apple. Dumb asses! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/29 "2001-03-14T17:04:25Z")
Japan not surrendering after the first A-Bomb drop on Hiroshima. BOOM! “Thank You, we’ll have another.” BOOM! “Umm…we’d like to reconsider.” ---
**Author:** ![anenquiringmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anenquiringmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anenquiringmind)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/30 "2001-03-14T17:30:53Z")
NO DOUBT… clinton pointing his finger at us and saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman…” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/31 "2001-03-14T17:42:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually, the really dumb thing Hitler did as regards the invasion of Russia was to delay it about 6 weeks so that he could crush the remnants of Czechoslavakia (and the rest of the Balkans), a decision made almost entirely out of spite. As we all know, he would need that time later. Damn it VarlosZ, I was gonna say that! That was the real mistake. Had Hitler attacked in late April, he would have swept up Moscow before the fall muds and most probobly have won the war on the Eartern front. Good call. And John, > [@](#): > > 1863: General Jeb Stuart, incensed at having lost a skirmish with the Union cavalry, decides to reprise his glory days by riding his cavalry around the entire Union army. As a result, Lee has no cavalry during the coming battle of Gettysburg and has no idea where the Union troops are nor what strength they have, and his plan for an attack on the Union rear ends up actually hitting the center of the Union’s left line, and the Confederates lose the battle (and possibly their last chance of winning the war). C’mon, man, you’re a better historian than that! The fact is Stuart took less than half the cavelry with him, and had gotten aproval from Lee to make the ride. Lee’s snide statement to Stuart when he arrrived HAD to be a slap in the face, one that Stuart most definitely did NOT deserve. The REAL mistake at Gettysburg was Ewell’s decision NOT to sweep up Cemetary Hill before it was fortified. Lee said to take the hill “If possible”. Lee was always polite. Jackson would have known Lee meant “Get yo ass up that hill immediately”. Unfortunately, Ewell was no Jackson. Coffederate altillary on that hill would have raked the Union lines and rear areas, leading to their position becoming untendable. Gettysburg would then have been a one day battle, and the ignoble defeat that caused the CSA to get European recognition, most likely forcing the Union to capitulate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ultimate_Scapegoat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/32 "2001-03-14T17:43:11Z")
Yeah what is this anyway, “Pick on Hitler Day”? By the way if you want to read a good book about “dumb moments in history” pick up a copy of “The 48 Laws of Power”. Chock full of them. Here’s some more of mine: -The creation of the XFL. Also the World Football League in 1974. -Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis (someone PLEASE correct me if this is wrong) going on “Nightline” and telling Ted Koppel that blacks make better athletes than executives because they aren’t that smart. After the commercial break, an agog Ted Koppel offered Camapanis every opportunity to refute his statement. Instead Campanis stood by it, and was fired the next day, ending a decades long career. -The Dutch tulip speculation of the 1600s. The prices of the tulips collapsed and the economy of the Netherlands crashed when investors lost their life savings buying the plants. By the way, I think we are going to look back at the Internet stock craze as one of these moments very shortly! -Nearly half of the population of Albania losing their life savings after investing into a pyramid schemes a couple of years ago. -The Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. Over half a million people died, and almost no territory changes hands. -The Chaco War. [http://www.carney.com/erik/forgotten\_conflicts/chaco/](http://www.carney.com/erik/forgotten_conflicts/chaco/) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/33 "2001-03-14T18:06:01Z")
I’d like to take exception to one of the blunders being mentioned frequently: Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. He made a big mistake, that’s for sure. But his mistake was not trying to enter Moscow, but trying to _leave_ Moscow. With a city that was deserted but still well supplied, his troops could probably have wintered there with relatively few losses. Napoleon’s impatience to return to France was probably the biggest factor in the disastrous losses he suffered. As for another stupid moment, how 'bout that charge of the Light Brigade? –sublight. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/34 "2001-03-14T18:13:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philster \* > \*\*Adam, Eve, Apple. Dumb asses! \*\* Nah, I’d lay that one on God: > [@](#): > > “If you sit down and think about [God] sensibly, you come up with some very funny ideas. Like: why make people inquisitive, and then put some forbidden fruit where they can see it with a big neon finger flashing on and off saying ‘THIS IS IT!’?” > –Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, _Good Omens_ ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/35 "2001-03-14T18:34:40Z")
The Children’s Crusade. The failure of WWI armies to adapt to new technology. Mainly, machine guns. ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/36 "2001-03-14T18:47:50Z")
(ahem)… Jim Fregosi for Nolan Ryan. ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/37 "2001-03-14T19:11:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wartime Consigliori \* > \*\*(ahem)… > > Jim Fregosi for Nolan Ryan. \*\* Hey what about the Brewers trading Jose Valentine and Cal Eldred to the White Sox for JIMMY NAVARRO. What drugs were the Brewers on with that trade? Anyhoo, as for a more important dumb-ass moment: Quadaffi’s Libya invading a civil-war torn Chad, and managing to so flub their dealings with the three sides that they end up uniting Chad, resulting in the Chadians forcing Libya out with Toyota trucks with machine guns and missile launchers mounted on the back (against Soviet-supplied tanks). The best quote from one of the Chad military commanders, when asked how they could have done against a modern army: “Well, we weren’t fighting a modern army, now were we?” This story, by the way, from James Dunnigans wonderful little book: “Dirty Little Secrets - Military Information You’re Not Supposed to Know.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/38 "2001-03-14T19:30:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > [B > As opposed to the gunman on the grassy knoll, where a look at the map shows you any bullet had to make a right angle turn before it hit anything? Talk about magic! > > \*\* I’ve stood on the grassy knoll and I have no idea what you are talking about. [/hijack] I think it is amazing that most people are placing lost battles with most of the rest putting bad money decisions. I have some others, The invention of Disco music. The pain and suffering of this wretched type of pre-fab producer controlled ‘music’ is far greater than any war. Then there is that Dred-Scott decision and the 4/5th compromise and the recent Equal Protection Under the Law decision. I also think that the invention of polyester only yielded a strange and disturbing movie. And who the heck decided that women should always wear tops? What moron thought that one up? How about the ‘sale’ of Manhattan to the Dutch? How many times after we broke a treaty with the Indians did they come back and sign another? Why didn’t they learn? How about Prohabition? How about the ‘War on Drugs’. How about building a space craft and not checking your metric to english conversions and getting a closer look at Mars than planned. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/39 "2001-03-14T19:32:00Z")
Ooh, can’t believe I forgot abou this: American Civil War, the siege of Petersburg: “The Crater.” Lee’s and Grant’s armies are facing each other in a stalemate of trench warfare and have been for the past several months (truly presaging WWI). Ambrose Burnside (I believe, someone correct me if I’m wrong) – the idiot of Fredericksburg (in fairness, he made a pretty good corps commander) hatches a plan to tunnel under the confederate trenches, pack a huge amount of TNT, and light the fuse. The Union does this, and it works: huge explosion, mass confusion – the works. Then the U.S. troops wait, for no discernable reason, and allow the confederates to regroup. Then (_really stupid part ahead_), when the federals do attack, they charge **into** the huge crater left by the explosion, not around it. No one thought to bring any ladders either. Result: hundreds, if not thousands, of troops trapped at the bottom of a huge hole in the ground, being massacred from above. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779/40 "2001-03-14T19:57:24Z")
VarlosZ IIRC, the company commanders who were supposed to lead the attack immediately after the explosion were passed out in their bunkers, drunk, so the Union troops trickled into the crater piecemeal and were slaughtered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-moment-in-history/57779.md?page=3)