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Dumb History: The Stupidest Mistakes Ever Made
A book that proves idiocy is as old as time
Think civilization has deteriorated and that people these days are dumber than ever? Dumb History proves that we didn’t invent stupidity in the 21st century. You’ll find facts from throughout the ages about everyone from Cleopatra and Napoleon to Elvis Presley and even NASA scientists. Consider this:
In 820 C.E., Emperor Hsien Tsung’s herbalist presented him with an anti-aging elixir—it killed him In 1849, Brooklyn inventor Walter Hunt invented and patented the safety pin and then sold all the rights to his invention for $400. By the time he died penniless, the United States was producing an estimated five billion safety pins annually In 1967, voters in the town of Picoaza, Ecuador, elected a brand of foot powder as their new mayor
It’s a wonder we’ve survived as long as we have.
Think civilization has deteriorated and that people these days are dumber than ever? Dumb History proves that we didn’t invent stupidity in the 21st century. You’ll find facts from throughout the ages about everyone from Cleopatra and Napoleon to Elvis Presley and even NASA scientists. Consider this:
In 820 C.E., Emperor Hsien Tsung’s herbalist presented him with an anti-aging elixir—it killed him In 1849, Brooklyn inventor Walter Hunt invented and patented the safety pin and then sold all the rights to his invention for $400. By the time he died penniless, the United States was producing an estimated five billion safety pins annually In 1967, voters in the town of Picoaza, Ecuador, elected a brand of foot powder as their new mayor
It’s a wonder we’ve survived as long as we have.
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2012
6 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Joey Green
81 books31 followersJoey Green, a former contributing editor to National Lampoon and a former advertising copywriter at J. Walter Thompson, is the author of more than sixty (yes, sixty) books, including Not So Normal Norbert with James Patterson, Last-Minute Travel Secrets, Last-Minute Survival Secrets, Contrary to Popular Belief, Clean It! Fix It! Eat It!, the best-selling Joey Green's Magic Brands series, The Mad Scientist Handbook series, The Zen of Oz, and You Know You've Reached Middle Age If...—to name just a few.
Joey has appeared on dozens of national television shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, and The View. He has been profiled in the New York Times, People magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today, and he has been interviewed on hundreds of radio shows.
A native of Miami, Florida, and a graduate of Cornell University—where he was the political cartoonist on the Cornell Daily Sun and founded the campus humor magazine, the Cornell Lunatic (still publishing to this very day)—Joey lives in Los Angeles.
Joey has appeared on dozens of national television shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, and The View. He has been profiled in the New York Times, People magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today, and he has been interviewed on hundreds of radio shows.
A native of Miami, Florida, and a graduate of Cornell University—where he was the political cartoonist on the Cornell Daily Sun and founded the campus humor magazine, the Cornell Lunatic (still publishing to this very day)—Joey lives in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 1, 2014
What a giant overstatement to give such an average book such an extraordinary title...
I've long since forgotten what brought my interest to this special book and i'm not even sure what i did expect from it, but what i got was a mildly amusing collection of random facts, annecdotes, myths and bloopers that could not really decide if it now wanted to be about earnest history and big failures with giant consequences or rather wanted to point a mocking finger at anything ever remotely done wrong in a humorous way.
In a collection about "the stupidest mistakes ever made" i do maybe expect to see 20th century Einstein who still proposed an Ether in early works, but certainly not fun heaped upon Newton for getting the bit about light travelling in waves wrong when he postulated light being composed of little corpuscles travelling through space. So he did not get it all at the first attempt? Whow, what a failure. Another scientific example would be "Phlogiston"... the book counts the idea that all bodies that can burn contain such a substance and "dephlogistonated air" simply was oxygen as a giant failure... yet... isn't carbon in all combustible substances (or at least those of which we commonly think they are burnable as even some metals go up in flames if the conditions are right... and wouldn't "air" without the carbon in it (carbon monoxide, dioxide, methan...) be better, purer air or in fact oxygen? So the poor guy got the idea right, but mistakenly gave it a fancy name, three centuries before the correct terms and processes were deciphered? I see that as a basic success, certainly harmless in its error margin, compared to some of the medicinal assumptions that were believed for centuries... Other bits were mentioned twice (Galenus with his humors, McCain breaking off his campaign to safe the economy ... for about twelve hours) and the inventor of the safety pin dying poor because he gave his patent away cheap and i'm sure i've overlooked one or two more...
