You Did What?

Bill Fawcett

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780060532505
• eBook ISBN: 9780061757891
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

History has never been more fun than it is in this fact-filled compendium of historical fiascoes and embarrassingly bad ideas. Throughout history, the rich and powerful, and even just the dim-witted, have made horrifically bad decisions that have had resounding effects on our world. From kings to corporate leaders, from captains to presidents, no one is immune to bad decisions and their lasting legacy. The fiascoes that litter our history are innumerable... and fascinating in their foolishness. This witty collection of historical mayhem chronicles unwise decisions from ancient Greece to modern-day Hollywood and everything in between. Learn such lessons as: Never trust Greeks bearing gifts of large wooden horses., Avoid building elementary schools on toxic waste dumps, even those with sweet monikers like Love Canal., Rabbits multiply like rabbits Down Under., Even if you use brightly colored paint on the boats, it's quite easy to misplace an entire country's navy.. With more than forty-five chapters of mind-boggling flubs and follies, fans of history, trivia, and those who just want a good laugh will adore this intriguing and fun read.

Searchable Terms

Aboriginals

Abulafia, Abraham (Raziel)

Achilles

Adams, John

Africa, inefficiencies and blunders in

African Nations Cup

Agamemnon

Alaric I, King of the Visigoths

Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria

Alexander I, Tsar of Russia

Allder-Wright, C. R.

American Medical Association

American Revolution

Amin, Idi

Anne of Cleves

Antietam, McClellan’s fatal caution at

Arnold, Benedict

aspirin, heroin seen as superior to

Atilla the Hun

Atlee, Clement

Austin, Thomas, ill-advised rabbit scheme of

Australian Radiation Laboratory

Bakocz, Thomas

Banda, Hastings

barbarians, Roman hiring of

Batchelor, Alan

Bayer Company, heroin developed by

Beauregard, P. T., doomed sub given final tweak by

Beckwith, Charles

Begelman, David, fraudulence of

birth defects

Bokassa, Emperor

Boleyn, Anne

Bond, James

Boston Red Sox

Boudicca, Queen of Iceni, Rome’s ill-judged humiliation of

Boxer Rebellion

Brooks, Garth, identity fiasco of

Brown, Edmund G. “Pat,” opponent unwisely chosen by

Brzezinski, Zbigniew

Burr, Aaron, Hamilton’s duel with

bushwhackers

Butterfield, Alexander

Nixon’s tapes revealed by

California gubernatorial election (1966)

cancer

Cape Times

Carson, Kit

Carter, Jimmy

failed rescue attempt by

Caruso, David

Casino Royale (Fleming)

Cassandra

Catherine of Aragon

Catus Decianus

Centers for Disease Control (CDC), phantom epidemics of

Charles V, King of Spain

Chessman, Caryl

Chobe National Park

Christopher, George

Churchill, Clementine

Churchill, Winston

misguided naval appointment by

Church of England, establishment of

Cimino, Michael

Civil War, U.S.:

Battle of Antietam in bushwhackers in first submarine in

Cline, Dick

Cline, Isaac, Galveston disaster and

Coca-Cola USA, marketing blunder of

Columbia Pictures

Columbus, Christopher

Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP)

Communist Party

Confederacy of Dunces, A (O’Toole)

Constantinople

Creative Management Associates

Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable (Fink)

Cromwell, Thomas

Crusades

Cuba, rebellion in

Dardanelles

Davout, Louis-Nicholas, Napoleon’s bypass of

Dean, John

Deer Hunter

de Joncaire, Philippe Thomas

Democratic National Committee

Dinwiddie, Robert

Disney, Walt

Donenfeld, Harry

Doyle, Arthur Conan, literary bonanza abandoned by

Dozsa, Gyorgy

Dreser, Heinrich, pharmaceutical wrong turn of

Ehrlichman, John

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Ellsberg, Daniel

Enrico, Roger

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Erasmus, Desiderius

Eugenius II, Pope

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (Mackay)

Federali...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Introduction
• You Kidnapped Whom?
• You Insulted Whom?
• You Invited Whom?
• Your Son did What?
• You Arrested Whom?
• You Armed Whom?
• You Chose Whom to be the What?
• You Bought What?
• You Sent Whom, Governor?
• You Lost your Head
• You are Shocking
• You Married Whom?
• You Shot Whom?
• You Invaded Where?
• You Gave Command to Whom?
• You Wore What?
• You Set Loose What?
• You Lost What?
• You Taught Them What?
• You Sent Them out in What?
• You'Re Building What, Where?
• You Put him in Charge of What?
• You Hit What?
• You Demand What?
• You Ignored Whose Warning?
• You Unleashed What?
• You Allowed What?
• You Are Doing it When, How?
• You Appointed Whom?
• You Traded Whom?
• You Created a Wonder Drug?
• You Sold Whom for How Much?
• You'Re out of Tune
• You Executed all the What?
• You Built it Where?
• You Choose Whom?
• You are Running Against Whom?
• You Quit what Show?
• You Forged What?
• You Switched Over to What?
• You Broke in Where?
• You Taped it All?
• You Vaccinated Whom Against What?
• You Are Rescuing Them How?
• You Assassinated Whom?
• You Made What?
• You Forgot to ask Them What?
• Searchable Terms
• About the Editors
• Credits
• Copyright
• About the Publisher