6 of the most spectacular business failures in history

Looking back in history, it's not hard to find examples of business failures.

What makes these six ventures stand out as some of the most disastrous are the heft of their consequences, which include rebellions, countless deaths, incredible floral price inflation, and even two countries uniting.

Business Insider spoke with a number historians and authors about several of these unsuccessful companies and ventures that cropped up between the 14th and 18th centuries.

And while many of them noted that the actual economic damage these historical ventures wrought was typically nothing compared to more modern financial crashes, these companies still went down in history as disasters: