Historical Blunders: The Mistakes That Changed the World

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  • Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 717

  • @Sideprojects
    @Sideprojects  21 день тому +30

    Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this video! Head to keeps.com/SIMON to get a special offer. Individual results may vary

    • @ianbracken7973
      @ianbracken7973 21 день тому +3

      Nobody would know who you were if Keeps cured baldness. Not even you!!

    • @thomasjones4570
      @thomasjones4570 21 день тому +6

      A blunder requires real time carelessness. Not carelessness long after the fact. Thus, Russia selling Alaska was not a blunder. It actually made perfect sense not only at the time, but also the near future. In fact, even after the mini-gold rush, Alaska still would have been un-defendable by Russia and America was...itching to take it. The risk for Russia was still too great as it not only meant an issue with a future war with Britain, it also meant holding land that could cause a conflict with America as well.

    • @gohliangsong
      @gohliangsong 21 день тому +3

      Simon should apply Keeps to his scalp, not his chin. ❤

    • @dmitryisakov8769
      @dmitryisakov8769 20 днів тому +2

      Crimean War finished in 1856 not 1865. Why would you make such blunder?
      There is indeed a connection to Crimean War. USA was Russian ally during that war, which was one of the reasons why Russia was the only ally of Lincoln during USA civil war. Alliance, that would be shuttered by Lincoln's assassination in 1865 by the Brits (they tried to assassinate Alexander 2 as well in 1866). Sale of Alaska on unfavourable terms (it was already well known that Alska had wast deposits of gold) was the last attempt to save the alliance. It failed.

    • @SupertzarMetal
      @SupertzarMetal 18 днів тому +2

      Looking to follow Simon's hair growth.

  • @sydhenderson6753
    @sydhenderson6753 21 день тому +343

    To defend Alexander II, having Britain annex Alaska would not have helped Russia that much, but selling it to the US was a way to keep it out of British hands and make the US friendlier.

    • @z0ro_62
      @z0ro_62 21 день тому

      Which is true. Most people don't know that during the Russian Civil war America attacked the communist

    • @dpelpal
      @dpelpal 20 днів тому +34

      Russia's army was a joke then, and it is a joke now. Let's get real here, people 🙄

    • @lewisdoherty7621
      @lewisdoherty7621 20 днів тому

      I have been telling people that. The Russians would have lost it, but sold it to a country which had just been through a civil war and could block Britain.

    • @yewtoob2007
      @yewtoob2007 20 днів тому +19

      During the Crimean War, an Anglo-French force attacked Petropavlovsk, the major port of Kamchatka, twice. Another war with Britain could have easily seen Alaska taken by the sea by a similar enterprise.

    • @brianthomas2434
      @brianthomas2434 20 днів тому +33

      For much the same reason, Napoleon had sold Louisiana to the US in 1803. He knew that, during the almost constant state of war between France and the UK, British troops from Canada would easily outnumber any force France could muster on the North American continent.

  • @carolynmills513
    @carolynmills513 21 день тому +246

    My father was wounded with a bayonet to his leg in WWII, 1945. He was scheduled to have it amputated on 3 occasions. The doctor each time said they had this "wonder drug-penicillin" and would wait til the next day. Story short, it saved his leg.

    • @carolynmills513
      @carolynmills513 21 день тому +23

      Meant 1945...

    • @MichaelScheele
      @MichaelScheele 21 день тому +11

      I assume you meant 1945.

    • @sanitarium017
      @sanitarium017 20 днів тому +14

      ​@carolynmills513 you can edit comments

    • @ravenblood1954
      @ravenblood1954 20 днів тому +13

      @@carolynmills513yeah you could confused my mightily there. At first I was like “How OLD are you if your dad was around in 1845” xD. Then I saw you were talking about WW2 and got even more confused xD

    • @carolynmills513
      @carolynmills513 20 днів тому +2

      @@ravenblood1954 fat fingers!!! Lol

  • @rogergallagher5511
    @rogergallagher5511 20 днів тому +79

    Mao officially stepped down in 1976. That's a new euphemism for death I haven't heard of before.

    • @grizzlygrizzle
      @grizzlygrizzle 20 днів тому

      Leftist lexical manipulations disable truth.

    • @easalsoeas4565
      @easalsoeas4565 17 днів тому +1

      This fool is a propaganda mouthpiece and I would only expect to hear such foolish things spoken as facts

    • @danubiosalas4231
      @danubiosalas4231 16 днів тому +4

      What can you expect? He also said Alaska was purchased for 17 million dollars, everyone knows it was 7.2 millions.

    • @United-Nations-Space-Command.
      @United-Nations-Space-Command. 14 днів тому +4

      Only in death does duty end

    • @gazpachopolice7211
      @gazpachopolice7211 13 днів тому +7

      That may seem funny until you consider that Kim Il Sung didn't step down despite going to hell in 1994 and is still president.

  • @heronimousbrapson863
    @heronimousbrapson863 19 днів тому +34

    During the Crimean war, British warships based in what is now Victoria, British Columbia actually attacked Russian settlements In Alaska. This is perhaps one reason why Russia saw Alaska as undefendable.

  • @ThomasWeaver1992
    @ThomasWeaver1992 21 день тому +99

    Russia was likely going to lose Alaska if they did keep it. British Canada could have easily invaded it. The USA was an ally of Russia at that time, so selling Alaska to an ally was a smart move in the short term.