At least one annecdote is a long disproven urban myth (the thing with the space pen) and in the one bit that dealt with german language it is erroneously stated that Mist were a slang term, when it is a proper normal word in the common language an in no way slang or dialect... Doesn't make me more confident with a lot of the other language connected bits where they got some meaning wrong and were embarassed by those who knew the slang.
So in between the inconsequential, unfunny or dubious bits, the rest surfs along something like saturday afternoon pub trivia level, not unentertaining, but certainly not worth the pretty arrogant title/subtitle. I'm not even sure the world's dumbest mistakes were included when a lot of not really dumb stuff was cited. To topp off my discontent, it is all haywire without any system or sorting.. some themepages get a double pagespread to concentrate e.g. on the most stupid speeches by Dan Quaile, but there are only a handful of these and even there some points closely connected are spread throughout the "normal pages"... in addition the sources in the appendix are sorted by alphabet and have no connection to the bits of stupidity they're meant to confirm... which makes this source index more than useless.
If you like your basic readers digest funny jokes collection this might be one of the best books to salt your portfolio with some new clever bits of knowledge. If you really hope to learn something of historic importance, stay away, this isn't for you. Pity i didn't know before buying though.
I've long since forgotten what brought my interest to this special book and i'm not even sure what i did expect from it, but what i got was a mildly amusing collection of random facts, annecdotes, myths and bloopers that could not really decide if it now wanted to be about earnest history and big failures with giant consequences or rather wanted to point a mocking finger at anything ever remotely done wrong in a humorous way.
In a collection about "the stupidest mistakes ever made" i do maybe expect to see 20th century Einstein who still proposed an Ether in early works, but certainly not fun heaped upon Newton for getting the bit about light travelling in waves wrong when he postulated light being composed of little corpuscles travelling through space. So he did not get it all at the first attempt? Whow, what a failure. Another scientific example would be "Phlogiston"... the book counts the idea that all bodies that can burn contain such a substance and "dephlogistonated air" simply was oxygen as a giant failure... yet... isn't carbon in all combustible substances (or at least those of which we commonly think they are burnable as even some metals go up in flames if the conditions are right... and wouldn't "air" without the carbon in it (carbon monoxide, dioxide, methan...) be better, purer air or in fact oxygen? So the poor guy got the idea right, but mistakenly gave it a fancy name, three centuries before the correct terms and processes were deciphered? I see that as a basic success, certainly harmless in its error margin, compared to some of the medicinal assumptions that were believed for centuries... Other bits were mentioned twice (Galenus with his humors, McCain breaking off his campaign to safe the economy ... for about twelve hours) and the inventor of the safety pin dying poor because he gave his patent away cheap and i'm sure i've overlooked one or two more...
At least one annecdote is a long disproven urban myth (the thing with the space pen) and in the one bit that dealt with german language it is erroneously stated that Mist were a slang term, when it is a proper normal word in the common language an in no way slang or dialect... Doesn't make me more confident with a lot of the other language connected bits where they got some meaning wrong and were embarassed by those who knew the slang.
So in between the inconsequential, unfunny or dubious bits, the rest surfs along something like saturday afternoon pub trivia level, not unentertaining, but certainly not worth the pretty arrogant title/subtitle. I'm not even sure the world's dumbest mistakes were included when a lot of not really dumb stuff was cited. To topp off my discontent, it is all haywire without any system or sorting.. some themepages get a double pagespread to concentrate e.g. on the most stupid speeches by Dan Quaile, but there are only a handful of these and even there some points closely connected are spread throughout the "normal pages"... in addition the sources in the appendix are sorted by alphabet and have no connection to the bits of stupidity they're meant to confirm... which makes this source index more than useless.
