The 10 Worst Jobs in History

[@Big_Tex]

You forgot “Simon’s dungeon-bound scriptwriter”.

[@MosoKaiser]

Allegedly!

[@reggiep75]

Poor Danny and his Jessica B Fletcher typewriter clattering by candle light as Simon pours his soup thru the lock hole.. again!

[@rogueviking9268]

@@reggiep75 did you see how short the intro was on the latest video? No soup for Danny!

[@ahuddleston6512]

Haha!😂

[@twocvbloke]

He did say that slavery wasn't on the list... :P

[@pakde8002]

Two very dangerous jobs not mentioned are commercial fishing and farming but I'm really surprised the pitiful case of the luminous watch dial painters didn't make the list.

[@AnnoyingNewslettersPage6]

I had to make sure I was hearing Simon right when he said, scrotal cancer: Chimney sweep's cancer, also called soot wart, is a squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the scrotum. It has the distinction of being the first reported form of occupational cancer, and was initially identified by Percivall Pott in 1775.[1] It was initially noticed as being prevalent amongst chimney sweeps.

[@fr2ncm9]

Being an electrical lineman in the 1900's was an exceedingly dangerous job. Back then, the mortality rate was up to 50%. Even today, it is listed as one of the 10 most dangerous jobs in the country.

[@mammuchan8923]

Interesting trivia on Thomas Midgely Jr In 1940, at the age of 51, Midgley contracted polio, which left him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to lift himself out of bed. In 1944, he became entangled in the device and died of strangulation.

[@slartybartfast4213]

He also invented CFC's to replace the very dangerous gases the refrigeration used, unknown to him and everyone else, they ate a hole the ozone layer. Thomas Midgely Jr is probably the worst inventor in history.

[@mammuchan8923]

@@slartybartfast4213 the planet could definitely have done without his inventions 😭

[@maryhildreth754]

In the 1970s, my best friends older sister moved to a Northern state and became a stripper. Let's call her Sheila. Sheila worked in an adult book store that also had rooms you could go in which were divided in half by glass. On the other side of that glass was a stripper. Sometimes it was Sheila. The strippers would dance or for a fee, they would use whatever device you had purchased at the adult book store. (They sold more than books). Now, Sheila did not have the worst job in that place. The worst job was held by a little old man who worked there. His job was to go in the room after the customer and clean the glass.

[@chimpinaneckbrace]

I mean, is that really any worse than having to clean hotel rooms?

[@AnnoyingNewslettersPage6]

Randall: you got to clean it quick because I don't know if you've noticed, but it leaves a streak.

[@lisarenee3505]

I worked in an adult book store for a couple months back in the 90s. Guy who cleaned the video booths made 3x what any of us up front made. He'd go in there dressed like the place was infected with Ebola.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

[CLANG]. Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!

[@hunterG60k]

I'm feeling much better!

[@johnclose2925]

@@hunterG60k You beat me to it😂

[@adamc1966]

What about the ladies that used to paint radioactive paint onto watch dials? The used to wet the tiny brushes with their tongues.

[@CAMacKenzie]

And died a HORRIBLE death.

[@bellakaldera3305]

I have swept chimneys professionally, and one would come home absolutely black with soot, body wash and loofah would barely cope. I loved the job, however, climbing on rooftops all over Eastern Mass and Rhode Island. I did it "full trad" with a top hat and tailcoat, even singing and dancing a bit, because I recognized that a bit of theater was expected and appreciated. I never fell off a roof, though I jumped once (a hornet's nest...) I did the job with enthusiasm until a chimney collapsed on me.

[@davidackley4102]

Unbelievable

[@dsxa918]

You think that's unbelievable, wait until you hear about how Bella later went on to write many pop hit-singles for famous artists whose songs we've never questioned the origin of?

[@zeusathena26]

I encourage everyone to watch The Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson. It's educational, entertaining, & often hilarious!

[@ahuddleston6512]

I was just about to write about that?!?! Great minds think alike, huh?😉

[@davidthompson6834]

I was going to type the same thing

[@cjmarshall0221]

No. 3 "Bring out your dead. Bring out your dead." "I'm not dead, I'm not dead." "Yes you are, you'll be stone cold dead in a moment." "I feel happy." "Oh don't be such a baby." "I can't take him like that, it's against regulations."