    • @gideonmele1556
      @gideonmele1556 21 день тому +17

      Not so much an ally but they didn’t have any qualms back then. A much better choice than dealing with their rival, Britain

    • @onewaynestreet
      @onewaynestreet 20 днів тому +27

      ​@@gideonmele1556 Russia was our ally in 1867 and had been an ally of the Union states throughout the Civil War. If it weren't for Russia and their threats against London to remain neutral, Britain may have sided with the Confederacy. They were poised to do so.

    • @tripsaplenty1227
      @tripsaplenty1227 20 днів тому +1

      russia could have got more money if they didn't accept the first low ball offer.

    • @volbound1700
      @volbound1700 19 днів тому +10

      US benefited by the fact that no one liked the British. We got the Louisiana Purchase and Alaska that way.

    • @danidavis7912
      @danidavis7912 17 днів тому +1

      Just my opinion, but yes, the Brits would have destroyed Russia then, if they chose to do so. As a US soldier who trained with our NATO friends in western Europe in the 1980s, I can say with full conviction that the Limeys and the Frogs were both forces to be reckoned with. I have nothing but respect for those guys. Simply put, their special forces were second to none.

  • @et76039
    @et76039 21 день тому +47

    Two points. The sale price was $7.2 million. A co-worker was from Seward's family; it's generally pronounced soo-ard or soo-ward.
    The Russian Empire was overextended by its New World colonies; there was no good transportation route, by any combination, between those colonies and the main imperial population centers. As later demonstrated by the Russo-Japanese War, defending that territory from a hostile power would have been untenable. The colonies functioned to exploit local resources, with few permanent settlers relocating from elsewhere in the empire to live there. The modern analogy might be mining asteroids.

    • @tomaskinoshta7589
      @tomaskinoshta7589 19 днів тому

      FYI: Alaska is a parasitic state. Every year the US government sends more money to Alaska than Alaska sends back to the USA.

    • @VanAuld
      @VanAuld 18 днів тому

      $7.2 million is correct.

  • @dennisenright9347
    @dennisenright9347 19 днів тому +7

    Ironically, long before the gold and oil were discovered, one of the first natural resources exploited in "Seward's Icebox" was ice. To be harvested and sent to cool the drinks in the saloons of San Francisco.

  • @victoriaeads6126
    @victoriaeads6126 21 день тому +190

    I lived in Russia for a few years back in the early 2000s. MULTIPLE times Russians asked me why America never returned Alaska after the lease expired.
    There was no lease, it was an outright sale. At the time it was called "Seward's Folly" because Alaska was thought to be empty of anything useful. Yeah, Russia regrets it. OTOH, what a nightmare international politics would have been (and would be again) if Russia had territory in North America 😳

    • @user-ge8yn4ql4i
      @user-ge8yn4ql4i 21 день тому +14

      How did they react to learning that it was a sale?

    • @argiberico
      @argiberico 20 днів тому +53

      @@user-ge8yn4ql4i invading Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine.

    • @dmitryisakov8769
      @dmitryisakov8769 20 днів тому +21

      I agree. It was a sale. What actually happened to the money is debatable, but it doesn't remove the fact of sale.
      Now, I also want to contribute a personal anecdote. I have lived abroad for a very long time and met a lot of Americans. But so far, none of them knew who Cassius Clay is. The story of Alaska sale is incomprehensible without him. But somehow, he is practically erased from history books. Are you aware of the guy? Muhammed Ali's name before converion to islam was Cassius Clay, but it was given to him in honor of that original Clay (just for your information)😉
      Let me know if this information is of interest

    • @philipliethen519
      @philipliethen519 20 днів тому +9

      @@dmitryisakov8769 How is the story of the sale of Alaska incomprehensible without what involvement of Cassius Clay? Thank you.

    • @dmitryisakov8769
      @dmitryisakov8769 20 днів тому +29

      ​@@philipliethen519 I will try not to go down too far down the history ;)
      During the election campaign in 1860, Lincoln was relatively dismissive or even hostile towards Russia. When civil war broke down in 1861 it could have become a breaking point for him, because immediately Britain and France offered support to South (inclusive initiative in recognizing South as legitimate political entity in international affairs). However, Cassius Clay was USA ambassador in Sankt-Petersburg. It was under his initiative that direct communication (letter exchange) between Lincoln and Alexander was established. Letters are quite fascinating in themselves. Particularly important the letter from Alexander describing the proposal from Britain and France on recognizing South. Alexander told Lincoln that not only he rejected the proposal, but he also declared that if Britain and France intervene, Russia would declare war on them. Russian fleet in New York and San-Francisco at critical moment of the war in 1863 was part of the same effort from Cassius Clay (British historians in early 20th century re-wrote/ridiculed that event), including the emperors order to Russian admiral, that in the event of British or France attack he submit his fleet under command of Lincoln.
      Emancipation of serfs in Russia took place in 1861. While there were multiple abolitionists around Lincoln, he was refusing to make abolition of slavery as focus in the Civil War. It was Cassius Clay, that personally delivered the copy of Russian Emancipation Manifesto to Lincoln in 1862, and kind of shamed Lincoln into pivoting and declaring abolition of slavery in 1863. Collaboration between Lincoln and Russia continued throughout the war. Cassius Clay particularly pushed for a telegraph line project that would connect USA to Europe through Alaska and whole Russian territory. That project was championed by Wester Union. And it is in the reports from this project one can find that everyone (both Russians and Americans) knew well by 1865 that Alaska had deposits of gold. However, after the end of civil war and more importantly the assassination of Lincoln everything went downhill. Note that within the year of Lincoln assassination the first attempt on Alexander’s life took place. It took them 4 attempts to kill him. By them I mean British puppet masters - too much data points towards them.
      However, even after Lincoln assassination Clay tried to maintain the alliance and he was pushing to telegraph project. But in 1866 trans-Atlantic telegraph line was complete making the east route less attractive. Clay tried to save this project, he also tried to preserve the alliance with Russia. It was him who proposed the idea of Alaska sale and he was working on that project. But his plan was to make it a vehicle to preserve alliance. But Seward was in pro-British camp. On Russian side it is important to understand that Alaska was not formally Russian. It was actually part of Russian-American company - a private corporation that was actually causing a lot of trouble for the emperor. So he actually wanted to break it. And from his perspective he was killing 2 birds with one stone. But he underestimated the influence of corruption. Including the fact that his ambassador Stoeckl was compromised by the company. By the time of sale, Clay was removed from his position and was marginalized. And the whole Alaska deal was repackaged. So now we know it a Sewards folly.
      This is just a gist of it. I think enough for the UA-cam post 😉)

