Who remembers a red-faced Bill Clinton getting outed for his extra-political shenanigans with then-intern Monica Lewinsky? Or the unrelated "Deep Throat" controversy that saw Richard Nixon resigning from office? Rewind to the 1800's and you'll come across what's been dubbed the "Petticoat Affair."
This goes to show you that there's no shortage of scandals throughout the ages. And they aren't always confined within the walls of the White House. Human beings have been rocking the boat since long before tabloids were invented. Maybe it was Adam and Eve who first broke the moral compass and paved the way for the rest of us to veer off the path of righteousness. Who knows...
Either way, hundreds of scandals have gone down in history as fodder for the masses—leaving eyes wide open and jaws on the floor. When someone asked, "What do you think is the biggest scandal in human history?" it opened the gates to a rabbit hole of sordid tales of people, and companies, behaving in less than savory ways. The question clocked no less than 1,300 comments. And Bored Panda has put together a list of the best.
#1
Religion.
Image credits: MilitantBicyclist
Our dear friend Wikipedia defines a scandal as "the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a social norm."
And boy have we seen our fair share. But not all scandalous acts result in a scandal or produce the same consequences. Some people suffer a fall from grace while others remain unscathed. Seemingly immune to scandals despite their blatant scandalous behavior. Experts believe it has a lot to do with the media.
#2
Lead in fuel. Many people know about it and why it was partly outlawed, but not enough people know that the dangers and health problems were known right from the beginning. It's the biggest scandal in terms of loss of human life in existence. Estimated at hundreds of thousands of deaths per year still to this day.
Image credits: ecco311
The media are more likely to create a scandal when transgressions disrupt established norms, notes an article published on the University of Alberta's website. "When public figures who hold themselves up as paragons of morality are revealed to violate the social order they purport to uphold, a scandal is sure to follow," it reads.
So basically, if you paint a picture of yourself as someone with a squeaky clean image, and a moral compass that always points in the right direction, don't be surprised if the house of cards comes crashing down when you're caught in a compromising position.
#3
Stupid people tearing down what smart people fight for and achieved also for them. Like democracy.
The university adds that media coverage of wrongdoing only activates a scandal when it speaks to powerful and interested social groups.
"Audiences are not homogeneous: what is egregiously offensive to some is unremarkable to others," explains the site. "Those who operate at the intersection of multiple, diverse interest groups may seem immune from scandal because only some constituencies find a particular behaviour objectionable."
A scandal is only likely to emerge if the most powerful audiences are willing to act upon the transgression, say the experts.
#4
The concept of trickle down economics.
That when you take care of the top, they'll take care of you, because that's what's holding them up.
Image credits: IdislikeSpiders
#5
The pharmaceutical giant Bayer sold a d**g for hemophiliacs that ended being contaminated with HIV. Once learning of the contamination, instead of ceasing sales entirely, the company choose to only discontinue the d**g in the US (where the evidence of the contamination and associated deaths had come from) and proceeded to market the product in Asia and Latin America. Many patients contracted HIV and ultimately died of AIDS because of this decision. To my knowledge, no one from Bayer has ever been prosecuted.
Image credits: Jackyonthemove
Scandals often come to light on social media but they don't always blow up to the point of damaging reputations, unless a well-known or prestigious media outlet picks up the story. But the status and credibility of a media outlet also plays a part.
"The media not only publicize transgressions but also shape scandal narratives," reads the site, adding that any attempts to delegitimize the media could help someone caught in a scandal to escape bad publicity.
For example, an outlet is often attacked and accused of producing "fake news," as certain individuals (follow my eyes but don't look now) may remain unjudged, and untouched, despite their blatantly scandalous behavior.
#6
The Russian intelligence operation that resulted in two US administration changes.
Image credits: Key-StructurePlus
Some public figures are politicians who are purely able to weather the storm, and resist creating a scandal better than others.
"Political figures have status, authority and legitimacy that can protect them, but also visibility that can pull them down," notes the University of Alberta article. "Corporate leaders answer to a different set of stakeholders but the activation and fallout from corporate scandals are similar to those in politics."
#7
Oil companies have data as early as the 1970s that their emissions were the primary driver of global climate change and then covering up that data for decades. They knew that they were killing the environment and didn't care. because profits.
Image credits: Emptyspace227
#8
Well..i can't say much on human history due to how broad it is...so ig i can pinpoint on some points in history
In the world of Medicine: Its gonna be the awarding of Nobel Prize of António Egas Moniz, the proponent of Lobotomy.
Also Andrew Wakefield. the guy who proposes that vaccine causes autism. the dude created fraudulent results. this guy single-handedly puts everyone in jeopardy.
Image credits: Murica_Chan
#9
I don't have the biggest but I have the one that makes me laugh. In Ancient Rome Julius Caesar as the head of Rome had an enemy in the senator Cato. During a meeting when Cato was denouncing Caesar for being treasonous and many other things, a messenger came in and slipped Caesar a note which Caesar read supposedly smiling. Cato thinking he had a gotcha moment yelled something along the lines of "see?! He is so bold as to plot and conspire against us here in the senate house. Read your letter aloud!" ...It was a raunchy love letter from Catos sister who Caesar was having an affair with. It was read aloud in front of hundreds of the most powerful men in the entire Republic.