If you like your basic readers digest funny jokes collection this might be one of the best books to salt your portfolio with some new clever bits of knowledge. If you really hope to learn something of historic importance, stay away, this isn't for you. Pity i didn't know before buying though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2014
Dumb History: The Stupidest Mistakes Ever Made by Joey Green is a hilarious book that gives readers insight on the oddest and most idiotic actions history’s most well known figures have ever done. It tells of the blunders of American presidents, the strangeness of Chinese emperors, and the mistakes of businessmen, baseball heroes, and senators alike. The book also tells of architectural blunders of ships, buildings, and bridges, as well as terrible strategies in warfare and politics. Dumb History also connects with today’s media and culture, making fun of Opera Winfrey, Pairs Hilton, and Steven Spielberg. Green has collected the most embarrassing and unfortunate mistakes ever known, and has gathered them all into an easily comprehensible and available novel.
Dumb History is comprised completely about true facts that have been hilarious and unintentional. For example, it states that during a siege in France, an expensive restaurant had to get their meat from the zoo to provide meat for customers, and that when the Coca-Cola Company had introduced their product to China in 1982, the people had sold it as Kekoukela, or “female horse stuffed with wax”. Hundreds of these facts are written in the novel, all being connected as being funny errors in marketing, warfare, writing, or arguing. These facts are very unorganized, however, in which they are not categorized in alphabetical order or by topic, and have no pages to separate them into chapters. All in all, Dumb History is a very funny and interesting read, but it may be hard to find specific facts to share with others.
Dumb History is comprised completely about true facts that have been hilarious and unintentional. For example, it states that during a siege in France, an expensive restaurant had to get their meat from the zoo to provide meat for customers, and that when the Coca-Cola Company had introduced their product to China in 1982, the people had sold it as Kekoukela, or “female horse stuffed with wax”. Hundreds of these facts are written in the novel, all being connected as being funny errors in marketing, warfare, writing, or arguing. These facts are very unorganized, however, in which they are not categorized in alphabetical order or by topic, and have no pages to separate them into chapters. All in all, Dumb History is a very funny and interesting read, but it may be hard to find specific facts to share with others.
September 14, 2019
A compendium of stupidity. Some are quite funny. But it gets rather tedious when it is one after another dumb act. Too much of anything is no good. Some of the examples will benefit from more in depth analysis. As it is, it is more of a listing of examples. Too many examples. Perhaps fewer examples and greater detail of some of the cases. And the headings and comments. Some of them are really corny. The headings are also quite random. I am sure a dumb kid can do better.
July 3, 2012
Mistakes Make Brilliance
Everyone makes mistakes, even smart people. To a certain extent, brilliance is a product of multiple failures. It’s easy to credit an inventor with a dazzling idea which benefits society. But we often don’t realize the many failures it took to create such an idea.
This principle caused intrigue in Joey Green’s latest book, Dumb History. I wanted to discover the failures behind the brilliant people in history through humorous short stories.
High on Low Brow Humor, Low on Substance
Sadly, I found Dumb History lacking. While I don’t want to reject it completely, this book did not live up to my expectations. Granted, I have no previous history with Joey Green and a quick examination of his back catalog supplies evidence of Dumb History sidling up next to the rest of his canon—coffee table books high on low-brow humor and lacking substance.
Dumb History contains no thesis; it meanders through short paragraph stories sharing stupidity as its only connection. For example,
“In ancient Greece, affluent women colored their cheeks and lips with rouge and lipstick from cinnabar, a poisonous red sulfide of mercury” (219).
Supposing this fact is true (I’ll give Green the benefit of the doubt, he does list sources in the back of his book; although without a citation, I don’t want to wade through them), the reader can laugh at the stupidity of others and revel in superior intelligence.
