GRAMMAR GLITCHES

The 10 Funniest Mistakes, Typos, And Misprints In History

Image: Natalia Y.

Everyone makes mistakes, that’s a given. But sometimes, even the smallest slip-ups can lead to catastrophic outcomes, no matter how unintentional. These grammatical gaffes stand as a testament to the power of language, reminding us to always proofread before making history.

From political slip-ups to literary lapses, here are ten instances where, er… let’s call them unexpected linguistic detours, induced everything from laughter to financial ruin.

Image: Lars Blankers

In 1992, during a visit to a New Jersey elementary school, then Vice President Dan Quayle put himself in an embarrassing situation when he tried to correct what he thought was a spelling mistake. After a 12-year-old student correctly spelled the word "potato", he promptly added an e to the end of the word, creating an awkward moment as he insisted that "potatoe" was the correct spelling.

Image: Priscilla Du Preez

A 1631 edition of the Bible became infamous as it contains a number of mistakes that substantially distort the intended message of the sacred text. Known as the "Wicked Bible", among its most egregious blunders is the omission of the word "not" from one of the Ten Commandments, transforming the original sentence into the scandalous directive, "Thou shalt commit adultery." However, some argue that this was not a product of lazy proofreading, but rather sabotage from a competitor.

Image: Taha

Constable Dogberry, a character in one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies Much Ado About Nothing, became the namesake for malapropisms, as he consistently ends up uttering absurd phrases while attempting to sound intelligent. Some of the most popular "dogberryisms" include confusing suspect with respect, ex-communication with communication, comprehend with apprehend, and even redemption with damnation!

Image: SpaceX

How expensive can a typo be? Well, as NASA found out, almost 80 million dollars. In 1962, a missing mathematical symbol in Mariner I’s code led to the spacecraft blowing up in a million pieces over the Atlantic. How could this happen? Apparently, an engineer missed an overbar (a mathematical figure that indicates the mean of a set) while transcribing the calculations by hand. This caused the spacecraft to overcorrect its trajectory, eventually throwing it off course.

The takeaway from this story is simple: always proofread. After all, even the most brilliant people are not immune to making mistakes.

Image: micheile henderson

Talking about expensive typos, a misplaced comma in the 13th Tariff Act cost the United States over 40 million dollars in 1872. The Act included a list of items exempt from taxation upon entry to the country, and included in the list was an item that read "fruit, plants tropical and semi-tropical for the purpose of propagation or cultivation."

According to the government, the comma was meant to be a hyphen, meaning fruit-bearing plants, but the correct grammatical interpretation suggested that all fruit were included in the exemption. It took almost two years to fix the mistake, but it was already too late.

Image: Janko Ferlič

Don’t worry kids, Yogi Bear is totally fine. But for a moment in 2015, Associated Press declared the cherished bear dead, when someone published Yankees’ legend Yogi Berra’s obituary under a hysterical title: "Yogi Bear has died. He was 90." While this was likely the mix-up of an underslept intern, Berra was known for his amusing unintentional witticisms and malapropisms, remembered for gems like "It ain't over 'til it's over," "It's déjà vu all over again," and "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

Image: AbsolutVision

In a peculiar incident in December 2017, a Cambridge newspaper unintentionally became viral when a placeholder reading "100PT SPLASH HEADING HERE" found its way into the headlines. Meant for internal use during layout, the cryptic text unexpectedly amused readers and sparked online speculation, with some even joking about the headline being a warning of an incoming tsunami wave. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief later apologized profusely for the amusing mishap, which was allegedly caused by a technical issue.

Image: Michał Parzuchowski

Around 2010, an article from an unknown local newspaper went viral for misspelling "Mississippi" as "Missippi." You might argue that they simplified it, but the funniest part is that the article was about the purported success of a literacy program in the state. Maybe the program needed to focus on newspapers too.

Image: Peter Lawrence

The Guardian, one of the UK's most renowned newspapers, earned an unintentional reputation for its numerous typos. In a memorable blunder, it once printed its own name as "Gaurdian," prompting satirical magazine Private Eye to nickname them "Grauniad." Overall, the newspaper took it in good stride, and the nickname is still playfully used, even among its journalists, to refer to the media outlet with a touch of humor.

Image: Daria Kraplak

Unbeknownst to most, James Joyce’s famous novel Finnegans Wake hides an easter egg of sorts. When it comes to an author famous for his experimental and gibberish-like writing, what can possibly be considered a mistake or a typo? Well, it seems the author used to dictate parts of his work to his friend Samuel Beckett, and during one of these sessions, someone knocked at the door, with Joyce immediately saying "Come in." Without thinking twice, Beckett wrote that along with the rest of Joyce’s dictation. It is likely that Joyce noticed the gaffe, but decided to leave it there just to mess with the readers.