  • @Mike-kc5ew
    @Mike-kc5ew 21 день тому +37

    The selling of Alaska was a calculated decision of Russia at the time. Don't forget, history does not occur in a vacuum. Russia had just been to war with the UK, and the UK claimed a large portion of the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia, and the Yukon, which bordered Alaska. It wasn't too hard to predict that if Russia would be in another war with the UK, they may lose the Alaska territory and receive no financial compensation. So Russia determined how much they assumed the land to be worth (boy were they off), and sold it to anyone but Britain. The U.S. just happened to be in the right place at the right time for the sale to work out for their favor.

    • @gideonmele1556
      @gideonmele1556 21 день тому +9

      And the Great Game was far more important than what was seen as a vast, sparely populated snowfield that had some good sealing. Offloading that flank to a neutral third party for a nice chunk of change seemed like a good play until the gold and oil discoveries which to be fair, Russia wasn’t in a position to capitalize on even if the kept it.

    • @Sarindanvelor
      @Sarindanvelor 20 днів тому +7

      i mean tbf they were worried about the brits taking it so they sold it to people who had a pretty solid recent track record of beating the brits

    • @justonecornetto80
      @justonecornetto80 20 днів тому +3

      @@Sarindanvelor Solid track record? Are you forgetting the War of 1812 when the British threw the US out of Canada then marched into Washington and had a party in the White House before burning it down? By the end of the war, the US was practically bankrupt because of the British naval blockade.
      Track record indeed.

    • @johnc2438
      @johnc2438 15 днів тому

      @@justonecornetto80 But then there was that little coda in New Orleans, before word of the treaty signing had reached the battling belligerents in the Gulf of Mexico. The Duke of Wellington's son-in-law met his end at the hand of Old HIckory.

    • @danfsteeple
      @danfsteeple 14 днів тому

      And it hurt the Native Alaskans

  • @joluoto
    @joluoto 20 днів тому +13

    Russia actually needed cash at the time, and just like the Americans called it Steward's Folly, St. Petersburg considered Alaska completely worthless. The money they got from the sale went right into much needed infrastructure projects.

  • @Docwilson91
    @Docwilson91 21 день тому +48

    For those who didn’t do the math, Alaskan oil reserves are worth $275.2 billion according the data Simon provided.

    • @ChicagoFaucet.etc.
      @ChicagoFaucet.etc. 20 днів тому +7

      Great. That almost pays for Ukraine. 🙄

    • @autobootpiloot
      @autobootpiloot 20 днів тому +15

      @@ChicagoFaucet.etc.thankfully the more stable world economy pays for the aid to Ukraine more than ten times over. And the arms manufacturers flourish because of it. And it gives the us more international power that will pay for it. And that power will make the us sell even more arms to allies.
      Not helping Ukraine will be the end of the us being a superpower. Every single man outside of the us knows that. Sadly more and more people inside the us don’t have a clue of anything outside its borders. The ones that do support Ukraine.

    • @andrewharper3165
      @andrewharper3165 20 днів тому +1

      ​@@autobootpilootaptly surmised Sir.

    • @Docwilson91
      @Docwilson91 19 днів тому +3

      @@autobootpiloot the US supplying Ukraine allow the US to get rid of older stock and allows us to make new munitions. So it’s a win at least for arms manufacturers

    • @autobootpiloot
      @autobootpiloot 19 днів тому +1

      @@Docwilson91 even better, a lot of weapons given would have to be recycled in the US and is now given to Ukraine. They actually save money by giving it away, but on paper they write down the replacement as the amount of military aid given. That’s not fair and very misleading in my opinion.
      That isn’t the case with all weapons given obviously. Everything combined does cost a lot of money, but it’s worth it I think.

  • @sparky7915
    @sparky7915 20 днів тому +13

    While men were searching for gold they had to eat too. Apparently there were Chinese in Alaska preparing food for the men. According to my bathroom reader some men woke up a Chinese guy looking for food. In a hurry he gathered all kinds of leftovers and put it all together. The men loved it and asked him what it was. The Chinese said it was Chop Suey or junk food.

    • @captainspaulding5963
      @captainspaulding5963 20 днів тому +5

      Chop suey is widely believed to have been developed in the U.S. by Chinese Americans, but the anthropologist E. N. Anderson, traces the dish to tsap seui (杂碎, "miscellaneous leftovers"), common in Taishan (Toisan), a county in Guangdong province, the home of many early Chinese immigrants to the United States

  • @dereksollows9783
    @dereksollows9783 20 днів тому +16

    That story about Dr Flemings' sufferings at the hand of big-medicine keeps repeating endlessly.

  • @petertrevorah7689
    @petertrevorah7689 20 днів тому +10

    I’m so glad you mentioned Howard Florey and his team. So often I have read simplistic histories of penicillin that give all the credit to Fleming. As you have said, the truth is much more nuanced but it was Florey and his team that actually put the drug to work saving lives.

