DescriptionThe January 1979 revolution in Iran not only led to the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Shah but the taking of American hostages by Islamic fundamentalists. The U.S. attempted a military rescue that failed spectacularly.
DescriptionMost kinds of cars achieved some measure of success in their day. The DeLorean sports coupe was not one of them. Made famous by the Back to the Future films in the 1980s, the model was launched during a recession and publicly funded with no oversight by the British government. Millions of dollars in public money was lost.
DescriptionDuring the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur's daring Inchon landings forced the invading North Koreans to fall back in confusion. But instead of stopping there, MacArthur unfortunately insisted on continuing to the Communist Chinese border.
DescriptionWhen two Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets collided on the runway of the Los Rodeos airport (on the island of Tenerife in Spain) in 1977, 583 people lost their lives. A series of human failures and misunderstandings led to the catastrophe.
DescriptionThe 1954 French army disaster in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu was a colossal political and military miscalculation. A 10, 000-man force surrendered, and the fall of the base forced the French to abandon their Far East colonies.
DescriptionObsessed with the need to modernize China, Mao Tse-tung attempted to quadruple China's steel production by moving 100 million peasants from working the land to working the furnaces. Because there were no raw materials, they were forced to melt down every available metal object. This disastrous plan led to the deaths of some 30 million people from starvation.