We Need Reason!
But, I’m not convinced that Green’s reasoning is sound.
In one vignette, Green writes of the stupidity in which the Red Sox engaged when they sold Babe Ruth.
“In 1920, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a reported $100,000 and used the money to finance the Broadway musical No, No, Nanette. Although No, No, Nanette became a hit, the Yankees won four World Series during the fifteen years Babe Ruth was in their lineup. The Red Sox did not win the World Series until 2003” (3).
The Red Sox did indeed sell Babe Ruth; the Yankees then won multiple World Series; the Red Sox encountered a century-long championship drought.
However, one fact does not lead to another. Yes, Babe Ruth is a legendary player. But his absence does not guarantee a century of failure. Was it stupid to sell Babe Ruth? Perhaps. Does the trade explain 100 years of failure? No!
A Poorly Reasoned Coffee-Table Book
I wanted Dumb History to humorously explain how even the brightest people make mistakes. Such a book would inspire people to continue creativity and the pursuit of brilliance. Instead, I found a poorly reasoned coffee-table book.
To a certain extent my disappointment in this book emerges from my unfounded expectations of the book. But, I don’t recommend this book. There are better coffee-table books. There are funnier takes on history.
Originally published at www.wherepenmeetspaper.com
Everyone makes mistakes, even smart people. To a certain extent, brilliance is a product of multiple failures. It’s easy to credit an inventor with a dazzling idea which benefits society. But we often don’t realize the many failures it took to create such an idea.
This principle caused intrigue in Joey Green’s latest book, Dumb History. I wanted to discover the failures behind the brilliant people in history through humorous short stories.
High on Low Brow Humor, Low on Substance
Sadly, I found Dumb History lacking. While I don’t want to reject it completely, this book did not live up to my expectations. Granted, I have no previous history with Joey Green and a quick examination of his back catalog supplies evidence of Dumb History sidling up next to the rest of his canon—coffee table books high on low-brow humor and lacking substance.
Dumb History contains no thesis; it meanders through short paragraph stories sharing stupidity as its only connection. For example,
“In ancient Greece, affluent women colored their cheeks and lips with rouge and lipstick from cinnabar, a poisonous red sulfide of mercury” (219).
Supposing this fact is true (I’ll give Green the benefit of the doubt, he does list sources in the back of his book; although without a citation, I don’t want to wade through them), the reader can laugh at the stupidity of others and revel in superior intelligence.
We Need Reason!
But, I’m not convinced that Green’s reasoning is sound.
In one vignette, Green writes of the stupidity in which the Red Sox engaged when they sold Babe Ruth.
“In 1920, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a reported $100,000 and used the money to finance the Broadway musical No, No, Nanette. Although No, No, Nanette became a hit, the Yankees won four World Series during the fifteen years Babe Ruth was in their lineup. The Red Sox did not win the World Series until 2003” (3).
The Red Sox did indeed sell Babe Ruth; the Yankees then won multiple World Series; the Red Sox encountered a century-long championship drought.
However, one fact does not lead to another. Yes, Babe Ruth is a legendary player. But his absence does not guarantee a century of failure. Was it stupid to sell Babe Ruth? Perhaps. Does the trade explain 100 years of failure? No!
A Poorly Reasoned Coffee-Table Book
I wanted Dumb History to humorously explain how even the brightest people make mistakes. Such a book would inspire people to continue creativity and the pursuit of brilliance. Instead, I found a poorly reasoned coffee-table book.
To a certain extent my disappointment in this book emerges from my unfounded expectations of the book. But, I don’t recommend this book. There are better coffee-table books. There are funnier takes on history.
Originally published at www.wherepenmeetspaper.com
October 19, 2015
Book Review on “Dumb History” by Joey Green
I have been reading the book called ‘Dumb History’ This book consists of satire anecdotes and small stories of history (may be flashbacks) pointing out human stupidity. I read this book in my class Issues in Nonfiction, and here is what I have to say about it.
