Electronic – NE555 timer not working – how to identify the element at fault

background

Im a beginner in the field of electonics, and I have been trying to put together a IR remote control / laser tag system using Arduino Nano. I am using a TSOP4840 receiver and a TSAL6100 as the emitter, so I need a modulated signal at 40kHz. To do that, I tried to use a NE555timer and use and "and it" with my arduino output pin using a 74HCT08 IC. I made a breadboard circuit. Here's a photo of it:

Unfortunately, the timer does not work. Its output pin is always at 0V compared to the GND. I tried a few different timer IC's, none of them worked. I made a second circuit, on another breadboard and using another 555 timer, wiring everything up as in the first circuit, none of it helped.

question

Following the NE555 timer datasheet, I tried to create a test circuit
for it, but it didn't work, always having 0V between the output pin and GND. I used different breadboards and timer IC's. How can I identify my mistake/the faulty part of the circuit? I'm quite sure I wired up everything as it was shown in the datasheet. Here is the timers pin layout, the schematic from the datasheet and a picture of my circuit.

edit the mistake on the photo (yellow wire connected to pin 3 instead of 2) has been corrected, but was not the source of the problem. In the original circuit (top photo) I didnt make that mistake.