Biggest 'Screw You' Incidents In History

The Eiffel Tower remains a world-famous landmark. It survived the German occupation of Paris during WWII. Gustave Eiffel and his engineers built it in 1889. They built it to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution and show France's industrial strength. Adolf Hitler ordered the German military governor of France to destroy it in 1944.The governor refused.

French Resistance fighters arranged for the Eiffel Tower to remain standing.They cut the elevator cables.The Nazis wanted to plant their flag on top of the tower. They forced people to walk on foot instead.There are 1,665 stairs from the esplanade to the tower top.The stairs lead from the esplanade to the top of the tower.

No student wants a poor grade, especially when he believes his points are solid. But how many students follow up by proving their argument?

That is what Gregory Watson did.Gregory Watson.In 1982, Gregory Watson was a 19-year-old at the University of Texas at Austin. He wrote a paper for a political science class. He focused on a Constitutional amendment James Madison wrote in 1789. It read:

No law changing Senator and Representative pay will take effect until a representative election happens.

Madison hoped this would be an original Constitutional amendment. But enough state legislatures did not pass the proposal. For ratification, three-quarters of state legislatures had to approve a proposed amendment in 1789. Watson wrote his paper arguing the amendment could still be ratified because there was no deadline. He got a 'C' on the paper. He appealed the grade to professor Sharon Waite. She saw no reason to change the grade.

Watson chose not to accept the decision. He tried to get the amendment ratified instead. This needed approval from at least 38 state legislatures. Nine states had already approved it, mostly in the 1790s. He needed 29 more. Watson wrote to Congress members asking for help. Many he contacted did not reply, or said they could not assist. William Cohen, a Maine senator, responded to Watson. He passed the amendment to someone in his home state. That person passed it on. In 1983, the Maine legislature passed the amendment.

That pushed Watson to write to many state legislators. More states passed the amendment slowly. By early 1992, Watson needed just three more states for the 38 needed for ratification. Then, on May 7, 1992, Michigan became the 38th state legislature to approve it. About 200 years after Madison proposed it, Watson's amendment finally got ratified. Watson won the fight to show the argument he made in that 'C' paper years ago was correct. In 2017 hehe recalled that fight toNPR:

I wanted one dedicated, vocal, energetic person to push this through. I think I showed that.

Waite was shocked by Watson's response to her 'C' grade. She struggled then, unable to find a teaching job and wondering if her work mattered. Hearing Watson succeeded in getting the amendment ratified made her see her teaching had value.

She changed her mind about Watson's paper needing a better grade. On March 1, 2017, she signed a form thatofficially changed his gradefrom a 'C' to an 'A.' As she told NPR:

Goodness, he proved he knew the Constitution and its meaning and how to be political. So, yes, I think he deserves an A after that effort—an A-plus!

TheBattle of the BulgeThe Battle of the Bulge was the last major German attack on the Western Front of WWII. It happened from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945. US Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe commanded the 101st Airborne Division, defending the area around Bastogne, Belgium, during this attack.

On December 22, four German soldiers approached the American lines, waving white flags. They claimed they had a message for the American Commander in Bastogne. Two senior German party members were blindfolded and taken to the US F Company Command Post. The message went up the chain until Major Alvin Jones, operations officer at the 327th Regimental Headquarters, was told to bring it to Division Headquarters.

After talking to Jones, Lt. Colonel Ned Moore, Acting Chief of Staff at Division Headquarters, went to wake McAuliffe. He told McAuliffe the Germans sent soldiers to take the Americans' surrender. Jones then arrived with the written message stating German troops had surrounded the American troops. It continued:

Saving the encircled U.S. troops from total destruction had only one option: the honorable surrender of the surrounded town.

The message stated the Americans had two hours from delivery to surrender. If they refused, German troops would then "annihilate" the American troops in and around Bastogne.

McAuliffe thought the Germans wanted surrender first. Moore corrected him. The Brigadier General read the message, then angrily threw it down and "NUTS".reportedly saidUS General Anthony McAuliffe replied 'NUTS' to a German demand to surrender Bastogne while his troops were surrounded.

Us surrender, aw nuts!

Jones returned to F Command Post. German officers thought they deserved a reply because they formally asked for the Americans' surrender. McAuliffe met his staff. He admitted he did not know what to say. Division Operations Officer Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard convinced McAuliffe his first response was perfect. McAuliffe agreed. Staff typed up the reply and gave it to the two German officers. It read, fully:

December 22, 1944

To the German Commander,

N U T S!

The American Commander

The Germans bombed Bastogne after the Americans refused to surrender. The outnumbered 101st Airborne troops took heavy casualties. Still, they held Bastogne against the German attack until the 3rd Army, commanded by General George Patton, arrived on December 26.arrived on December 26.

Julius Caesar was 25 when Cilician pirates captured him. Plutarch says, instead of fearing his captors, the future Roman emperor laughed.Julius Caesar laughed when he learnedthe pirates only asked for 20 talents of silver for his release. Caesar mocked his captors for not knowing who he was. He suggested they demand 50 talents instead, then sent his entourage to collect the ransom.

Caesar acted like the commander while waiting for release. He did not act like a prisoner. He ordered his underlings to be quiet when he slept and made them listen to his speeches and poems. Sometimes, he threatened that upon release, he would return and have his captors crucified.he had his captors crucified, but the pirates did not take this threat seriously.

The pirates set Caesar free after they received the ransom after he was held for 38 days. Caesar quickly organized a naval force for revenge. He found the pirates near the island of Pharmacusa (modern Farmakonisi), where he was held, and brought them to the prison at Pergamum (in northwest Turkey). He then asked Junius, the governor of Asia, to punish the pirates.

When Junius waited, only promising to consider the case, Caesar took action. He went back to the prison. He had the pirates crucified, just as he had "jokingly" threatened.

In 1842, Abraham Lincoln, a self-described "prairie lawyer," wrote a harsh newspaper editorial under the name "Rebecca" attackingJames Shields - the State Auditor for Illinois - about Shields' politics. Shields backed the closure of the bankrupt State Bank of Illinois and was also accused of being a womanizer.

When an offended Shields found out the editorial writer's identity, he sent Lincoln a note that read:

I became the target of slander, abuse, and vitriol. Only a full retraction stops consequences I will regret more than anyone.

Lincoln did not retract his editorial. He sent the note back to Shields, telling him to rewrite it more 'gentlemanly.' This angered Shields, who then challenged Lincoln to a duel. They set the date for September 22 and the location for Bloody Island, MO, since dueling remained legal there.

Lincoln chose the weapons after receiving the challenge. He picked the largest cavalry broadswords.As he later explained,Lincoln did not want the fellow to kill him, which I think he would have done if we chose pistols. Lincoln said he felt sure he could disarm his opponent with a sword.

Lincoln planned to use his height. Standing 6 feet, 4 inches tall, he stood seven inches taller than his opponent. On the day of the duel, Lincoln used his size and reach tocut down a tree branchLincoln cut down a tree branch over Shields' head. This display made Shields call a truce.

Olga of KievOlga of Kiev, now Kyiv, is a saint in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. But her actions after her husband's murder were not saintly.

Olga of Kiev married Prince Igor I, ruler of Kievan Rus, which covered areas now Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. In 945, thirty-three years after Drevlians stopped paying tribute to the ruler of Kievan Rus, Igor traveled to the Drevlian capital of Iskorosten (now Korosten, Ukraine) to get the tribute payments. Instead, the Drevlians murdered Igor in a horrific way. Leo the Deacon stated, "They bent down two birch trees to the prince’s feet and tied them to his legs. Then they let the trees straighten, tearing the prince’s body apart."

Olga became ruler of Kievan Rus because her son was too young for the throne. The Drevlians tried to take the principality by forcing her to marry their Prince Mal. When they sent twenty men to ask her to accept the marriage, she had the group wait on their boat while her people dug a ditch. The next morning, they buried the twenty men alive in that ditch.

Olga needed more revenge than that. She told Prince Mal she would marry him only if he sent a group of Drevlian chieftains to bring her. When he did, she locked the chieftains in her bathhouse and burned them alive.

Olga's revenge against the Drevlians continued. They offered no news from the groups sent to Kievan Rus. Olga made the Drevlians hold a funeral feast for her late husband in Iskorosten. Drevlian drunkards murdered about 5,000 guests.The Primary Chronicle states this.The remaining Drevlians offered tribute for sparing their lives. Olga replied:

Give me three pigeons and three sparrows from each house. I don't want a heavy tribute like my husband, but I need this small gift. You are poor from the siege.

They complied. Olga had soldiers attach sulfur to cloth on each bird. Then, the birds flew back to Iskorosten homes, barns, and shops. The sulfur ignited the buildings. Olga then captured and burned the town. Her army killed many who fled; others became slaves for Olga's followers.

Given this history, why is Olga a saint? She became the first Kievan Rus ruler to adopt Christianity. She also tried to convert her people. This earned her the name Isapóstolos, which means “Equal to the Apostles.”

Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, ruled the powerful kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC to 336 BC.

Around 340 BC, Philip successfully consolidated his country and surrounding regions, making peace with Athens. Philip then focused on Sparta, a major city in Laconia. Legend says Philip sent the Spartans this message: “If I invade Laconia, I shall turn you out.”

The message did not scare the Spartans.The Spartans sent a one-word reply.:

If.

Philip invaded Laconia. He destroyed much of the region but chose not to attack Sparta itself.

Another story exists about Philip's talks with the Spartans, though this might be legend. After threatening to “turn them out,” he supposedly sent a diplomat to Sparta. The story claims the Spartans...replied with another one-word answer.:

Neither.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th U.S. President, acted as a man of few words with a dry sense of humor, traits that earned him the“Silent Cal.”

Stories circulate about how Coolidge attended a social event and stayed through the night without speaking. A famous tale about his quiet nature involves an encounter with writer Dorothy Parker. Parker attended a dinner party where she sat next to the president. She told him she bet another guest Coolidge would speak more than five words during the evening.His response?

You lose.

Coolidge laterrefuted this story, calling it “one of those rumors now current in Washington which is without any foundation.”calling it “one of those rumors now current in Washington which is without any foundation.”

The president knew his reputation as a man of few words; he saw it as an advantage. He once said, “I have never been hurt by what I have not said.” Another time, he stated, “You can’t know too much, but you can say too much.”

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were top American movie stars in the 1930s and 1940s. They were also known for a notorious Hollywood feud that continued after Crawford died in 1977.

Crawford was an established Hollywood star when Davis arrived in town in 1930. The feud between the twoallegedly started in 1933when Crawford announced her plan to divorce husband Douglas Fairbanks Jr. the same day Warner Bros. planned a major publicity push for Davis, who secured her first above-the-title billing in the filmEx-Lady.Davis blamed the film's failure on the fact thatThe New York Timesand other major newspapers ignored the film, focusing instead on Crawford's pending divorce.

The feud grew when Crawford married actor Franchot Tone in 1935. Davis fell for Tone while they acted inDangerousDavis won the Best Actress Oscar for a film. This happened in 1987, fifty-two years after the event.Davis told journalist Michael Thorntonshe remained bitter about the Crawford-Tone marriage (which ended in divorce in 1939):

She took him from me. She did it coldly, deliberately, and with total ruthlessness. I have never forgiven her for that and never will.

For her part,Crawford saidTone thought Bette was a good actress, but he never saw her as a woman.

Other incidents kept the rivalry going over the years. Then, in 1962, the two acted inWhat Ever Happened To Baby Jane?Davis and Crawford made one film together. Working together did not end the feud; it put it in the spotlight. To spite Crawford, who sat on the Coca-Cola Board of Directors, Davis got a Pepsi machine in her dressing room. Crawford feared Davis would hurt her in a scene where Davis's character Jane beat Crawford's character Blanche, so she asked for a body double. Davis hit her hard in another scene where a body double could not be used. In return, Crawford, knowing Davis had back problems, weighed herself down with rocks and materials for a scene where Jane had to drag Blanche out of bed and across the room.

Davis got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Crawford was skipped for consideration. Crawford campaigned against Davis and also got on stage herself by filling in for Anne Bancroft, who won the Best Actress Oscar.

Crawford died of a heart attack on May 10, 1977. After learning of her longtime rival's death,Davis allegedly saidBette Davis appears in the list 'Biggest 'Screw You' Incidents In History'.

You should never say bad things about the dead; you should only say good… Joan Crawford is dead. Good.

Davis died of cancer on October 6, 1989. The legendary feud continues; in 2017, the TV network FX airedBette and Joan had a feud., an eight-episode limited series that showed their relationship during and after the making ofWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane? covers this.

The Battle of Gettysburg, a major Civil War event, happened in the summer of 1863. On July 2, the Minnesota 1st Volunteer Infantry Regiment was ordered to attack the Confederate Army as a diversion while Union troops sought reinforcements. That move killed everyone except 47 members of the 250+ man Minnesota regiment.

The next day, remaining unit members included one.Marshall Sherman., joined a bloody attack led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, known as “Pickett's Charge.” The assault failed; the Union army won the Battle of Gettysburg.

An account from the.Roanoke Times., amid the chaos, Sherman saw a Virginia soldier shouting and waving a flag. Sherman charged the Confederate soldier and forced him to surrender the flag by threatening a bayonet. Sherman earned the Medal of Honor for this action. The captured Virginia 28th Infantry Regiment battle flag went back to Minnesota.