    • @robertthomson1587
      @robertthomson1587 16 днів тому

      Indeed. The Australian prime minister Sir Robert Menzies said, "In terms of world well-being, Florey was the most important man ever born in Australia".

  • @WaywardVet
    @WaywardVet 21 день тому +37

    The Louisiana Purchase. Not only did France give away land they hadn't conqured, it pretty much set the stage for "It's ours on paper".

    • @nyuuchan3563
      @nyuuchan3563 20 днів тому +3

      This is true. The fact that no other country disputed the purchase tho…

    • @grizzlygrizzle
      @grizzlygrizzle 20 днів тому +3

      The expansion of a primitive, tribal theocratic ideology beginning around 632 AD.

    • @WaywardVet
      @WaywardVet 19 днів тому +4

      @@nyuuchan3563 And i will admit, i am a US Cavalry veterean. There were disputes. We still laugh about Custer. Tecumseh we revere. (I should clarify. Nations protested. My branch of the army behaved poorly)

    • @SnowLeopard-lt1vf
      @SnowLeopard-lt1vf 19 днів тому +1

      @@grizzlygrizzlesounds like your describing Christianity in the 11th-13th century more than 632.

    • @ADobbin1
      @ADobbin1 17 днів тому +1

      It was french territory. The Spanish gave it away.

  • @lajoyalobos2009
    @lajoyalobos2009 21 день тому +30

    Aren't sparrows mostly insectivores? Whoever thought that was a good idea had no clue what they were doing. If anything, one would think having MORE sparrows would be a good thing.

    • @giselematthews7949
      @giselematthews7949 21 день тому

      Ya, the government in China and Russia is still in the dark ages.

    • @gideonmele1556
      @gideonmele1556 21 день тому +12

      Mao is as Mao does

    • @swlak516
      @swlak516 21 день тому +13

      Commies gonna Commie

    • @southerndruid3391
      @southerndruid3391 20 днів тому +8

      Sparrows are omnivores. Like most other finches, they are opportunists.

    • @jonthinks6238
      @jonthinks6238 20 днів тому +6

      Mao got almost everything wrong. 😅

  • @GLASSB182
    @GLASSB182 20 днів тому +14

    I absolutely love the name of this video lol. Like Arthur C. Clarke once said, "A hundred mistakes would not matter, when a single success could change the destiny of the world." But in these cases, it did matter lmao.

    • @aceundead4750
      @aceundead4750 20 днів тому +3

      Lol or you could view this video as "a hundred successes wont matter when a single mistake can change the destiny of the world."

  • @ignitionfrn2223
    @ignitionfrn2223 20 днів тому +7

    0:40 - Mid roll ads
    2:10 - Chapter 1 - The killing of sparrows in china & the great famine
    5:10 - Chapter 2 - Discovery of penicilin
    8:50 - Chapter 3 - Constantinople's unlocked gate
    12:55 - Chapter 4 - Russia sells alaska

  • @SenorGato237
    @SenorGato237 18 днів тому +4

    "Why did Constantinople get the works? An unlocked gate," just doesn't have the same ring to it.

    • @WAL_DC-6B
      @WAL_DC-6B 15 днів тому

      "Why did Constantinople get the works?" ...... "that's nobody's business but the Turks!" has a better "ring to it."

  • @treydezellem27
    @treydezellem27 21 день тому +9

    Selling Alaska was not a blunder, it was a necessity to survive as a state. It was completely worthless to the Russians therefore just because it’s been discovered for its resources now doesn’t mean it was a blunder.

    • @guru47pi
      @guru47pi 17 днів тому

      Exactly. Think of it this way: Russia already has 5-6 Alaskas that they can actually defend; they're called Siberia. Siberia is loaded with gold, oil, titanium, diamonds, etc. It's just extremely poor bc all the money goes to the czar, the Party, or oligarchs, depending on the century.
      Put another way, this is like saying France should never have sold Louisiana to the US. They had only gotten back from Spain a few years before the sale, and had no ability to defend it. Selling both to the US were basically the countries getting paid to acknowledge the reality that they couldn't develop or defend the regions

  • @kj55
    @kj55 20 днів тому +8

    Can you imagine how different the cold war would have played out if Russia still had Alaska

    • @landtuna3469
      @landtuna3469 15 днів тому

      ....or northern California?

    • @danfsteeple
      @danfsteeple 14 днів тому +1

      The White Army probably would have fled to Alaska

    • @acerimmer8338
      @acerimmer8338 10 днів тому

      Yeah, it would've been even colder. Gets pretty chilly up in Alaska.

  • @brianmarple9029
    @brianmarple9029 19 днів тому +3

    Watching this while on the Alaskan north slope working in the oilfield made it all the better.

  • @padawanmage71
    @padawanmage71 21 день тому +6

    “Hey, that’s a cool looking horse!”
    King Priam of Troy

  • @mikesturyan9
    @mikesturyan9 21 день тому +5

    Pretty sure it was the cannons knocking down the walls that let the Ottomans in.

  • @johnvaleanbaily246
    @johnvaleanbaily246 21 день тому +23

    Yeah... about the Alaska purchase. You do realize that the Klondike gold rush happened in Canada, not Alaska. In fact the Klondike is region of the Yukon territory (as it was then), in north-western Canada... Always good to get your facts right.

    • @sydhenderson6753
      @sydhenderson6753 21 день тому +4

      I think Simon has a video on the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes. The Americans who went to the Klondike went through Alaska. The Nome gold rush was kind of a sequel and a lot easier to get to since it isn't hundreds of miles inland.