Image credits: GallicPontiff
#10
Plastic is good for the environment because it is recyclable.
Image credits: Chibiooo
#11
Douglas Adams — 'In the beginning the Universe was created.This had made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.'.
Image credits: Cassandra-s-truths
#12
Probably the idea than a man owns a woman and controls her right to reproduction. It has existed in one form or another in all societies, and in some countries it still exists today (think ISIS). I have always been impressed with recent female leaders and I wonder would a matriarchal society have been more peaceful and prosperous.
Image credits: CornusControversa
#13
“This is premium grade copper.”
-Ea-Nasir.
Image credits: Throw-away-rando
#14
H*******t. The idea of making human killing factories is so surreal my brain tries to protect me and I'm not realizing what was really going on when thinking about it
So
Instead of killing people in war or shooting them THEY MADE SLAUGHTER MACHINES. A WHOLE CAMPS TO K**L PEOPLE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. WHAT THE F**K WAS THAT!!!
Image credits: umotex12
#15
Bailing out failed banking system and damning an entire generation to austerity
Could argue the events that lead upto said bank failure was a scandal aswell.....but when it emerged they weren't subject to same rules as rest of business,it was a scandal.
Image credits: Wise_Adhesiveness746
#16
The biggest scandal, and the oldest, is that no-one on God's green earth has yet worked out how to stop the five or so percent of the human race from preying parasitically on the rest of us.
As a result, we all need locks on our houses, businesses, cars, you name it, and passwords on our devices. We have parasites from pickpockets to dictators, from cyber criminals to Ponzi scheme promoters.
We arrest some, we jail others, and nothing stops them. They are the scourge of our species, just as Covid was and whooping cough still is. The wide ranging harm they cause is immeasurable.
In the name of whatever supernatural entity you believe in, can *someone* please come up with a truly effective deterrent, because I can't.
Image credits: Puzzleheaded-Car3562
#17
The Panama Papers.
#18
Pharmaceutical companies patenting life saving medicine and charging people a fortune for them in the name of shareholder profits.
#19
#exxonknew
Reports as early as the 1960s knew that burning fossil fuels would cause global catastrophe, all of which are playing out today. Alot of people underestimate the link between rising temps and our growing political instability worldwide. .
#20
One of the biggest scandals in human history has to be the Panama Papers leak in 2016. It exposed how world leaders, billionaires, celebrities, and corporations were hiding wealth in offshore tax havens. The scale was mind-blowing—11.5 million documents revealing financial corruption on a global level. Politicians resigned, governments were shaken, and it confirmed what many already suspected: the ultra-rich play by different rules. And the craziest part? Hardly anyone faced real consequences.
#21
May not be the biggest scandal - but the renowned General Amherst of the "Indian" wars during the time of Manifest Destiny (whites overrunning native lands) used to distribute blankets knowingly infected with smallpox because it would decimate the indigenous. IOW biological warfare.
#22
So many but Epstein island. Still no one brought to justice on behalf of those children.
#23
Current day f*******s thinking Hitler is cool.
Obviously Hitler was a bigger scandal overall, but these a******s have had time to reflect.
#24
People getting very very rich from wars.
#25
Maybe the Opium Wars (1839-1860) – The British Empire deliberately flooding China with opium, leading to mass a*******n, all to maintain economic and colonial dominance?
Or the Colonial & Slave Trade Atrocities – The transatlantic slave trade and European colonial exploitation of Africa, Asia, and the Americas shaped global inequality and caused suffering on an unimaginable scale?
The H*******t?
Or the generalized oppression of women and children (and also men who are poor?) in every continent every century?
Or the concept of war, just in general?
So many to pick out form!
#26
Well I was going to say Milli Vanilli, but I guess that plastic thing is pretty bad.
#27
Our debt-based monetary system.
The biggest scam in the history of mankind with the biggest implications. We would all be living much more prosperous and safer lives.
>*“The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.” The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863.*.
#28
Big oil companies creating the term “carbon footprint” to make individual people feel worse about their own pollution than pay attention to how much fracking was destroying our earth. I did a whole project on it in high school and I will forever feel duped.
#29
The 1534 Act of Supremacy that solidified Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England in order to break England from the Pope/Vatican was WILD. The Pope wouldn't annul Henry's marriage to his wife SO that he could marry Anne Boleyn to try for a "legitimate" male heir.
The people loved his wife Catherine, and now she was being made persona non grata and on top of THAT, if you even whispered that Henry wasn't the head of the Church or showed support for Rome, you were a traitor. And I think we all know how Henry treated those he saw as his enemies, no?
Ah, those kooky royals...
#30
Diamonds.
#31
Cleopatra. She herself was involved in a c**p load of them.
#32
How the greatest democracy on earth gave up on intelligence for glam and things how Americans not only closed their minds they began to barricade the door.
America doesn’t even know itself now you stopped reading you stopped writing you stopped doing THINGS and allowed yourselves to be lulled into stupor by dopamine and greedy self interest. You embraced cowardice and coat yourselves in fear.
Your only hope now is deep diving into knowledge going to libraries learning your d**n history. .
#33
Organized religion will prove to be the biggest hoax of all time.
#34
Whatever Lockheed Martin is hiding from us.
