"Dating website" 1913
Men would sit at a bar with a sign that read "looking for a wife" and wait for passing women to evaluate and choose them. Many men would hold kittens in their arms to attract more attention.

In 2001, a railway disaster occurred in Belgium, in which 8 people, including train drivers, died as a result of a head-on collision. Among other accidents, this one is unique in that its main cause was a language barrier.
When the driver of the first train left the station despite the red light of the semaphore, the dispatcher called the next station to warn them. However, the dispatchers did not understand each other because one spoke French and the other spoke Dutch. Both of these languages are official in Belgium, and according to the rules of the railway company, the staff should know at least one of them.