[@flyboy152]

I was looking to see if anyone posted this. 👍

[@brucepeterson6344]

In reference to the dangers of coal mining, I draw your attention to the town of Hanna, Wyoming. Twice in the early 1900's--on June 30, 1903 and on March 28, 1908, the coal mines in Hanna suffered major explosions. 169 men were killed in the 1903 blast, and 59 men in the 1908 event, which consisted of two explosions.

[@lorettaolson8748]

My father and brother were Oregon loggers. Extremely dangerous occupation.

[@927candace]

My bf is a climber here in Portland Oregon and idk how in the hell he can be 150 ft up in a tree hanging there.. just another day in the office for him I guess… Lol. And Im terrified of heights

[@mikitz]

The sole safety precaution for 19th Century loggers: 'Timber!'

[@davidlucey1311]

So much for the “dignity of honest labor “.

[@usonumabeach300]

I'm a modern day gongfarmer. I work in a waste water treatment plant, and we do all fresh and sewage systems and maintenance for our area. After the water is processed out and cleaned, we take the dried poo in a dump truck to the landfill. Never eat wild birds! Lol. They are naaaaaaasty.

[@adde9506]

If you want to make a mint, start a composting facility. Invite people to bring their yard waste and Christmas trees for free and charge just slightly less than the landfill for the dried waste. Throw it in a pile, stir occasionally, sell as fertile soil.

[@DrNothing23]

Speaking of collecting poop, in the Victorian era in London, dog poop was used as an ingredient in printer's ink and old women would walk around the city collecting it to sell.

[@deepstashteam8915]

Sitting at a desk typing all day doesn't feel so bad after all... 10. Battlefield scavenger [1:14] 9. Salt miner [2:47] 8. Galley rower [3:43] 7. World War II submariner [4:44] 6. Leech collector [5:39] 5. Lead worker [6:30] 4. Lumberjack [7:28] 3. Body collector [8:16] 2. Gongfermor [9:11] 1. Chimney sweep [9:56]

[@somethinglikethat2176]

Number 10 doesn't seem that bad.

[@davidlucey1311]

You won’t hear me complain about being a lawyer. It can be boring as hell, but this small price to pay.

[@Isaiah42069]

my great grandfather was a WW2 Submariner, and was for over 20yrs. did some secret missions, got a bronze star. survived it all.

[@ravenhill_night_visitor_1968]

all of your channels are excellent Simon. top tenz is my favourite though.

[@TimSedai]

The past WAS the worst 😂🤣 Og BB!

[@michaelpipkin9942]

Joe's Crab Shack server. Every 10 min, no matter what, you have to stop and dance. The dance depends on what song comes on. I had to excuse myself, put my hands on a man's hips and do the Conga line. Then go back to taking their order. I lasted a week....These girls gave me $5 and told me to get dance lessons.

[@patrickbrookings]

The Battle of Waterloo was in 1815. The date you mention (1822) probably refers to a painting of the battle which was commissioned in 1822.

[@VoidHalo]

There was actually a really terrific documentary series called "The Worst Jobs in History" which does exactly what the label says. It's pretty much like dirty jobs if it was more educational and about history, obviously. The guy goes around to different places where they still do these jobs and tries them out for himself and talks about what was involved and things of that nature. Last I saw, it's up on KZbin so you should be able to find it here. There are also a lot of documentaries about life on a farm with series for different periods like the Tudor era, Victorian Era, Edwardian, etc and it's a group of 3 people who live in a period farm, fixing it up and doing all of the chores and day to day activities a person on a typical farm in that era would do. It really makes you grateful for modern amenities when you see how it would take a woman a week just to do a load of laundry. Or 2-3 weeks just to prepare a Christmas dinner. I remember as a kid growing up in the early 90's I always wondered what people did before video games and TV. But it seems like all they did was work because they had no other choice. And that was just what EVERYONE did just to survive. Kids were no exception. Being one more mouth to feed, they had to work to help out as soon as they were able to.

[@chimpinaneckbrace]

Me watching this while working my horrible, idiotic corporate insurance job: “Hmmm leech collector? Are they hiring?”

[@roberthollingsworth8940]

The lumber jack song by Monty Python doesn't seem quite as funny now.

[@LennoxMatt1]

yet the "bring out your dead" sketch still is

[@johnlocke5728]

Being a logger is extremely dangerous my father once saw a man get cut in half buy a snap steel cable

[@theziggurat869]

I've worked in around a dozen lumber mills. None of them had a medical facility. We were lucky to find a first aid kit. One time I violently smashed the end of one of my fingers off. It was paper towels, pressure, and jokes all the way to the ER.

