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Failure: The Blog  

August 2018

  • When This Executive Was Fired, He Took Charge
  • Obeying The Speed Limit Has Never Been More Fun
  • London Black Cabs Helped Uber Grow
  • Bette Graham Created A Product To Fix Her Mistakes
  • Flamin' Hot Cheetos Had An Interesting Start

July 2018

  • Fear This Instead Of Failure
  • Re-Releasing Songs Created Success
  • A CEO's Purposeful Mistake
  • The Tardy Student And The Unsolvable Problem
  • Fixing Potholes Through Graffiti

June 2018

  • A Surprising Mistake In The Oxford English Dictionary
  • US Army Embraces Mistakes
  • Blocking A Hymn
  • Eddie Shore Was Truly A Tough Guy
  • [Video] Elon Musk Didn't "Pivot" He Failed

May 2018

  • 8 Examples of Mental Toughness Part 2
  • Necessity Turned Accessory: Allen Iverson's Sleeve
  • This Doctor Has Continued To Fail
  • 8 Examples of Mental Toughness
  • MIT Accidentally Creates New Smelting Process

April 2018

  • Johnny Cash Quit Singing Lessons
  • Cruise Control Came Out of Frustration
  • Time Spent Gaming Pays Off In The Navy
  • Rock Around The Clock Was a Commercial Failure
  • Sigmund Freud Should Have Been Discouraged

March 2018

  • Superman Couldn't Fly
  • This School Shares Failures
  • Jim Croce's Parents Hoped He Would Fail

[More archives...]

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Crowning a Winner

June 26th, 2011 - by Robby Slaughter

Miss California Alyssa Campanella became Miss USA 2011. Despite this victory, it turns out that beauty contests are rooted in failure.

Alyssa Campanella Miss USA
Photo © Flickr User Nesster

A new slideshow from Slate.com explains the history of the competitions. This starts with a rocky beginning:

The circus magnate P.T. Barnum founded the modern American beauty contest in 1854, when he invited women to flaunt their figures in front of judges. Unfortunately, the contest was derided as low-brow and scurrilous. But Barnum tried again: This time, he asked participants to submit daguerreotypes—early versions of photographs printed on metal plates—for judgment. The more subdued format took off.

Failure is the secret to success. If Barnum had not chose to deal with the negative commentary, we might never have a Miss USA pageant and Miss Campanella might not have her crown.

But wait, why is it Miss USA and not Miss America? It turns out that there are two separate competitions. Back in 1950, Yolande Betbeze became the next Miss America. Betbeze had attended a convent school and wasn’t so sure about being photographed in her swimsuit photos. A major sponsor pulled out and decided to start their own pageant. Today, both events are owned by the same company.

Failure is the secret to success!

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