The Definitive Guide to the World’s Hidden Blunders

These 19 extraordinary errors will make you feel better about your next slip-up.

19 Places

Everybody makes mistakes. Some go relatively unnoticed—fleeting blips soon forgiven and forgotten. But others last, adding a quirky kind of charm to the attractions they grace. From a befuddling beast that became a Siberian town’s mascot to a Nebraska jail that was accidentally sold to a teenager, here are 19 mistakes worth marveling at.

Irkutsk, Russia

The Irkutsk Babr

Thanks to a spelling mistake this bizarre beaver-tiger hybrid became the symbol of a Siberian town.

IvyMike

Added by IvyMike

Gerlach, Nevada

Fly Geyser

A collision of human error and natural geothermal pressure created this rainbow-colored geologic wonder.

Tre

London, England

Coade Stone Caryatids

A measuring mishap led to these artificial stone ladies losing their stomachs.

AmunyAnkhesenra

Added by AmunyAnkhesenra

Staufen im Breisgau, Germany

The Cracking Buildings of Staufen

A geothermal energy project gone wrong is fracturing the city's picturesque architecture.

lewblank

Added by lewblank

Old Perry County Courthouse

The nearly 200-year-old building displays a perplexing grammatical error.

jessecbethea

Added by jessecbethea

Laadla, Estonia

Kingdom of Torgu

A clerical error gave rise to this imaginary micronation in the southwestern corner of Estonia.

ahvenas

Added by ahvenas

West Hartford, Connecticut

Noah Webster Statue

This tribute to the founding father of the American dictionary originally contained a spelling error.

e1savage

Added by e1savage

Washington, D.C.

Old Stone House

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.

Elliot Carter

Added by Elliot Carter

Newmarket, England

Potoooooooo

A misunderstanding gave this 18th-century racehorse a most amusing name.

Kerry Wolfe

Added by Kerry Wolfe

Harvard, Nebraska

Harvard Jail House

The two-cell building in Nebraska was briefly owned by a teenage boy and then a Hollywood dummy.

vatracy

Added by vatracy

Mixco Viejo (Jilotepeque Viejo)

A ruined Maya city that suffered a years-long case of mistaken identity.

tdwolsey

Added by tdwolsey

Castalla, Spain

La Foia de Castalla

This site is both a remarkable reminder of the town's mining history and a fantastic government blooper.

Dr Alan P Newman

Added by Dr Alan P Newman

Lake Placid, Florida

Lake Placid Murals

Many of the murals covering this sleepy Florida town hide some sort of intentional error.

Britta Shoot

Added by Britta Shoot

Nottingham, England

Park Tunnel

An engineering error ensured this cavernous 350-foot-long subterranean thoroughfare was never used as intended.

Capemarsh

Added by Capemarsh

Two Harbors, Minnesota

3M Birthplace Museum

This institution celebrates the happy accidents of uncommon sticktoitiveness.

Edward Denny

Added by Edward Denny

Los Angeles, California

The Many Plaques of Buster Keaton Studios

The silent film master's legacy commemorated in all the right and wrong places.

tralfamadore

Added by tralfamadore

Rayne, Louisiana

Wrong Way Cemetery

The above-ground crypts at this Catholic cemetery face north-south instead of the usual east-west.

Added by jamamiss

Edinburgh, Scotland

Library of Mistakes

A library where thousands of books explain how to avoid another Great Recession.

lewblank

Added by lewblank

Durham, North Carolina

The Can Opener

This too-low North Carolina railroad trestle is still a notorious big rig executioner.

Map