Common Mistakes Using Breadboard: What's Wrong?
"Why can't the resistor or the LED terminals be placed in the same 5 hole row?"


Because the "same 5 hole row" are all connected together:



So if you plug both ends of a resistor into the same 5-hole row, there is a piece of metal shorting the resistor out. Similarly, if you plug both anode and cathode of an LED into the same 5-hole row, you short the LED out.