Just your typical day at the ballpark: First you see a pitcher smoke a fastball down the middle of the plate. Then you watch a speedy runner burn up the base paths. Finally, you see center field explode in a fireball!

Okay, so it’s not exactly your average trip to the old ball game. But that’s the whole, record-breaking idea behind “Disco Demolition Night" -- the ill-concevied event that saw vinyl records detontated, liquered-up fans riot, Comiskey Park decend into smoldering shambles, the Chicago White Sox dealt an automatic loss and the demise of dico hastened. Listen, laugh and learn all about it.

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical thinking from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com.

Nearly a half century after George Washington dons a three-cornered hat, courageously crosses the Delaware River, and defeats the British Army redcoats, President John Quincy Adams strips down to his birthday suit, swims naked in the Potomac River, and leaves America red faced.

Giving “crack of dawn” a whole new meaning, each morning, Adams sneaks down to the riverbank, surreptitiously undresses, and proceeds to folly about with the local ducks and geese—all the while naked as a jaybird.

What happens when word get out on his au naturel aquatic adventures? Listen, laugh and learn all about it.

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical thinking from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com.

Uber music producer Farian is looking for the “next big thing” in music. Scouring the ’80s Berlin club scene, he happens upon models Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus tearing up the dance floor. To most, they’re no more than hunky, prancing boy toys. But to Farian, they’re ideal front men for a new band.

One problem: Neither Rob nor Fab can sing. To cover that rather glaring deficiency, Farian secretly hires professional vocalists to record all their songs—and directs Rob and Fab to lip-synch to these recordings whenever performing live. What could go wrong? Listen, laugh and learn all about it in this podcast.

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical thinking from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com and other platforms.

In the bubbly affluence of post–World War II America, Coke is the cola preferred by 60 percent of the market. Yet by 1983, pesky rival Pepsi has begun to outsell Coke among coveted youth demographics. Despite a generations-long reign as the world’s top-selling soft drink, “The Real Thing” -- a bastion of coolheaded product stability-- makes an uncharacteristically dunderheaded decision.

Hundreds of thousands of distraught calls and angry letters later, a psychiatrist is called in to help quench the public outcry. What happened when Coke's fizzy idea went flat? Listen, laugh and learn all about it.

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical thinking from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com.

Ensconced in the back seat of his open-roofed Double Phaeton limousine, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, warily motorcades from a town hall meeting through the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia.

And with good reason. Just hours earlier, the archduke narrowly escapes a bomb-thrower’s assassination attempt that seriously injures a group of well-wishers standing along his parade route. Hoping to visit the victims, Ferdinand instructs his limo driver, Leopold Lojka, to brave a Serbian-anarchist-infested neighborhood and head for the local hospital. Lojka obliges, but in his confusion decides to take a back-alley route -- a bad idea with deadly consequences that will change the course of world history forever. Listen, lament and learn all about it now.

More Blundering Brainstorms to Come

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical stinkin' thinkin' from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com and lots of other online platforms.

You know the movie, you know the scene: Young Elliot lures E.T., the extraterrestrial, out of hiding with a trail of yummy candies.

"E.T." screenwriter Melissa Mathison believed that only one kind of candy could pique the sweet tooth of a cute, cuddly intergalactic visitor to our planet -- the most popular candy on Earth --M&M’s. But when presented with this novel promotional opportunity, the space cadets at Mars, Inc., maker of M&M’s, believed quite differently. What followed would go down as one of the greatest product placement gaffs in advertising history. Listen, laugh and learn all about it.

More Blundering Brainstorms to Come

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical stinkin’ thinkin’ from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com and other platforms.

Since the dawn of our republic, Americans have been wrestling with a great existential question: “How can I shove limitless fistfuls of fatty snack foods into my bloated face without making my arteries harder than last week’s linguine?”

Finally, in 1968, Proctor & Gamble discovers the answer: Olestra. Thanks to this new chemically-contrived fat substitute, we can now consume vast quantities of potato chips, cookies, crackers, and more—fat free and worry free. But (or should we say “butt”?) there’s a particularly unappetizing problem, which has thousands of Americans sprinting to the restroom. Listen, laugh and learn all about it.

More Blundering Brainstorms to Come

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical stinkin’ thinkin’ from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com and other platforms.

Newly reelected and embarking on a national speaking tour, President William McKinley is a busy chief executive—too busy, his staff decides, to meet with a clothier who’s offered to fit the commander in chief with a snazzy piece of outerwear.

Instead, the meeting is rescheduled until after McKinley returns from a brief trip to the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. Bad idea. Because that clothier's killer addition to POTUS's wardrobe could have life or death consequences for McKinley -- and for the future of the nation. Listen and learn all about it.

More Blundering Brainstorms to Come

The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.

For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical stinkin’ thinkin’ from the past, get your copy of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com and other platforms.