History's Biggest Unintended Consequences

The Eastland sailed for several years after the additional lifeboats were added in 1912. While they were heavy, what sealed the ship's fate was the owners replacing the old wooden decking with (I kid you not) 2 inches of concrete, amounting to between 15 and 20 tons of additional weight above the waterline in 1914.

The coast of Switzerland is notoriously dangerous.

A plant I worked at used ammonia. We had a leak and tecs came in to replace some tanks. I asked a guy how bad would it smell if one of these tanks ruptured. He said you wouldn't have to worry about the smell... if one of these ruptured it would kill everybody within a 45 mile radius. I never looked at ammonia the same way again.

Midgeley almost certainly would not have cared if he knew freon caused massive environmental damage. He popularized lead as an additive. He demonstrated how safe it was by breathing leaded exhaust. He then had to take a vacation because he got lead poisoning. He still stood by lead's safety despite that and the fact we have known for a couple thousand years that lead is toxic. He ended up getting a severe case of polio and made a system of pulleys to continue working. That system ended up strangling him to death so we were spared any more of his discoveries.

From what I understand, lifeboats weren't intended (at the time) to rescue everyone at once in a scenario like the Titanic. They were to ferry people to a rescue ship and it was assumed there would be time to make multiple trips, before the ship sank.

Fun fact, in NYC during prohibition, drunk driving was the leading cause of death for several years...

4:03 "Scapa Flow in Switzerland"?!?! NO!!!

The Eastland actually capsized on its side, not fully upside down. I found in the box of photos I inherited from my grandmother one of the Eastland in the Chicago River in the month before it was righted and towed away. My great-grandfather must have taken it from what looks like a small excursion boat—he was a barber on the city’s far South Side in 1915.

The Eastman disaster was far more nuanced than "lifeboats made it tip." The ship had a lousy track record already, it was MASSIVELY overloaded with passengers, and there were other mitigating circumstances. Ask The Mortician did an in depth video with interviews of relatives of victims and survivors, etc. a year or so ago. It is extremely well done and respectful.

Well I guess Scotland and Switzerland both start with 'S'.

About prohibition; the politicians were drinking when they passed the prohibition law. Very much a rule for thee but not for me scenario.

The problem “with with”

I like how he didn't even have to mention organized crime for Prohibition.

I don't think it's quite fair to suggest that the "good intentioned" lifeboats addition to the "Eastland" caused the disaster. As mentioned, the boat was poorly designed in the first place. Not only did the owners/operators know about this fact and ignore it, they also continually added to the problem by adding more and more weight to the boat in other ways such as gambling parlors and extra passenger spaces in order to get as much money out of the boat as they could, even if these additions would put the passengers and crew at further risk. The lifeboat additions, which of course were meant to save lives, were just the unfortunate and ironic straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. The lifeboats shouldn't be blamed, the profit-greedy owners are to blame. (FYI, there is a great video about the disaster and its contributors on the channel "Fascinating Horror.")

Thomas Midgeley was also instrumental in reated leaded petrol (gasoline). He was described as a one-man environmental disaster.

lol @ 4:02 "the German fleet was interred in Scapa Flow in Switzerland". Getting those dreadnoughts up the Swiss Alps must've been quite the feat :D FWIW, while Prohibition backfired in many ways, it did not get people to drink more. America's alcohol consumption per person dipped significantly during Prohibition. Even after repeal, alcohol consumption never went back to pre-Prohibition levels. So that was at least one thing Prohibition got right: it broke America's copious drinking habits, and by the time it ended, new drinking habits had taken root that involved significantly less alcohol consumption.

Thomas Midgely also had the idea of putting lead in fuel to stop engine knocking…

Thank you for mentioning the Eastland. I had relatives on board that day (not all of whom survived), and so it's of special interest to the family. As someone said, the added lifeboats were the straw that broke the camel's back. The ballast kept shifting, the ship itself was top heavy (but stable while at speed, rather like a bike), it was overloaded with passengers, and the concrete floors of course did not help. After the inquest and all, it ended up in the hands of the US Navy and became a training ship. It was decommissioned right after WWII, if memory serves.

Scapa Flow in Switzerland, didn’t know it moved, as Switzerland is land locked. Scapa Flow, is a body of Water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

4:02 - surely Scapa Flow is in Scotland? Bit hard to transport a fleet to Switzerland - we still love you though!