Vasamuseet

Renee commented: people from other countries find it interesting that Sweden's most impressive museum is a monument to what may have been its most embarassing moment--the sinking of the Vasa in 1628. The museum's web site tells the story well. I'll skip to the climax:

The Vasa set sail and fired a salute. But only after a few minutes of sailing the ship began to heel over. She righted herself slightly - and heeled over again. Water started to gush in through the open gunports. And, to everyones [sic] horror and disbelief, the glorious and mighty warship suddenly sank! Of the 150 people on board, 30-50 died in the disaster. When Vasa had been salvaged in 1961, archaeologists found the remains of 25 skeletons.

As Viktor pointed out, this was a result of an engineering flaw and poor communication between the managment team (i.e the Admiral and The King). In all, this is one of the coolest museums I've ever visted. In addition to the amazlingly well-preserved ship, this space boasts a number of side exhibits that replicate, simulate, and otherwise document the era and the disaster. There are even recreations of some of the spaces on board, including life-size wooden figures of the sailors.