History's Biggest Unintended Consequences

Dive into history's unintended disasters! From Lenin's rise to power to Prohibition's economic fallout, explore how good intentions paved the road to chaos in this captivating journey through unforeseen consequences.

[JanRademan]

The Eastland sailed for several years after the additional lifeboats were added in 1912. While they were heavy, what sealed the ship's fate was the owners replacing the old wooden decking with (I kid you not) 2 inches of concrete, amounting to between 15 and 20 tons of additional weight above the waterline in 1914.

[schubajo]

Midgeley almost certainly would not have cared if he knew freon caused massive environmental damage. He popularized lead as an additive. He demonstrated how safe it was by breathing leaded exhaust. He then had to take a vacation because he got lead poisoning. He still stood by lead's safety despite that and the fact we have known for a couple thousand years that lead is toxic. He ended up getting a severe case of polio and made a system of pulleys to continue working. That system ended up strangling him to death so we were spared any more of his discoveries.

[RepubsWannaMarryKids]

Fun fact, in NYC during prohibition, drunk driving was the leading cause of death for several years...

[kathyastrom]

The Eastland actually capsized on its side, not fully upside down. I found in the box of photos I inherited from my grandmother one of the Eastland in the Chicago River in the month before it was righted and towed away. My great-grandfather must have taken it from what looks like a small excursion boat—he was a barber on the city’s far South Side in 1915.

[hawkdsl]

A plant I worked at used ammonia. We had a leak and tecs came in to replace some tanks. I asked a guy how bad would it smell if one of these tanks ruptured. He said you wouldn't have to worry about the smell... if one of these ruptured it would kill everybody within a 45 mile radius. I never looked at ammonia the same way again.

[qienna]

From what I understand, lifeboats weren't intended (at the time) to rescue everyone at once in a scenario like the Titanic. They were to ferry people to a rescue ship and it was assumed there would be time to make multiple trips, before the ship sank.

[gbalfour]

About prohibition; the politicians were drinking when they passed the prohibition law.
Very much a rule for thee but not for me scenario.

[cafiend]

The coast of Switzerland is notoriously dangerous.

[victoriaeads]

The Eastman disaster was far more nuanced than "lifeboats made it tip." The ship had a lousy track record already, it was MASSIVELY overloaded with passengers, and there were other mitigating circumstances. Ask The Mortician did an in depth video with interviews of relatives of victims and survivors, etc. a year or so ago. It is extremely well done and respectful.

[MrDkgio]

Thomas Midgely also had the idea of putting lead in fuel to stop engine knocking…

[Grandadflipsfurniture]

Thomas Midgeley was also instrumental in reated leaded petrol (gasoline). He was described as a one-man environmental disaster.

[handle]

Well I guess Scotland and Switzerland both start with 'S'.

[KKRioApartments]

lol @ 4:02 "the German fleet was interred in Scapa Flow in Switzerland". Getting those dreadnoughts up the Swiss Alps must've been quite the feat :D

FWIW, while Prohibition backfired in many ways, it did not get people to drink more. America's alcohol consumption per person dipped significantly during Prohibition. Even after repeal, alcohol consumption never went back to pre-Prohibition levels. So that was at least one thing Prohibition got right: it broke America's copious drinking habits, and by the time it ended, new drinking habits had taken root that involved significantly less alcohol consumption.

[seanmcateer]

4:03 "Scapa Flow in Switzerland"?!?! NO!!!

[SergeantPsycho]

I like how he didn't even have to mention organized crime for Prohibition.

[latenighter]

I worked 4 years for a juice packaging plant and the refrigerant was ammonia. We had a leak one night and had to evac the building. Took hours of venting to clear it out to get fixed. Nasty sh*t.

[dawne]

Thank you for mentioning the Eastland. I had relatives on board that day (not all of whom survived), and so it's of special interest to the family. As someone said, the added lifeboats were the straw that broke the camel's back. The ballast kept shifting, the ship itself was top heavy (but stable while at speed, rather like a bike), it was overloaded with passengers, and the concrete floors of course did not help.

After the inquest and all, it ended up in the hands of the US Navy and became a training ship. It was decommissioned right after WWII, if memory serves.

[stevejohnson]

Somebody once said that every problem has a simple, elegant and wrong solution. It comes from focusing on one aspect of the problem to the exclusion of all other. And people who are looking at the evils of alcohol are understand the dangers of banning it.

[alanhindmarch]

Scapa Flow in Switzerland, didn’t know it moved, as Switzerland is land locked. Scapa Flow, is a body of Water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

[ignitionfrn]

0:40 - Chapter 1 - Lenin's rise to power
3:15 - Chapter 2 - The treaty of versailles
5:55 - Chapter 3 - CFCS in the atmosphere
9:40 - Chapter 4 - The eastland disaster
12:30 - Chapter 5 - Prohibition