[@ADEpoch]

Lift (elevator for you apple pie eaters) technician is quite dangerous too. We used to get weekly safety talks where the boss would highlight the latest industry acccidents then describe how to avoid them. Ironically lifts are actually very, very, safe for public standing inside the lift car, but because they're huge moving machines with many fast moving parts, pushed into service with electricity, the people who work on them in the lift shafts, and the motor rooms are nowhere near as safe as the general public.

[@XpertDrumCovers]

Simon must have a world record in active KZbin channels at this stage

[@craniusdominus8234]

there is no KZbin, there is only Simon

[@kca_randy]

Hank Green has substantial KZbin empire as well. Sci show and a bunch more

[@joeyr7294]

Aint that the truth lol

[@melendezab1]

The man has to be grinding day in and day out. Respect.

[@626games]

Hah he would never pay Guinness to come out and verify it though

[@davebaker9128]

"Pounding sand" in a foundry, was and still is one of the worst jobs, in spite of ever forward moving technologies, Pounding sand is still a critical part of foundry labor, yuk!

[@adde9506]

Where I live, "Go pound sand" is a way of telling someone to go be useless elsewhere because they've made themselves unwelcome. An important job in a foundry, but completely futile anywhere else.

[@angryatheist]

Not sure for what but leeches are actually still used to treat some illnesses

[@oldman0995]

I think they are used to keep blood circulating around wounds. Not sure though

[@ryanroberts1104]

Yet if you ask any cop in the US today they'll pretend they take up all 10 of the top 10 spots!

[@bhgtree]

Two more worst jobs: vomit collector and groom of the stool. In one end and out the other 😄

[@corinneirwin8406]

Okay this is the perfect top tenz for back to work Monday haha

[@anarchyantz1564]

11. Basement writer for yet another of Simon's channels.

[@ahuddleston6512]

😂

[@BonShula]

If people are interested in these kind of subjects, 'Weird History' is mostly based in these kind of historical jobs.

[@wwaitkus]

Tony Robinson did a series cleverly called, "Worst Jobs In History" on this very subject.

[@btetschner]

Being a salt miner, WW2 submariner, and a chimney sweeper sound the worst to me. A lot of those positions sounds suicidal. Very interesting video, thank you.

[@SuperNesus]

Watching this in my "Past was the worst" hoodie feels great!

[@Real_Ship_Engineer]

I was a U.S. Submariner for 10 years never regretted a single day would do 10 more....however I was medical retired....we would do submarine friday were we would listen to a World War submarine story usually a passage or two (also when we would get pinned our dolphins followed by the diving alarm)

[@Real_Ship_Engineer]

virginia class submarine

[@EmilyJelassi]

Thank you for your service and sacrifice 🙏 ❤ It's not the same, but my fiancée is a surgeon with the Army. But I live in Annapolis, home of the Naval Academy 😊

[@adde9506]

Old style logging wasn't really reliant on carts or wagons. They floated the logs down the river in far more dangerous timber flotillas that lumberjacks would ride/steer and walk around on. That's where burling was invented. Burlers were often crushed or drowned.

[@dominicwaghorn6459]

I’ve eaten 193 chicken wings in 7 days

[@jimserson2723]

I eat about 100 a week give or take. It's ok... Just drink water and don't forget the veggies.

[@InternetSlavicMan]

amazing

[@johnniewalker8410]

Drumsticks

[@dafttool]

@@jimserson2723 Are you worth 50 chickens a week?

[@davidmartin6004]

@@dafttool very debatable

[@prudencepineapple9448]

"Bring out your dead, bring out your dead"! Monty Python.

[@Shad0wBoxxer]

logging is dangerous as hell, almost seen the chainsaw guy get killed twice in one year.... didnt go back the next year

[@tomtheplummer7322]

Today’s honey dippers (septic tank pumpers and portapotty service) is still pretty disgusting.

[@ayytony720]

My pap was in ww2 as a navy man. He had 32 gold teeth that he pulled from the bodies of the enemy.

[@J.A.Smith2397]

You forgot combat engineer(mine sweepers, ied finders)

[@danielreuben1058]

I work with kids who have autism. It can be draining, and stressful. But nothing like the jobs you listed. I don't think my body would hold up for one day doing those jobs.

[@MistaTofMaine]

That's why I do accounting for a living and logging as my favorite hobby. I grew up around old school logging and realized how brutal it can be at a young age, decided to do something for a living that would be easier. I still like sometimes on weekend get up early below zero weather and spend day outside, but to have to do that daily mandatory, it's not for most.

