11 Great Ideas That Went Horribly (and Hilariously) Wrong

Word to the wise: Don’t rob a bank while disguised as yourself.

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Bank Sign over Entrance Door
Photo: Kevin George/Shutterstock

The Not-So Italian Job

A serial bank robber in Pittsburgh was known to police for his red beard. So for his next heist, he wore a disguise.

The disguise he chose was a red beard to cover his red beard. The robber was arrested after his getaway car was recognized as belonging to a bank robber with … a red beard. Source: wtae.com

These seven dumb criminals basically arrested themselves.

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Photo: dimitris_k/Shutterstock

Art Installation

Someone in Iowa City, Iowa, bought a sculpture made of “found” items—discarded electronics—and placed it in a space where art is left for public consumption.

Authorities thought it was a bomb and blew it up.  Source: upi.com

Check out these secret messages in world famous paintings.

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Ambulance van on highway
Photo: OgnjenO/Shutterstock

Too Frugal

To avoid paying a $50 luggage fee, a passenger flying to Glasgow, Scotland, chucked his suitcase and wore all his clothes—six T-shirts, four sweaters, three pairs of blue jeans, two pairs of jogging shorts, two jackets, and two hats—onto the plane.

He passed out shortly after takeoff from heat exhaustion and was taken to a hospital upon landing. Source: metro.co.uk

Here are 21 secrets flight attendants won’t tell you.

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Open the door to the bokeh garden
Photo: napas chalermchai/Shutterstock

The Great Outdoors

An agoraphobic conquered her fears of the outdoors and left her house in England for only the third time in ten years.

She fell down a manhole while helping a friend park her car. Source: dailymail.co.uk 

You won’t believe these mail delivery stories are actually true!

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Body language. Portrait of young attractive charming caucasian girl with dark long hair in casual gray t-shirt and jeans clothing mouth with hands, looking in camera with raised eyebrows and shocked
Photo: Cookie Studio/Shutterstock

PR Nightmare

In an effort to promote Life Savers Ministries, which helps disadvantaged children, the organization posted a billboard featuring the quote “He alone who owns the youth gains the future.”

The quote is Adolf Hitler’s. “We are pulling the billboard and certainly never intended to cause confusion,” said the founder. Source: ledger-enquirer.com 

Find out 8 hysterically bad ideas that actually worked out well.

Check out the most expensive typos in the world.

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Sea eagle
Photo: Vaclav Sebek/Shutterstock

The Birds

To the cheers of bird lovers everywhere, conservationists reintroduced white-tailed sea eagles to East Scotland, where they haven’t lived for 200 years. As a safeguard for the raptors, they were placed on the protected species list.

These protected birds now have free rein to attack livestock and civilians alike—an activity they seem very much to enjoy and, apparently, are quite good at. Source: telegraph.co.uk

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Emergency and urgency, dialing 911 on smartphone screen. Shallow depth of field.
Photo: denk creative/Shutterstock

A Demented Plan

When Lorean Simmons locked herself out of her Pittsburgh home, she sought help from the authorities.

First, she set her house on fire. Then she called 911, expecting the fire department to put out the fire and unlock her door. As planned, the fire department responded, but so did the police, who charged Simmons with reckless endangerment. Source: wtae.com

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close up portrait of female hands typing on laptop computer
Photo: mimagephotography/Shutterstock

Where’s the Warden?

In an effort to help rehabilitate inmates, a prison in England offers adult education classes to its convicts.

One prisoner, Nicholas Webber, used his class time in an IT course to hack the prison’s computer system. Why was Webber incarcerated in the first place? Oh, yeah, for hacking computers. Source: cnet.com

Only three people have ever escaped Alcatraz—here’s how.

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Closeup photo of red rose lying on white pillow at bed
Photo: kryzhov/Shutterstock

Death of a Ladies’ Man

A man from White Rock, B.C., was so smitten with his lady that he booked a weekend holiday for just the two of them.

His wife found out. After throwing all his belongings into the yard, she advertised a “Lying Cheating Sale” on Craigslist. “I want the house empty on Monday when he returns,” her ad stated. Included in the sale were his favourite red leather recliner and “lots of tools, which he didn’t have a clue how to use.” Source: theprovince.com

These three diamond ring stories will brighten your day.

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Chimp chimpanzee monkey ape sad (Pan troglodytes) great ape monkey common chimpanzee resting looking sad emotion hand to mouth
Photo: Lorna Roberts/Shutterstock

Monkeying Around

Zoo life is a dull life. So in an effort to liven things up for their chimp Gina, zookeepers in Seville, Spain, installed a TV set in her cage and then taught the little simian how to use the remote. Gina took to it quickly!

While channel surfing, Gina discovered the porn station, to which she is now addicted. Source: gawker.com

These funny pet stories prove we’ll do anything for our favourite animals.

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Students hand holding pencil writing selected choice on answer sheets and Mathematics question sheets. students testing doing examination. school exam
Photo: NaMaKuKi/Shutterstock

Exam Loophole

Johns Hopkins University professor Peter Froehlich announced to the students in his computer-programming class that their final exams would be graded on a curve. That meant that the highest score would automatically be 100 per cent, and everybody else would get a percentage relative to that grade.

His students refused to take the test, which meant they all got a zero, which meant they all got the lowest and highest grade, which, in turn, meant they all received an A for the exam. Source: freakonomics.com

Next, check out 50 bad jokes you can’t help but laugh at.

Reader's Digest
Originally Published on Reader's Digest