    • @pmgn8444
      @pmgn8444 21 день тому

      Very true. Fact Boi and some of his writers aren't really concerned about accuracy.
      US merchants in Seattle and in Skagway, Alaska Territory, made a fortune equipping people heading into Canada's Klondike.

    • @baronvonjo1929
      @baronvonjo1929 21 день тому

      ​@@pmgn8444I'm sure they care. But with how many topics they cover and how many videos I don't particularly expect everything to be right but its still annoying.

    • @et76039
      @et76039 21 день тому +3

      Wikipedia points to the Klondike Gold Rush as a factor in populating Alaska. Although the Klondike is indeed in Canada, access was through Alaska, so Simon doesn't lose points on that. Both trails that were used to get to the Klondike originated in Alaska. It took the AlCan Highway to get a major road to tie the Yukon to the rest of Canada, several decades later.

  • @beerasaurus
    @beerasaurus 21 день тому +36

    Mao was the most powerful fool ever

    • @jonthinks6238
      @jonthinks6238 20 днів тому

      He sets the deplorable record for killing the most people. Yes and china is still communist.

    • @grizzlygrizzle
      @grizzlygrizzle 20 днів тому +4

      Biden: "Hold my beer."

    • @DubhghlasMacDubhghlas
      @DubhghlasMacDubhghlas 19 днів тому +20

      @@grizzlygrizzle I don't like Biden but to think he is worse than Mao shows how uneducated you are.

    • @112313
      @112313 18 днів тому

      ​@@DubhghlasMacDubhghlasgive joe some time...and he will kill millions through nothing but gaffe.

    • @DavidMcdonald-df8tb
      @DavidMcdonald-df8tb 13 днів тому +1

      The more I hear about that guy Mao the more I think he was a real jerk.

  • @tango_uniform
    @tango_uniform 20 днів тому +3

    My dad taught me about Chinese sparrows 60 years ago. Very interesting.

  • @thomasjones4570
    @thomasjones4570 21 день тому +13

    A blunder requires real time carelessness. Not carelessness long after the fact. Thus, Russia selling Alaska was not a blunder. It actually made perfect sense not only at the time, but also the near future. In fact, even after the mini-gold rush, Alaska still would have been un-defendable by Russia and America was...itching to take it. The risk for Russia was still too great as it not only meant an issue with a future war with Britain, it also meant holding land that could cause a conflict with America as well.

    • @baneofbanes
      @baneofbanes 21 день тому +2

      Thing is even for the time the sale of Alaska was extremely cheap. They very likely could’ve charged more for the territory and America still would’ve paid it.

    • @thomasjones4570
      @thomasjones4570 21 день тому +6

      @@baneofbanes Still does not fit the criteria for a blunder as a things value is relative.
      At the time the land held little value for Russia as they could not defend it and the little they could gleam from the land did not add any value to Russia or its economy coupled with the fact that anything they wanted to do with it came with a higher cost of transport over such a vast distance.
      To this day the land itself has little value and that is why its population is under 1 million despite its size.

    • @gideonmele1556
      @gideonmele1556 21 день тому +6

      @@baneofbanesthe concern was the US rejecting the proposal and the Brits just taking it. So either get cash or lose it anyway. If they knew oil and gold were there, that would be even more incentive for Britain to strike at that mostly undefended vast tract of snow. Giving the Brits ports so close to the Russian Pacific would have been even worse

  • @martinfitzsimons5884
    @martinfitzsimons5884 21 день тому +7

    Its clear how well Keeps works. Simon’s beard is coming along nicely 😎👍

  • @StephenJohnson-jb7xe
    @StephenJohnson-jb7xe 20 днів тому +4

    If you are alarmed by how Simon pronounced Seeward you should hear how he pronounces quarter horse.

  • @kimiyoshi1818
    @kimiyoshi1818 19 днів тому +2

    This video reminds me of the book "100 Mistakes that Changed History" by Bill Fawcett. It's a good read, and makes me think that history is not just about winners, but cataclysmic blunders.

  • @patrickbo2045
    @patrickbo2045 18 днів тому +3

    Elephants, you say?
    Check out the naked mole rat, that's a freak of nature that pretty much deserves its own video

  • @kidbluboo
    @kidbluboo 21 день тому +8

    Holy crap Simon I've literally watched 5 new videos from you today spread across all your channels! Keep them coming!

    • @Hillbilly001
      @Hillbilly001 21 день тому

      He's a Lizard Overlord. Allegedly.

    • @stephd2607
      @stephd2607 20 днів тому +1

      Only 5? Those are rookie numbers.

  • @yukonbikerguy
    @yukonbikerguy 20 днів тому +4

    Thanks for the video guys, always entertaining! The 1898 Klondike gold rush happened in Yukon Territory Canada. The people came through Skagway USA and over the White Pass into Canada to Dawson City Yukon. It wasn't part of Alaska and so that gold would not have belonged to Russia. The gold in Nome and the oil are real Alaskan treasures though, that would have been Russian.

  • @DavidWRankinJr
    @DavidWRankinJr 20 днів тому +5

    The US was the enemy of my enemy for Russia. The British had local troops in Canada, and a history of fighting wars for territory. Alaska was at the very far end of a supply train for Russia at the very time when it couldn’t afford to maintain it. The British tried to take Crimea and almost fought the US for Oregon and Vancouver several times, why wouldn’t Alexander think Britain would use any excuse to take Alaska from him. The Yukon Gold Rush would have provided that excuse if nothing else.
    To use the old expression, Alexander cut his losses. Yes, Alaska was worth more than he got, but he was better off with it in US hands than British hands.

