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Face Palm Moments: Some of History’s Most Embarrassing Mistakes

Khalid Elhassan March 23, 2025 16 min

Mistakes - Cain, by Henri Vidal, in the Tuileries Garden, Paris — Cain, by Henri Vidal, in the Tuileries Garden, Paris. Wikimedia

1. Dick Rowe and Decca’s Other Face Palm Moment

Mistakes - Jimi Hendrix, shown here in London, was another superstar Dick Rowe declined to sign to a deal with Decca Records — Jimi Hendrix, shown here in London, was another superstar Dick Rowe declined to sign to a deal with Decca Records. The Independent

Dick Rowe’s rejection of the biggest band of all time – which was bad enough in of itself to enshrine his name in the Bad Business Decisions Hall of Fame – was not his only face palm moment of monumental shortsightedness. Just five years after he refused to sign The Beatles, Rowe turned down another musical icon. In late 1966, Jimi Hendrix arrived in London and instantly created a stir. At his debut in the British capital before an audience whose numbers included Eric Clapton, Hendrix’s guitar play blew everybody away. A bassist and drummer were quickly rounded up to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and they recorded their first single, Hey Joe. Their manager Michael Jeffrey approached Dick Rowe to try and get a record deal, only for Decca Records’ A&R man to pass. So Hendrix ended up at the recently-launched Track Records, instead.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Beatles Bible – The Beatles Audition for Decca Records

Cheat Sheet – Jimi Hendrix Got Turned Down by the Same Decca Producer Who Turned Down the Beatles

Encyclopedia Britannica – Coca-Cola Company

Encyclopedia Britannica – Musa I of Mali

Gonick, Larry – The Cartoon History of the Universe, Volume III (2002)

History Collection – Treason! 12 of History’s Most Notorious Traitors From Ancient Times to the 20^th Century

History News Network – Failures of the Presidents: JFK’s Bay of Pigs Disaster

Hollywood Reporter, February 12^th, 2012 – ‘Star Wars’: How George Lucas Built an Empire

Independent, The, February 12^th, 2012 – The Man Who Rejected The Beatles

Jones, Howard – The Bay of Pigs (2008)

McDermott, John – Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight (1992)

Motley Fool – How Coke Helped Create Pepsi, and Other Historic Market Moments

Phasr – The Star Wars Merchandise Empire: How George Lucas Revolutionized Pop Culture Merch

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.