We all make mistakes. Maybe you forgot an important meeting. Maybe you accidentally called your teacher mom.

Well, however embarrassing your mistake was, you can rest easy, knowing it wasn't that bad.

Not compared to hitting a switch which plunged an entire city into chaos,

or not tightening one single bolt and leading to a cataclysmic meltdown.

So get ready to feel better about yourself as we explore some tiny mistakes that had huge consequences.

You're listening.

You're listening to be amazed.

Everybody hates a blackout. No TV, no internet, no light for several hours. Yeah, they're inconvenient, but nothing compares to the most legendary blackout of all time.

On July 13, 1977, three lightning bolts struck New York's Con Edison facility.

In an instant, New York City and Westchester County were plunged into darkness.

The operator had some 15 minutes to restore power and get the facility back up and

running. A decent time window, right? Well, to do that, that operator needed to flip a series of

switches in the right order. Unfortunately, for the people of New York, that unnamed operator messed up.

They missed a switch, and as a result, the city was dark and powerless for 25 hours.

Still, the people of New York are known for being reasonable, calm, and collected. Right?

No, of course they're not. They immediately descended into the largest riot the city had ever seen.

Stores were looted, public infrastructure was vandalized,

cars were burned, the city was consumed by chaos. It resulted in 1,000 fires, 1,600

lootings and 3,700 arrests. It's estimated that one missed switch cost the city nearly

$300 million in damages.

However, there was another unexpected consequence of the blackout, the birth of mainstream hip-hop music.

Professional mixing and music gear is expensive and at the time they were incredibly upmarket products.

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