    • @tomriley5790
      @tomriley5790 10 днів тому

      Yep I'm pretty sure he was hoping it would lead to a war between Britian and the US if he got lucky...

  • @philiphumphrey1548
    @philiphumphrey1548 20 днів тому +3

    I would say Boudicca's decision to fight a pitched battle with the Romans at Watling Street (ignoring all the hard learned lessons and experience of the previous 17 years) was a monumental blunder that had long term effects. But for that England might never have been Romanized and history could have been very different.

    • @tomriley5790
      @tomriley5790 10 днів тому

      Reality is Britain was never really romanised, we were always an uncivilised barbarian frontier that cost more to keep than was gained, that's why the Romans withdrew (as well as all those troops required to keep Britain under control led to an uncomfortably large force that every hundred years or so would give the commander the idea of setting off to try and conquer rome themselves).

  • @nanoglitch6693
    @nanoglitch6693 19 днів тому +1

    YO!!! As an Alaskan, massive kudos on pronouncing Kenai correctly! Non-locals pretty much ubiquitously *always* get it wrong with a baffling consistency lol. 😂

  • @mathiassommer1851
    @mathiassommer1851 21 день тому +1

    Man I really like that almost everyday when I go to bed there is a new video. Thank you!

  • @djsonicc
    @djsonicc 20 днів тому +1

    "it isn't clear who left the gate unlocked..."
    Yeah I can't imagine too many people being eager to admit that kind of a blunder lol

  • @jasondarland2383
    @jasondarland2383 21 день тому +8

    After starving through a few months of siege for an emperor who probably treats me like shit anyway, can bet your ass id sneak through that gate for a late night smoke and just forget to close it on the way back.

    • @Davy_Blaze
      @Davy_Blaze 20 днів тому +1

      Well if the attacking force new about your colaboration, sure. Otherwise by opening gates you would be killed as a regular enemy soldier.

  • @Hanoverfist86
    @Hanoverfist86 19 днів тому +1

    Quote “History is a pack of fables that is agreed upon.”Napoleon Bonaparte 🇫🇷

  • @Jakey4000
    @Jakey4000 20 днів тому +1

    At least at my pharmacy we don't care if you're looking for any product for a reason, we just want to make sure you're getting the best option available, or advice if the only option is to get a prescription

  • @amaccama3267
    @amaccama3267 21 день тому +6

    Congratulations on 1M

  • @wailingalen
    @wailingalen 20 днів тому +3

    Mao's "Great Leap into Famine and Death"

    • @tritium1998
      @tritium1998 День тому

      He gained more food and lives than ever after the Great Leap Forward instead of collapsing into civil war and assassination like other glorified regimes.

  • @fatmanjones5359
    @fatmanjones5359 21 день тому +1

    Had to watch Cleetus,That Chapter then your video. Top 3 is pretty good but you hold 3 of my top 10 favorite videos to watch.

    • @RedBeardTheFirst
      @RedBeardTheFirst 21 день тому

      When you say Cleetus do you mean the Resurrection of the Fiero?

  • @seanwiley558
    @seanwiley558 20 днів тому +1

    Well, I guess I am now officially part of the Simon club. You mentioned your mega projects channel.... paused this video... searched, found, and subscribed. 😂

  • @demon.shisui494
    @demon.shisui494 20 днів тому +1

    Damn Simon ngl been watching you since I was but a wee lad and it’s great to see you still doing interesting videos and showing more of your personality. Been loving you’re stuff since the good ole Top 10 channel videos. Found you originally for historical videos and stayed for the extra random facts🤣😂

    • @scottmeredith3359
      @scottmeredith3359 20 днів тому

      The only videos of his I’ve seen (a LOT) all date back to 2020 at the oldest. He has videos much older than that??

  • @kevoseddo4064
    @kevoseddo4064 18 днів тому +1

    Will you make a video about historic retail companies? For example, sears used to be huge and sell full home building kits. I wonder if there are even older companies that had a massive inventory

  • @scottjackson1420
    @scottjackson1420 21 день тому +4

    Biggest mistake? Dating the hot redhead for 2 1/2 years as an undergrad.
    My God, were there bad long-term repercussions from THAT!

    • @Jameson1776
      @Jameson1776 21 день тому

      Do tell?

    • @gideonmele1556
      @gideonmele1556 21 день тому +1

      Ayyyyyyyy
      We all have at least one

    • @grizzlygrizzle
      @grizzlygrizzle 20 днів тому

      Choosing a wife because she's good in bed is up there, too.

    • @tomriley5790
      @tomriley5790 10 днів тому

      I'd love to hear the rest of this story but it doesn't sound like it was entirely without its compensations :-)!

  • @peterdollins3610
    @peterdollins3610 21 день тому +2

    The crusade fro m Venice a rival of 'the City' inspired by Pope Innocent to Jerusalum stopped at Constatinoble & sacked the City in 1204? so weakening the Empire. This led to the weakness and to the end of Constantinoble. Those fleeing 'the City' took knowledge to Italy so sparking the Renaissance.

  • @azureandnoir3274
    @azureandnoir3274 20 днів тому +2

    leaving my high paying job to start a business with a jack ass who stole my ideas then tried to sue me is in my top 10 greatest mistakes that and messaging my ex

    • @grizzlygrizzle
      @grizzlygrizzle 20 днів тому +1

      Idea-stealing has become quite commonplace these days.

