Unlimited first class flying with the Unlimited AAirpass
In 1981, American Airlines introduced a pass that allowed unlimited first class flying around the world: the Unlimited AAirpass. It cost $250,000 and for an additional $150,000 you could take an extra passenger. The pass was discontinued after a few pass owners made a lot of use of their pass and the airline began to make huge losses.
Failed cleanup of Gulf of Mexico
Due to an accident at BP, a lot of oil unintentionally ended up in the sea near the Gulf of Mexico. In order to ensure that this would disappear more quickly, chemicals were thrown into the water that were supposed to make the oil droplets smaller and speed up the decomposition process. Unfortunately, the chemicals had the opposite effect: the chemicals caused microorganisms to flourish and drive out the microorganisms that were breaking down the oil.