The 1916 Philadelphia A’s achieved a record of 36 wins against 117 losses making them the poorest performing team in MLB history with a .235 winning percentage.
Red Herring
Red Herring began as a technology business magazine in 1993 and flourished during the dot com boom, with global distribution and bureaus in Bangalore, Beijing, and Paris. It also sponsored conferences designed to bring venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and technologists together. The magazine went into decline with the dot com crash, and ceased print publication in 2003.
The Industry Standard
The Industry Standard was a magazine that published technology business news from 1998-2001. In 2000, it sold more ad pages than any magazine in America, and launched that year a European edition. However, as the dot-com boom failed, sales of the magazine began to shrink, and it went into bankruptcy in August 2001.
LA Gear
LA Gear, which was third in athletic shoe sales behind Nike and Reebok in 1990 with $818M in sales. By 1993 LA Gear’s popularity was beginning to wane. The company began restricting access to the shoes, focusing on higher-end department stores to gain a more upscale clientele. However, in doing so the company was so desperate to sell the remaining inventory that LA Gear shoes began showing up at flea markets, swap meets, and supermarkets.
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, which produced computer hardware and software, peaked at a $7B market cap in 1995 and filed for bankruptcy in 2006. The addition of 3D graphic capabilities to PCs, and the ability of clusters of Linux- and BSD- based PCs to take on many of the tasks of larger SGI servers, ate into SGI’s core markets. The porting of Maya to Linux, Mac OS and Microsoft Windows further eroded the low end of SGI’s product line.
Google TV
In 2010, Google TV was big on potential, but short on features, while the software lacked application support and access to some online programming. The software development kit wasn’t available to developers that would allow them to bring entertainment content to the Google TV platform. Plus the TV features Netflix, but networks were blocking Google TV’s access to their shows.
1961 Philadelphia Phillies
The 1961 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 79th in franchise history. The Phillies finished the season in last place in the National League at 47–107, 46 games behind the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds. The team lost 23 games in a row, the most in MLB history.
1962 New York Mets
The 1962 New York Mets season was the first regular season for the Mets. They went 40–120 (.250) and finished tenth and last in the National League, 60+1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who had once called New York home. The Mets’ 120 losses are the most by any MLB team in one season. Since then, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, 2018 Orioles, and 2023 Oakland Athletics have come the closest to matching this mark, at 43–119 (.265), 47–115 (.290), and 50–112 respectively.
Spruce Goose
The Spruce Goose is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II, it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made only one brief flight, on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the prototype.
Built from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum and concerns about weight, the aircraft was nicknamed the Spruce Goose by critics, although it was made almost entirely of birch.
Twinkies Lip Balm
Launched in 2004, Twinkies Lip balm transforms your lips into a haven of sweetness reminiscent of your favorite Hostess treats.