    • @azureandnoir3274
      @azureandnoir3274 19 днів тому +1

      @@grizzlygrizzle its frustratingly annoying and sad when you try your hardest to think outside the box just to have it ripped away from you

  • @2neetoon
    @2neetoon 21 день тому +20

    Forking over Alaska is certainly a "blunder." I guess they miss those billions every year.

    • @abrvalg321
      @abrvalg321 21 день тому +4

      In his casual russophobia Simon never told you that the reason was purely political and not economic.

    • @Shinzon23
      @Shinzon23 21 день тому +15

      ​@@abrvalg321 russophobia? I sense a Russian troll

    • @cwj2733
      @cwj2733 21 день тому +9

      @@abrvalg321selling alaska was purely a goofy ass choice. the slavs there had been making GOOD ass money the decades they owned it. they sold it cus they were just scared of british and were poor because of crimea.
      there is no russian bias. they were driven into a financial hole because they wanted crimea, and that they have obliterated the otter population in alaska. so they goofily sold alaska. the end

    • @aq5426
      @aq5426 21 день тому +3

      They still consider Alaska to be Russian territory, and given half a chance they'll swipe it from us.

    • @aq5426
      @aq5426 21 день тому +7

      @@abrvalg321 Slava Ukraini, bot.

  • @aguynamednathan
    @aguynamednathan 21 день тому

    Getting here this early is one of the GREATEST accomplishments of my life!

  • @clintonpangburn3698
    @clintonpangburn3698 21 день тому

    It's the blunders rather than the success that keeps us coming back Simon!

    • @JamesOfEarth
      @JamesOfEarth 21 день тому

      Seaward

    • @samuelgarrod8327
      @samuelgarrod8327 21 день тому

      Successful missions aren't interesting. Hence all the films about the Vietnam war.

  • @Makem12
    @Makem12 9 днів тому

    So basically, #1 is don't go messing with an ecosystem until you have a very strong understanding of it and its relationships with plants and animals.

  • @Qolos
    @Qolos 21 день тому +3

    Now we know why Constantinople got the works.

  • @obijoel4209
    @obijoel4209 6 днів тому

    Hey Simon...would be nice to see a video on the positive side of this - where we learn about historical "mistakes" that actually lead to wonderful, life-saving inventions or medicines. The discovery of penicillin was good in this video but I'd like to know more.

  • @drake6sermos665
    @drake6sermos665 21 день тому

    Sweet Drop, Simon

  • @ferengiprofiteer9145
    @ferengiprofiteer9145 20 днів тому +5

    Manhattan Island was purchased for 14 billion dollars in beads. (Adjusted for today's money)

  • @rwarren58
    @rwarren58 15 днів тому

    Thank you. As of this moment, no elephant should be safe.

  • @MattValtezzy95
    @MattValtezzy95 20 днів тому

    I saw the Great Chinese Famine was the first thing you were bringing up and took a swig of my cocktail

  • @starkiller578
    @starkiller578 21 день тому +2

    HOW MANY UA-cam CHANNELS DOES THIS MAN HOST?!??😭💀

  • @briansimon4363
    @briansimon4363 17 днів тому

    Only in a story about Penicillin could there be a poster ‘curing gonorrhoea in 4 hours’ and a scientist called V. D. Allison. Is my mind twisted and dark?!🤣

  • @maxcichon2557
    @maxcichon2557 19 днів тому +1

    "Casual Friday"? Stocking feet and open pantries?

  • @SquallLeonhartlo
    @SquallLeonhartlo 15 днів тому

    As for Alaska, Russia felt it was in a situation where it either had to sell Alaska or someone would take it by force. Defending it, establishing the infrastructure necessary to profit from it, and sending people there to work the land were all going to be too expensive and difficult for the Russians to be seen as worthwhile.
    The Russians and Americans had a survey of Alaska done before the sale, and it was known that there was a lot of mineral wealth there. The Russians just weren't going to be in a position to exploit it before someone took it from them.
    It's comparable to if America were to sell the moon to aliens, because the aliens might take it anyway and America couldn't really exploit it effectively.

  • @saiynoq6745
    @saiynoq6745 20 днів тому

    5:11 my wife had a C section an they stuffed her with a gel that had sliver in it to help with healing on a number of levels an I can see why sliver was so important way back I’m sure they could see back then how it help

  • @DenethorDurrandir
    @DenethorDurrandir 20 днів тому

    I feel sympathetic to Constantinopole, can't even count how many times my teammates in Rust left the doors open, leaving us vulnerable to a raid.

  • @Gungnirs_revenge
    @Gungnirs_revenge 20 днів тому

    Love the fact keeps has literally made the link Simons name

  • @Laszlo34
    @Laszlo34 19 днів тому

    I love the ad for Keeps as read by the poster child for...Losts ;P

  • @whyjnot420
    @whyjnot420 17 днів тому

    2200 year old Roman Empire. 753 BC (traditional date of the founding of Rome) - 1453 CE (fall of Constantinople)

  • @jensphiliphohmann1876
    @jensphiliphohmann1876 12 днів тому

    12:45
    Actually, the Turks called the city Konstantiniye. The name Istanbul which was increasingly adopted until it became the official name of the capital in the 19th century and was eventually confirmed as such in 1930 to make it sound more Turkish is of Greek origin. It derives from "eis tin polin" ("into the city").

  • @plaguedoct0r
    @plaguedoct0r 20 днів тому +1

    One time I was born, and I've been regretting it ever since.

  • @JordaneseTyphoon-jk6fr
    @JordaneseTyphoon-jk6fr 23 години тому

    You did make one small error: Mao didn’t “step down” in 1976. He died

  • @Gator198l
    @Gator198l 18 днів тому

    "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men." Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult.