[@SteamboatW]

Interesting. We have a lot of lumberjacks here, it's a big industry, but it isn't deadlier than other jobs... I think there are more builders dyeing each year.

[@trj1442]

Geez there would have been some terrible lives in times gone by. Thanks TT crew.

[@nancymcnafferson3192]

Now I know why the Norwegian term for hangover translates in English to: “I have lumberjack.”

[@Hi5TOrIC]

I'm in awe of Richard the Raker, that is such an on point name for someone who shovels poop all day.

[@jamiewood4280]

I'm a lumberjack, I've been harvesting timber for over 25 years, been on the saw man and boy and I don't intend to die from it.

[@DeAthWaGer]

...Are you OK? do you sleep all night and work all day? 🎶

[@jamiewood4280]

@@DeAthWaGer 😖 no, unfortunately, I sleep all night and I'm now on a ghastly hemlock clear fell.

[@KCCC326]

been a logger since I was 16, never seen or been in an accident resulting in any real injury, but everyone i know in the industry has. Near misses are an everyday thing though tbh. I remember thinking the old guys were crazy when they'd lose control of a pickup going 100 during a blizzard and laugh the whole time, now I'm 26 and I realize I'm one of those guys now.

[@cherylm2C6671]

An "old guy" at 26. Like the cowboys of the old west, literally boys, teenagers, as, by the time they were in their mid 20s, they were too used up to continue working.

[@EAWanderer]

All Truly horrendous! 🥶😒

[@daorignaldumbucket]

My great grandpa was a submariner in WWII

[@MrJjones543]

When hiring for battlefield scavengers that interview must have been a hoot. "So yes Steven you get dental and by dental I mean we expect you to pull the teeth of dead soldiers, unfortunately there is no medical, and some of the problems you will be dealing with is roving gangs and wolves. When can you start?"

[@ryanrigley]

Hi Simon!

[@J0b0baggins]

Would live to see top tens as a pod cast

[@amandaharris108]

I LOVE YOUR BEARD PLEASE NEVER GET RID OF IT ❤❤

[@davidmartin6004]

We all love it is luscious

[@seanj3667]

No mention of "mop guy" at adult theaters?

[@mammuchan8923]

Simon your really need to do a Biographics on Thomas Midgely Jr. Not only as he responsible for leaded petroleum, he is also responsible for CFCs. Dude was a disaster for our planet😭

[@johnclose2925]

Thomas Midgely Jr was also killed by the bed he invented. I believe Simon has already done a video on him.

[@joycejames8461]

He was one of the most destructive people of the twentieth century and he had some competition.

[@mammuchan8923]

@@johnclose2925 thanks I am going to look again for it, I didn’t find when first searching👍

[@andiward7068]

@@mammuchan8923 iirc it was on a Brain Blaze ep, i want to say a compilation of people who fricked up the world. It wasn't serious like a biographics ep. (Still factually accurate).

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

Cmon Simon! You can fit down that chimney?😃

[@rapahelbarth2187]

You forgot that salt miners were occasionally cooked alive when thay fell into the pans where the water was evaporated

[@dewizard1879]

What about any of the workers who were involved in the quenching and clean up of chernobl

[@karmacheese]

What about Sulphur miner?

[@Emily_Charley]

Wow Simon another channel! How many is that now 80? Lol

[@moocyfarus8549]

I can think of lots of jobs that are worse than being a lumberjack, all the loggers I know absolutely love their career, even the ones that have retired because of injury or age still love it and reminisce about it,,..... Funny how mining asbestos didn't make the list but a job that people love and retire from happily and wealthy is on the list

[@locoporelcine1]

Lumberjack is on the list for high risk. Not because people wouldn't like their profession.

[@moocyfarus8549]

@@locoporelcine1 even with the risks it ain't as dangerous as a lot of other things I can easily think of and it's fun and it pays well

[@stephenkwasek1933]

It baffles this modern mind that the Brits considered it progressive to raise the working age to 8 years old. Just dumbstruck. Great job as always in Simon's gang.

[@sirclarkmarz]

8 years old almost middle age back then

[@owenshebbeare2999]

It was no better elsewhere, in fact the US remained worse for much longer. The British did something...nobody else did anything.

[@foxymetroid]

The sad thing is that it was progressive considering people were employing kids that wouldn't be old enough for kindergarten nowadays.

[@72tadrian65]

I remember that leaded gas was still very common in the 80’s.