As of June 2013, the Minnesota Historical Society held this flag. Bob McDonnell, Virginia's governor then, asked the State of Minnesota to lend the flag to his state to honor the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. But Mark Dayton, then the governor of Minnesota, refused the request. AsHe told reporters and a group of Civil War re-enactors.

The Virginia governor asked for the flag loan earlier this year. They wanted to commemorate something, but we refused the invitation. That flag was taken in a battle, costing the blood of Minnesotans. Returning it to them seems sacrilegious. Men earned it through courage and valor; they risked their lives for it. This is a closed subject.

McDonnell's request wasThis request is far from the first try to return the flag to Virginia, even temporarily. In 1887, President Grover Cleveland issued an executive order to return some Confederate unit colors as a gesture of goodwill. Many opposed this order, including Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, who claimed military rules meant the flags belonged to their captors. Cleveland later canceled the order.They asked to return the flag to Virginia, even for a time. In 1887, President Grover Cleveland issued an executive order returning the colors of some Confederate units as a gesture of goodwill. Many opposed this order, including Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, who claimed the flags belonged to their captors under "all known military precedents." Cleveland later canceled the order.

In 1998, members of the 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment reenactors' group requested the flag's return. The Minnesota Historical Society asked the state attorney general’s office how to respond. They replied the request should be denied. The reason was the six-year statute of limitations for reclaiming 'lost goods' in Minnesota had expired. Then, in 2000, Chris Caveness, a Roanoke, VA resident, filed a federal lawsuit. He cited a 1905 act of Congress that let Confederate flags in the War Department's possession be returned. The court took no action in this case.

Thomas de Mahy, Marquis de Favras, was a French aristocrat. He supported Louis XVI during the French Revolution. In 1789, his former employer, the Count of Provence, commissioned him tonegotiate a loande Mahy negotiated a loan of 2 million francs from bankers Schaumel and Sartorius. This money would fund plans to save the House of Bourbon and stop the French Revolution. When his plans failed, de Mahy and his wife were arrested on Christmas Eve 1789. Later, the couple separated; the Marquis was locked up in the Grand Châtelet in Paris.

A pamphlet spread through the city. It claimed de Mahy organized a plan with the Count of Provence. This plan involved an army of about 30,000 to take Paris and kill Mayor Jean Bailly and Marquis de La Fayette. The Count of Provence denied any part in this plot. The National Assembly charged de Mahy. After a two-month trial with weak evidence and mixed testimony, they sentenced him to death by hanging. Whende Mahy reportedly quipped as he handed his death warrant to read

I point out you made three spelling mistakes.

Thomas de Mahy, marquis de Favras, died by hanging on February 19, 1790. He refused to betray the Count of Provence or anyone else involved in the plans to save the House of Bourbon's reign. Many people now see him as a martyr for the Royalist cause.

Rap artists 50 Cent and Ja Rule have fought for over 20 years. In 2018, 50 Cent seemed to escalate the conflict byposting on Instagramthat he bought front-row seats on Groupon for an upcoming Ja Rule concert:

At $15 each, you cannot lose. I got 200 tickets for 3 bands [$3,000].

50 Cent wanted the seats for Ja Rule's concert in Arlington, TX, to stay empty. In an Instagram comment later, he posted a photo of a nearly empty stadium, 'photoshopped' into one of the seats. The photowas captionedHe wrote: “What a show, 👏I mean just f***ing great. Do it again😆my kid went to the restroom. LOL.”

Ja Rule and 50 Cent both agree their beef started in 1999. The rappersdisagree on how it began.. 50 Cent claims it started when:

Ja saw me in a club with the kid who stole from him. I approached Ja to say, “What’s up,” and he acted like he had an issue with me. But I did not rob him.

Ja Rule agreed he was robbed. He claimed he never saw 50 Cent with the thief. Instead, he said the feud started that year when people from theMurder Incduring a video shoot for Ja Rule's song “Murda 4 Life.”

Over the years, each rapper released diss tracks against the other. They had public fights. In 2000, Ja Rule was arrested after he and his crew went to see 50 Cent while 50 Cent recorded in New York City's the Hit Factory—a visit that ended with 50 Cent getting stabbed.

They reportedly called a truce in 2011. However, as 50 Cent's stunt in 2018 showed, it did not last. Yet, if the rapper aimed to anger his rival, he did not seem to succeed becauseJa tweetedthis response:

I get under@50centskin... 😜 I love it!!!😂🤣😭 #iconn