I personally do not enjoy reading at all. But the door opened when I saw this book in Washington D.C. I had to get it. Months later, I started to read Dumb History. I really like it because it is humorous short stories that outline human stupidity.
Why do I like Dumb History? I like books that are funny, and this book is way more funny than any other book I’ve read. This book is nonfiction and quite intriguing. If I had to sum up Dumb History in some words, It would have to be “Short, funny stories about people in history making dumb mistakes.”
I have never recommended a book to someone in my life. If I had to choose one book to recommend to you, it would have to be Dumb History. Readers will learn quickly that even the brightest of people make dumb decisions. So if you are looking for a book that has humorous and factual stories, then Dumb History is the book for you.
The short stories were just the right length to tell to others in a few seconds. You wouldn’t want to read a section of a book that has only one story to it to others. But since there is so many short stories, It’s hard to lose your place when you open your book again.
I left the book in my backpack one day with juice on the side of my backpack. I didn’t put the cap on tight so it leaked and made the cover of my book pinkish red. Quite annoying, but still readable. After reading Dumb History, I do not have to deal with looking at the once drenched cover again. Other than that fact, Dumb History is so far my favorite book of all time.
I have been reading the book called ‘Dumb History’ This book consists of satire anecdotes and small stories of history (may be flashbacks) pointing out human stupidity. I read this book in my class Issues in Nonfiction, and here is what I have to say about it.
I personally do not enjoy reading at all. But the door opened when I saw this book in Washington D.C. I had to get it. Months later, I started to read Dumb History. I really like it because it is humorous short stories that outline human stupidity.
Why do I like Dumb History? I like books that are funny, and this book is way more funny than any other book I’ve read. This book is nonfiction and quite intriguing. If I had to sum up Dumb History in some words, It would have to be “Short, funny stories about people in history making dumb mistakes.”
I have never recommended a book to someone in my life. If I had to choose one book to recommend to you, it would have to be Dumb History. Readers will learn quickly that even the brightest of people make dumb decisions. So if you are looking for a book that has humorous and factual stories, then Dumb History is the book for you.
The short stories were just the right length to tell to others in a few seconds. You wouldn’t want to read a section of a book that has only one story to it to others. But since there is so many short stories, It’s hard to lose your place when you open your book again.
I left the book in my backpack one day with juice on the side of my backpack. I didn’t put the cap on tight so it leaked and made the cover of my book pinkish red. Quite annoying, but still readable. After reading Dumb History, I do not have to deal with looking at the once drenched cover again. Other than that fact, Dumb History is so far my favorite book of all time.
August 25, 2013
Well, that was "disposable" in every sense of the word. Apart from a few interesting anecdotes, this is a very dismal piece of work, for numerous reasons: (1) there is absolutely no logic or rationality of organization -- it's simply thrown together at the author's whim; (2) there are MANY factual inaccuracies (eg. Romulus was NOT the first Roman emperor...and if you don't know who is, you shouldn't be writing any kind of book on history); (3) there are many moments when the author's personal taste (nee: arrogance) is passed off as some kind of historical error; (4) worst of all, there are numerous moments that border on the offensive -- whether it's discussion of an Eskimo dialect ("Eskimo"...really? How very 19th century imperialist...) or passing off the Hindu faith worldview as some kind of "factual" error. I bought this at an HMV clearance table, hoping for amusement. Instead, I feel ripped off.
July 25, 2012
It truly is a wonder we've survived as long as we have. This book made me laugh over and over. I loved the small blurbs, they were just the right length to get the punchline across. There is not one person exempt from this kind of book, we all know we've done a few hysterical things-though maybe not funny or ironic enough to write about.
The readers will learn plenty of random facts they can later tell others when searching for a random conversation topic. The book doesn't organize the blurbs, but that isn't too much of a detraction. This book is small, but doesn't have to be read all at once. Funny tidbits are better when read slowly...and with great aplomb. There is no end to the mistakes and bad decisions that leaders, actors, singers, etc... have made over the ages. This book is recommended to teen/young adult/adult readers.
