50 Of The Most Ridiculous Things Ever Done Out Of Spite

Spite may not be one of the most attractive human qualities, but it’s hardly rare. And like it or not, while spiteful acts may be far from admirable, they can produce some intriguing and even entertaining tales. So we’ve dug out 40 of the most distinctive accounts of human spite. The stories may be a guilty pleasure, but they can also be strangely compelling...

50. Sneaker snickering

It’s a strange fact that two of the world’s most famous sneaker manufacturers had their origins in one small German town, Herzogenaurach. Not only that, but Adidas and Puma were run by two brothers, Rudolf and Adolf Dassler. The pair had started out working together but then had a major falling-out in 1948 and went their separate ways. The feud continued even after death, with the two brothers being buried as far apart as possible in the local churchyard.

49. The McCobb Spite House, Maine

A son should always respect his mother. Right? Well, it seems that nobody had revealed that moral imperative to Thomas McCobb of Phippsburg, Maine, back in 1806. He believed that his mom, in league with a step-brother, was out to swindle him out of his rightful inheritance. They bought a fancy house in the city. But to spite them McCobb retaliated by building an even grander mansion nearby.

48. Guitarist’s gall

Dave Carroll played guitar with Canadian folk-rock band Sons of Maxwell. And something happened in 2008 that really got his goat. While he was on tour, clumsy United Airlines baggage handlers broke his cherished instrument. Carroll wasn’t a man to take this lying down. He recorded three songs under the title “United Breaks Guitars.” Then he put them on YouTube where they got 4 million views in under four weeks.

47. Prince’s moniker madness

In 1993 the massively successful musician Prince decided that he was no longer, well, Prince. Instead, he would be known by a symbol which wasn’t even a word. It was a stylized mixture of the biological signs for male and female. His reason? The performer was furious with limits on releasing material that his record company tried to impose on him. So he wrongfooted Warner Bros. by simply refusing to be the same person any more.