clipped from: blog.dreamhosters.com   

Worst Typing Error in History?

  • Typing Error Causes $225M Loss at Tokyo Stock Exchange
    A typing error caused Mizuho Securities to lose at least 27 billion yen ($225 million) on a stock trade in December 2005. The trouble began when a trader tried to sell 610,000 shares at 1 yen (less than a penny) apiece instead of 1 share of 610,000 yen ($5,041).
  • Typing error causes nuclear scare
    The Sudanese government had a nasty shock in March 2005, when it read on a US Congress website that the Americans had conducted nuclear tests in the country. The report should have said Sedan, a test site in the US state of Nevada.
  • Human error caused loss of Mars orbiter
    Failure to convert English measures to metric values caused the loss of the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter, when the spacecraft smashed into the planet instead of reaching orbit in September 1999.