The readers will learn plenty of random facts they can later tell others when searching for a random conversation topic. The book doesn't organize the blurbs, but that isn't too much of a detraction. This book is small, but doesn't have to be read all at once. Funny tidbits are better when read slowly...and with great aplomb. There is no end to the mistakes and bad decisions that leaders, actors, singers, etc... have made over the ages. This book is recommended to teen/young adult/adult readers.
June 30, 2012
This book has some value if you need some quick talking points our if you want to wow others with your random knowledge at a party. Other than that, it's fairly boring. I was expecting a collection of funny facts that would keep me amused for a few hours. Unfortunately, these are just random historical facts. Some were slightly amusing, but most were just there.
I also think the book could have been improved by organizing the facts, either into groups or chronologically. As it is, they are just randomly written down. It makes for choppy reading.
I received this book in a Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway.
I also think the book could have been improved by organizing the facts, either into groups or chronologically. As it is, they are just randomly written down. It makes for choppy reading.
I received this book in a Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway.
October 7, 2012
This book did deliver on the "Dumb" promise but not so much on the "History". Yes, I know by one definition "history" is anything that happened before today, but I was hoping for a book that delved a little deeper into the past. Well over 400 of the 550 individual entries were post 1900, and many in the later part of that century, a time period I remember very well, making it an uninformative review at best. Of the 5 two-page sections devoted to a particular person or subject, only 2 had entries before 1900. In short, I'm disappointed by the lack of history in a book titled "Dumb History".
June 6, 2012
I love this book. It's filled with short, pithy, fun, bite-sized factoids that made me laugh out loud. This book would make a great gift for anyone, really. I gave a copy to my nephew who just graduated from college, and he ate it up.
June 19, 2012
What a great trivia book! This book has a wide range of information from Aristotle to the present day. Each entry has a full explanation, which is much appreciated and lacking in most trivia books. It is a fascinating collection of information for people who want to what and why.
June 26, 2013
An easy, fun read. Would have liked it better if the facts were put into categories (sports, presidents, etc) for easy lookup later. Won this book from Goodreads Giveaways and was impressed that it came autographed and with a note!
June 22, 2012
Goodreads Giveaway.
I would have liked this book better if it had been organized into chapters by category instead of the apparently random arrangement. I was surprised how many of the anecdotes I had read elsewhere or knew just from general knowledge.
I would have liked this book better if it had been organized into chapters by category instead of the apparently random arrangement. I was surprised how many of the anecdotes I had read elsewhere or knew just from general knowledge.
January 21, 2014
Amusing way to pass the time but I didn't learn much, and some of these "facts" have already been proven false by scholars. I read this while waiting in a doctor's office, and that's about all it's good for.
March 22, 2012
This is a "bathroom" read, with little new "stuff" to offer. I think the title has more to do with the author's choices than historical idiocy.
June 22, 2012
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Very cute, small, perfect for a read on a trip. Funny and informative as well.
Very cute, small, perfect for a read on a trip. Funny and informative as well.
June 3, 2015
Short book with little snippets of dumb moments in history. Some of them I'm not sure I would call "dumb" (mainly the science ones), but there were several funny ones.
October 24, 2012
i enjoyed it, there's no chapters, just quick 2-3 pages on each "dumb history" moment, good read
January 20, 2013
Pretty good snippets of historical mistakes of much hilarity......but only when viewed with hindsight. Still a fun read.
March 11, 2014
Terribly funny chronicle of historical mistakes.
August 30, 2016
It was a great don't have to think book. Not sure if a lot of it is true but it was cute!
September 4, 2012
Lots of multiple, short entries per page. Amusing bathroom type of book.
October 31, 2013
"Darwin Awards" without death. Well, actually, there was one.
April 29, 2019
At turns head shaking at the pure stupidity of people and the actual laughing out loud!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews