Failure Collection

MACCARI, Cesare (1840-1919). Cicero Denouncing Catiline. 1880. ITALY. Rome. Madama Palace. Cicero caused the failure of the Catiline conspiracy during his consulship. Fresco

The Ladder of Fortune. Industry and Morality bring solid rewards. Idle schemes and speculations yield poverty and ruin. Date: 1875

Two businessmen and different business models
The Old Way. The New Way. Two businessmen and different business models and their success or failure. Giving credit or paying cash. Date: 1870

Thucydides / Bust
THUCYDIDES Greek historian, wrote his history while exiled for perceived military failure

Avro Canada CF105 Arrow I 25201
Avro Canada CF105 Arrow I, 25201, after undercarriage failure at touchdown, 11 June 1958. Date: 1958

A Fish Auction in Columbia Market
In 1869 Baroness Burdett-Coutts paid for the building of the great Columbia Market (for fish) between Hackney and Bethnal Green Roads on the site of Nova Scotia Gardens

Cartoon, The Futurist (House of Lords reform)
Cartoon, The Futurist -- Bonar Law and Asquith on the failure to reform the House of Lords. Date: 1913

Joihn Laws Scheme
Satire on John Laws Louisiana fiasco. Scots economist appointed controller-general of finances in France, he launched the disastrous Mississippi bubble

Chartist Housing Estate
The Chartist estate at Snigs End, Gloucestershire, one of several built by Feargus O Connor for workers. Sadly, the promised Paradise is a disastrous failure

Bede BD-2 N837BD
Bede BD-2 N937BD. at Rockford, Illinois in 1967. Powered by a 225hp modified Continental IO-360C, this heavily rebuilt Schweizer 2-32 sailplane was intended for a globe-circling

English lady surveying fancy room with covered chandeliers
English lady surveying a fancy room with covered furniture and chandeliers in brown-holland balloons, 19th century. Housekeeper Mrs Mustard showing Mrs Lucy Somerville around the drawing room

Bristol Buckingham B Mk. I KV335
Bristol Buckingham B Mk.I KV335. A victim of failure to meet the original specification and the success of Mosquito day raid and night strategic bombing

HMA No1 Mayfly after structural failure in Cavendish Dock, Barrow-in-Furness, 24 September 1911. Date: 1911

Proposed Hotel Commonwealth, New York
Artists impression of the proposed Hotel Commonwealth, New York, USA - occupying a whole block, Broadway, 55th Street, 56th Street and 7th Avenue. The project failed in the mid-1920s. Date: circa 1916

Bede BD-2 N937BD. at Rockford, Illinois in 1967. Powered by a 225hp modified Continental IO-360C, this heavily rebuilt Schweizer 2-32 sailplane was intended for a globe-circling

RMS Titanic - letter, Mabel Francatelli, passenger
RMS Titanic - First Class passenger Mabel Francatelli. A fascinating letter from Mattison, Davey & Rader of New York to Miss Francatelli dated 17 April 1956

Lockheed F-104G Starfighter 66-13525 - DD+233
Luftwaffe / United States Air Force (USAF) - Lockheed F-104G Starfighter 66-13525 / DD+233 (msn 683D-7132), operating from Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

Hawker Siddeley HS. 125 Series 1 F-BKMF
Hawker Siddeley HS.125 Series 1 F-BKMF (msn 25007), of Air Affaires, at Le Bourget Airport for the Paris Air Show, on 20 June 1965

Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier 158957
United States Marine Corps - Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier 158957 (msn 712118, base code WH, call-sign 12'), of VMA-542 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point

Cartoon, Reckoning without their host, WW1
Cartoon, Reckoning without their host. Defeated at Verdun, Germany, Prussia and Death walk away despondently. A smiling French soldier in the background says they had everything planned

Martin-Baker MB3 -this was the company's second fighter offering in 1942 An engine failure led to the test pilot's death

French Soldiers Cutting Dead Horses Franco Prussian
french, soldiers, cutting, dead, horses, franco, prussian, war, 1871, meat, failure, la, grande, sortie, november, 1870, generals, break, lines, end, siege, paris, turning, point, communication

Canadair CL-415 F-ZBEO - 36
Securite civile - Canadair CL-415 F-ZBEO / 36 (msn 2001), at Orange-Caritat - Porte Ouvert - 14 May 2000. This aircraft crashed after a structural failure, while attacking a fire at Pietramaggiore

Antonov An-2T F-AZHB (msn 17347309). Destroyed on 15 June 2008 following a forced landing due to engine failure). Date: circa 1998

Antonov An-2T F-AZHM (msn 17347311). Date: circa 1998

Men and women skating on thin ice and falling into a freezing river. Cold Broth and Calamity. Handcoloured copperplate engraving designed

Belgian Piron Brigade Memorial, Opheusden, Holland
Opheusden was the centre of much fighting involving British, American and Belgian forces following the failure of Operation Market Garden to cross the Rhine at Arnhem

Incredible Patrol Plaque, Elst Town Hall, Holland
Following the failure of Operation Market Garden to establish a foothold across the Rhine at Arnhem, the front line effectively lay along the river itself

British troops and Locals Memorial, Sint Michielsgestel
There is much erudite discussion about whether Operation Market Garden was a success or a failure. Certainly, the prime objective - to outflank the German defences along the River Rhine

James IIs plan to escape England to France is thwarted
James II and VII (1633-1701) - King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII discovered trying to escape England

Piper PA-23 Apache G-ASDH
Piper PA-23-160 Apache G-ASDH (msn 23-2045), of the College of Air Training, at Hamble Airfield. On 10 January 1967, G-ASDH, a Piper PA-23 Apache of the College of Air Training at Hamble

United States Air Force - Lockheed F-104C Starfighter
United States Air Force - Lockheed F-104C-5-LO Starfighter 56-0899 (msn 383-1187). Damaged on 11 August 1961 in a landing accident due to nozzle failure at George AFB. Date: 1960s

United States Air Force - Lockheed TF-80C-1-LO Shooting Star 49-0474 (msn 580-5107), Buzz Number FT-474, from the Air Proving Ground, seen at Detroit. MSN 580-5029/5156 1951: USAF 3200th PTG

CHURCHILL / GULBRANSSON 15
WINSTON CHURCHILL German satirical comment on the failure of Churchills Dardanelles expedition - he is kicked out of the War Office Date: 1874 - 1965

North American T-28A Nomad N7708C at Paloima 49-1515 (MSN 159-27) Assigned to 3300th Pilot Training Group, Graham AFB, FL December 1955; To the Arizona Aircraft Storage Branch [aSB]

Lily Langtry in A Society Butterfly - photograph by Downey
Lily Langtry as Aphrodite in A Society Butterfly at the Opera Comique, London. Date: 1894

Langley Aerodrome 1903 Failure at Launch, Take-Off Crash Date: 1903

Discoverer 1 - launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base
Discoverer 1 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on 28 February 1959 but suffered a telemetary failure at T +500 seconds. Date: 1959

Bristol 163 Buckingham B I-designed as a replacement for the Blenhiem bomber, the Buckingham, first flown in February 1943, was a failure

Ufos / Over Mexico City
This UFO was allegedly photographed by a passenger in an airliner over Mexico city, simultaneously with a power failure in the city

Cartoon, Oscar Wilde and William Wilde
Cartoon, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), poet and playwright, comforted by his brother William Wilde (1852-1899) in the face of American criticism of his play, Vera

Cartoon, The Kaisers dream, WW1
Cartoon, The Kaisers dream (or nightmare) after losing at Verdun -- a ginger-haired angel holding a rabbit. Date: 1916

King Cnut the Great fails to halt the incoming tide
Cnut the Great (circa 985 or 9951035), (or Canute), King of Denmark, England, Norway, and parts of Sweden. Henry of Huntingdon, the 12th-century chronicler

Messerschmitt Me 328 -seen in wind tunnell model form, it was designed to use pulse jets It proved an expensive failure

Stock market crash, Vienna, 1873
The failure of the stock exchange in Vienna, 9th May 1873. Date: 9th May 1873

Palissy at Work
BERNARD PALISSY at work on his invention, surrounded by evidence of failure... his family in despair... and he himself discouraged... Date: 1510 - 1589

WWII - Mussolini slips up invading Greece - First Day Cover. A nice pun on Greece and Grease. Date: 1941

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