  • @The_Butler_Did_It
    @The_Butler_Did_It 17 днів тому

    Can't help thinking the sponsor of this video might have made a tiny blunder:
    Use Keeps and you too could have a full head of hair, just like I haven't

  • @do6631
    @do6631 20 днів тому +1

    Russia never would have been able to hold onto Alaska. Selling it was the best possible option. Yeah the gold rush started in Canada, but it did spread to Alaska. And had it been a Russian holding then, it wouldn't have stopped the Americans from going in and claiming it.

  • @conradbo1
    @conradbo1 18 днів тому

    The historical blunder you made Simon was to put keeps on your chin instead of your head. But still I must admit that your look works very well

  • @amethyst49ergurl
    @amethyst49ergurl 21 день тому

    Oooh new video 🎉

  • @billness2635
    @billness2635 18 днів тому

    Couple of corrections to the Alaska story. First one is the purchase price was $7.2 million dollars, not $17 million. Second point is the pronunciation of Seward. It’s not “Sea Ward” it’s “Soo Ward.”

    • @judyd1
      @judyd1 15 днів тому

      That accent is disconcerting...my closed captioning shows he actually said seven point two million.

  • @javiermoretti1825
    @javiermoretti1825 18 днів тому

    Blunder: It wasn't "Emperor Constantinople," he was Constantine XI Palaiologos.

  • @here_we_go_again2571
    @here_we_go_again2571 19 днів тому

    As soon as British settlement in Canada reached British Columbia, Canada would have seized Alaska. The Tsar did well to
    sell it; the money enabled him to free the serfs and to begin building Russia's railway.

  • @Crioten
    @Crioten 20 днів тому

    The starfishes, really, really love you ;]

  • @julianaylor4351
    @julianaylor4351 20 днів тому +1

    Look it another way, if we were as clever as we think we are, there would be no horrible or amazingly lucky incidents, like these events in history.

    • @grizzlygrizzle
      @grizzlygrizzle 20 днів тому +1

      Intellectual arrogance is almost always involved when there's a catastrophe in modern times.

  • @dellseasandoval8187
    @dellseasandoval8187 20 днів тому

    I laughed my ass off when the bald dude is promoting a hair growth product but it is absolutely genius. The gentleman speaking as the host talks about how his hair journey is over and using expressions like that bald dude on the Internet just makes me laugh so much. What a brilliant advertisement. Normally I hate ads with a passion and do everything to skip them 99% of the time, but this definitely represents one of those rare one percent occasions. I hope the announcer always promotes the hair growth products because I absolutely love the way he does it. The opposite and I’m so freaking I have to shave my head & some areas of my body every month because I’m like a gorilla 🦍.

  • @parallaxnick637
    @parallaxnick637 15 днів тому

    No love for Vortigern? Who invited the English into Britain to help fend off the Irish and Scots? And then got betrayed when they wouldn't stop coming? Imagine a world where he didn't make that mistake.

  • @-Angelscor-
    @-Angelscor- 20 днів тому

    A little correction and humble info contribution,
    Mehmed II's army during the siege of Constantinople was approximately more than 100,000 men, not 60,000. The enormous giant cannons the turks had were forged by Hungarian engineer Orban who defected to the ottoman empire as a resentful Christian.

    • @tomriley5790
      @tomriley5790 10 днів тому

      Resentful because the byzantines wouldn't pay what he wanted they didn't have the cash. He blew himself up with one of his guns during the siege.

  • @randypullman1155
    @randypullman1155 20 днів тому +1

    Alaska wasn't a bad deal. It was sell it, or it would be colonized . Defending it would be impossible. Russia did point out that sale was the same as buying the Brooklyn bridge. Bonus zero gallons of oil from Alaska goes to Americans.

  • @gtd-sq2pj
    @gtd-sq2pj 20 днів тому

    Damn it! Simon.

  • @BLOXKAFELLARECORDS
    @BLOXKAFELLARECORDS 19 днів тому +1

    👏🏽 good show.

  • @valiant971
    @valiant971 21 день тому +2

    It isn't pronounced William "Seeward", it's "Suard".

  • @jameslong4511
    @jameslong4511 12 днів тому

    It was Bob who left the gate unlocked. Mystery solved.

  • @seandelap8587
    @seandelap8587 21 день тому +1

    Where do you even start with all this

  • @kevbis4231
    @kevbis4231 2 дні тому

    I lived in Dawson city Yukon Canada still looks the same as the gold rush!!

  • @jmanj3917
    @jmanj3917 20 днів тому

    0:01 ...Oh, jeez!!
    Where to begin?
    *SO* many choices...
    🤣

  • @ericdanielski4802
    @ericdanielski4802 21 день тому +1

    Nice video.

  • @hewhoshallnotbenamed5168
    @hewhoshallnotbenamed5168 13 днів тому

    Russia probably curses Alexander II's name to this day for selling off Alaska after gold AND oil were discovered there, lol.

    • @tomriley5790
      @tomriley5790 10 днів тому

      Not really they wouldn't have been able to hold on to it anyway..

  • @JoRoWi83
    @JoRoWi83 8 днів тому

    The Alaska blunder… how much gold has been pulled from that land

  • @mandygershon8603
    @mandygershon8603 19 днів тому

    Nice to hear about Alaska; I live here. There are still Alaska Natives who are also part of the Siberian tribes. Russian fur traders destroyed entire Native villages here back then, too. We're not exactly anti-colonial here because of that. And yes, we have A LOT of oil. We're just not allowed to get it.

  • @casper_z1259
    @casper_z1259 День тому

    12:46 It officially became Turkish but it would not be renamed Istanbul until the 20th century.