You are going to be surprised.
1)
Everyone knows this image: it is a great attraction for tourists.
This is the length of the wall: 21,196 kilometers.
It took more than 100 years to build this.
400,000 people died during the construction of this wall.
+ 110 million tons of stone were used
+ There are 25,000 watchtowers.
There is no exact price known for this, but people estimate its value at 350 million euros.
And yes, I am talking about the Great Wall of China !
We can certainly say that it is something beautiful to look at, but like any great stonework, this wall was intended to fulfill its function.
Namely, to protect China against the soldiers from Mongolia in the 13th century.
And guess what happened?
The wall actually did NOTHING to stop the Mongols.
So how did the Mongolians manage to conquer China?
Well, the Mongolians were clever: there were a few open spaces in the wall, because the wall had to go through forests and rocky areas, where it is difficult to build.
It was not possible to build on the ground everywhere.
And as you can guess, the Mongolian troops went through these gaps in the wall.
So it never really fulfilled its function.
So yes, wasted money and human lives.
2)
Do you know why Scotland is part of the United Kingdom?
It is a simpler answer than you think:
Scotland wanted to have a colony in the 17th century.
And in 1698, King William II of Scotland went to make a colony in America, namely in Panama, which is here on the map:
So what did he do?
He spent about 25% of Scotland's economy on this project.
But as you can probably guess, the colony was not a success.
Many Scottish colonists died of disease and of war with Spain, which took over the country.
This left Scotland with a debt of what today corresponds to about 80 million euros. Due to that foolish decision, Scotland plunged into a major crisis, which led to Scotland having to become part of the United Kingdom.
3)
This is the " Basilica of Our Lady of Peace".
This is a Catholic church.
This is in Ivory Coast.
In Ivory Coast, both Muslims and Christians live.
Approximately one-third, or 33%, of the people in this country are Christian.
This basilica is 158 meters high, and the dome of the basilica alone weighs 310 tons.
So what is the problem?
The price to build this was 300 million dollars, or 285 million euros.
This project doubled Ivory Coast's national debt.
Moreover, it costs more than a million euros per year for maintenance.
Was it worth building them then? NO.
It has a capacity of 18,000 people, but barely a few hundred people come to attend mass.
That means it is only 2% or, at best, 3% full.