ICONIC FEUDS

10 Legendary Rivalries That Left Their Mark On History

Image: Birmingham Museums Trust

Some people are just not made to get along together. And when circumstances pit them against each other or force them to compete, personalities clash and it can lead to bitter confrontations. From bitter rivalries in the world of art to heated conflicts between scientific minds, these feuds have fascinated and entertained generations for centuries.

Let’s delve into the story behind 10 feuds that, in one way or another, left their mark on history.

Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art

The infamous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804 was the culmination of one of the most recounted feuds in American history. Stemming from political disagreements and personal animosity, the confrontation ended tragically. Despite Hamilton’s intentions to avoid harming Burr, his rival showed no restraint, and he ultimately succumbed to a fatal bullet wound days later.

Image: Zach Lucero

The rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in the late 19th century was likely exaggerated by the press, but they certainly had their fair share of differences regarding the best type of electric current for widespread use in cities and large industries. Edison was a proponent of direct current (DC) electricity, a somewhat safer but more expensive and inefficient system due to the dissipation of energy over long distances. Tesla, on the other hand, favored alternating current, more efficient over long distances. In the end, alternating current won, but we still use direct current for some applications.

Image: Alina Grubnyak

For a long time, art historians believed that genius painter Vincent Van Gogh had cut off his own ear during one of his many bouts of depression. But recent research claims that Van Gogh’s severed ear was likely the work of his fellow painter Paul Gauguin. During their brief cohabitation in Arles, France, the duo had many violent altercations, and since Gaughin was a fencing ace - and carried a sword with him - art historians speculate that he could have sliced Van Gogh’s ear during one of their arguments.

Image: Nemesia Production

Legendary boxing heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier engaged in a fierce rivalry both inside and outside the ring. Initially on good terms with each other, their epic trilogy of matches, including the iconic "Thrilla in Manila," captivated the world and further intensified their rivalry. They called each other names and tried to humiliate each other at every opportunity. Despite Ali's attempts to bury the hatchet years later, Frazier refused to reconcile, still angry with Ali’s "cheap" tactics and unnecessary abuse.

Image: Julian Hochgesang

The fierce competition between tech titans Steve Jobs and Bill Gates defined the early days of the personal computer revolution. Although they initially tried to work together, Gates didn’t think much of Job’s vision, and their relationship went south. In later years, both believed that the other was ripping off their product in one way or another and made bitter remarks about each other’s products. However, they also found opportunities to briefly reconcile and support each other’s ideas, proving that despite their differences, there was also mutual admiration.

Image: Parker Coffman

The feud between Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour epitomized the tensions of creative collaboration and individual ambition. When Waters, who viewed himself as the main creative force behind Pink Floyd, left the group in 1984, a bitter legal battle over the use of the band’s name ensued. Despite a couple of brief collaborations, the strained ex-bandmates never reconciled, and to this day have shown no interest in working together again.

Image: Jakob Owens

The on-screen rivalry between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall in "Sex and the City" mirrored real-life tensions between the actresses. Behind-the-scenes conflicts and personal animosities added drama to the beloved television series and its subsequent adaptations. Apparently, most of it was caused by differences in their salaries, as Parker received a substantial raise when she was given an executive producer credit on the show. In response, Parker and other cast members shunned Cattrall, and to this day the two still refuse to speak to each other.

Image: Christian Wiediger

Sibling rivalry reached new heights in the feud between Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, founders of Adidas and Puma, respectively. After their joint success in manufacturing the shoes of Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, their already fragile relationship became strained and they went separate ways. Their rivalry ended up literally dividing the small German town of Herzogenaurach, as their factories were placed on opposite sides of the Aurach river that crossed the town. Their animosity translated into rivalries between their sponsored football teams and even the employees of their respective companies.

Image: Rod Long

The notorious feud between figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan gripped the world during the 1994 Winter Olympics. The inherent tension between the two competitors for the Olympic gold was further escalated by the press' frequent comparisons of each other’s styles. When Harding's ex-husband orchestrated an attack on Kerrigan, injuring her knee, the scandal rocked the skating world and became a sensationalized media spectacle, forever tarnishing Harding's reputation.

Image: Lyman Hansel Gerona

Amusingly, the charming comic relief duo of the "Star Wars" franchise, brought to life by actors Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels, reportedly had a strained relationship off-screen. Daniels was a classically trained actor and believed that his co-star, who came from a circus background, was not up to his standards. Meanwhile, Baker took offense to Daniels' high and mighty attitude around the set, a sentiment that was backed by many cast members.