[@shirleyjeanpilger3482]

Me, too. How stupid were we? We still are polluting the air in droves. Can't give up our cars, no matter how much we are informed of the dangers. I know people who drive 2 blocks. I don't own one myself, haven't since 1989.

[@grumpyguy2877]

Unleaded gas didn’t start until 1975

[@shirleyjeanpilger3482]

@@grumpyguy2877 leaded gas is still sold in the US. It's used in off road vehicles, racing cars, airplanes, a few others. Not everyone got the memo I guess. Leaded gas for on road vehicles wasn't phased out until 1996.

[@zach62569]

You should hear about The Mighty Jingles' salt mine 🤣

[@stevenutter3614]

Top Tenz, Today I Found Out, Biographics, Geographics, Warographics, Megaprojects, Sideprojects, Brain Blaze, xplrd, Highlight History, Into the Shadows, The Casual Criminialist, Decoding the Unknown. I never even heard of decoding then unknown until now. No you know what pisses me off the most. WHY don't all your channels show up on all your other channels? Decoding the unknown , Warographics, and some others are all listed with your other channels. You have a combined total of nearly 10 millions subs.

[@Fundamentalist9473]

1800s were a hard time to live !

[@amaccama3267]

Oh I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok I sleep all night and I work all day.

[@TerryLawrence001]

Any job done by Baldrick, ie Dung taster

[@ChristKingShadow777]

Worst job in History = No Job

[@TheSoonToBePurgedJackMeHoff55]

Tell that to progressives lol

[@jeanettw2341]

As a professional salt miner on video games. I agree, it is a dangerous and thankless job.

[@Instructor1990]

Another channel?! Soon, Simon will BE KZbin

[@mikemcguinness3783]

Where's the "bring out your dead" Monty Python reference for number three?

[@paulcritz6217]

Battle of Waterloo in 1822..??

[@gordonwallin2368]

Logging was and is safer in Canada. Cheers from The Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[@cherylm2C6671]

A chimney sweep could have partnered to do the job both safer and faster, but it was cheaper to rent a child for two pence a week or purchase (!) from a foundling house. Peasants have followed battles to help themselves and the occasional horses avoid suffering. Coal has killed hundreds of men, where the only mercy was smoke, but imagine black lung (or burn wards) with 1800's medicine! Imagine the year without a summer. Haut cuisine from Wuhan is employing a lot of people right now, so is bushmeat from Ghana.

[@keirangrant1607]

Oh, the kids that would go thru mud in the Thames, trying to find coal or anything of value....in Victorian England

[@Morgan_Sandoval]

9:00 "Bring out your dead!"

[@dylanangel2870]

people quitting over being worked to death while ripped off at the same time. yep, sounds about right

[@elizabethburns9194]

At the moment, I cannot remember what they were called; but there were a counterpart to the kamakozy pilot. These men would climb into a torpedo, with the same intentions. They would pilot torpedoes towards the Allied ships.

[@Peter1Europe]

What ? New variant of Simon ?

[@Diesel257]

Damn, chimney sweeps swept their balls off...

[@EGRJ]

I feel cops would have a fatality rate much closer to lumberjacks if lumberjacks could shoot the trees in self-defense. I mean, they can, but it's not very effective.

[@adamc1966]

Funny how Monty Python has songs about TWO of these jobs.

[@philliprobertson2594]

Chimney sweeps got scrotal cancer. Wow. Rough. That's rough. Saved the best for last, huh?

[@enloemetzloff9079]

Simon, I thought that was you in Marry Poppins.

[@duncancurtis1758]

Butcher Baker and candlestick maker...

[@christophermerlot3366]

I watched a movie recently and noticed that someone was listed in the credits as a 'worm wrangler.' This did not sound pleasant.

[@cherylm2C6671]

Which movie was that? Bulwinkle?

[@christophermerlot3366]

@@cherylm2C6671 Was definitely a thing on The Squirm.

[@michaeltyrrell3381]

1:26 to 1:39. Um... did nobody watch this before release?

[@scythebergon418]

Midgley such a devil he keeps appearing over every channel

[@alexhurst3986]

"Hi I'm Simon. I don't sleep. I have a million KZbin channels"

[@pr0xZen]

Overhunting of leeches led to the extinction of Scottish women in many areas?? 😳 How long did they stand in the swamps??

[@lDemonAngel]

Logging, not just a job, a lifestyle

[@jphilb]

These were all back when if you did not work you did not eat.

[@CAP198462]

I object, the Jingles Salt Mine is incredibly safe.