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Yoda worked because a puppet could deliver a performance.
Yoda worked because a puppet could deliver a performance. Stuart Freeborn led the creation of Yoda for The Empire Strikes Back, and Frank Oz supplied the…
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Mad Max's biker cast rode to the shoot because flights cost too much.
Mad Max's biker cast rode to the shoot because flights cost too much. George Miller recalled sending motorcycles to Sydney so Hugh Keays-Byrne and the other…
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New Amsterdam was regulating reckless wagon drivers in 1652.
New Amsterdam was regulating reckless wagon drivers in 1652. An ordinance addressed dangerous driving of carts, wagons, and sleighs in the settlement that…
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Resident Evil was originally conceived as a simple modern remake of a virtually unknown nineteen-eighty-nine psychological horror game called Sweet Home.
Resident Evil was originally conceived as a simple modern remake of a virtually unknown nineteen-eighty-nine psychological horror game called Sweet Home. The…
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Greek art could use anatomy as characterization.
Greek art could use anatomy as characterization. Classical male ideals commonly had modest genitals, while satyrs and fertility figures could be portrayed…
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Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. linked a bad Burger King meal to his decision to give up drugs. He described a 2003 stop during which the food’s disappointing taste made…
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First automated teller machines deployed in the 1960s were heavily coated in expensive wood paneling and highly polished metal just to visually convince deeply suspicious banking…
First automated teller machines deployed in the 1960s were heavily coated in expensive wood paneling and highly polished metal just to visually convince…
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An 1888 novel imagined a society spending with cards.
An 1888 novel imagined a society spending with cards. In Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward, citizens receive a share of the nation's output and draw against…
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Russian esoteric philosopher P.D.
Russian esoteric philosopher P.D. Ouspensky gained widespread fame in the early twentieth century by mathematically trying to prove the existence of…
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Ecuador's famous equator monument misses the equator.
Ecuador's famous equator monument misses the equator. The painted line at Mitad del Mundo sits about 240 meters south of the equator as located by modern…
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Constellations are entirely human constructs composed of stars that have absolutely no physical relationship to one another and are often separated by thousands of light-years in the deep vacuum of space.
Constellations are entirely human constructs composed of stars that have absolutely no physical relationship to one another and are often separated by…
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Ralph Fiennes refused to wear tights under his dark robes while playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films because they kept slipping down and restricting his evil strut.
Ralph Fiennes refused to wear tights under his dark robes while playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films because they kept slipping down and…
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An early cash machine worked more like a vending machine than a bank teller.
An early cash machine worked more like a vending machine than a bank teller. John Shepherd-Barron recalled imagining a dispenser after missing his bank's…
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Cutting off an emperor's nose did not end his claim.
Cutting off an emperor's nose did not end his claim. Justinian II was deposed and mutilated in 695, an act meant to make a return to Byzantine rule…
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George Washington firmly believed the perpetrators of the Boston Tea Party should financially compensate the British East India Company for the destroyed cargo.
George Washington firmly believed the perpetrators of the Boston Tea Party should financially compensate the British East India Company for the destroyed…
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Queen Victoria returned to a route where a gunman had aimed at her.
Queen Victoria returned to a route where a gunman had aimed at her. After John Francis pointed a pistol at her carriage in May 1842 and escaped, Victoria rode…
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A spy microphone could hide in a shoe heel.
A spy microphone could hide in a shoe heel. Cold War surveillance devices were small enough to conceal inside footwear. A bugged shoe could travel into…
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Loch Ness hides its scale below the surface.
Loch Ness hides its scale below the surface. The loch is roughly 39 kilometers long but only about 1.5 kilometers wide, with depths reaching around 230…
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Bea Arthur negotiated bare feet. Biographer Jim Colucci says she could forgo shoes if she agreed not to sue the producers over resulting injuries.
Bea Arthur negotiated bare feet. Biographer Jim Colucci says she could forgo shoes if she agreed not to sue the producers over resulting injuries.
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Artificial intelligence voice assistants were originally heavily marketed as completely private digital butlers until it was revealed that tech companies routinely hired…
Artificial intelligence voice assistants were originally heavily marketed as completely private digital butlers until it was revealed that tech companies…
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Factory managers in the 1920s encouraged female workers to lick paintbrushes coated in radioactive radium to keep the tips pointed while painting glowing numbers on watch dials.
Factory managers in the 1920s encouraged female workers to lick paintbrushes coated in radioactive radium to keep the tips pointed while painting glowing…
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Job postings in certain competitive markets have literally included specific requirements explicitly stating that Scorpios and Virgos need not apply, utilizing astrological signs…
Job postings in certain competitive markets have literally included specific requirements explicitly stating that Scorpios and Virgos need not apply,…
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Scientific researchers suggest that any marginal truth found in astrological personality traits might simply be the result of a seasonal birth bias, where the climate and vitamin…
Scientific researchers suggest that any marginal truth found in astrological personality traits might simply be the result of a seasonal birth bias, where the…
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A Hollywood star comes with a sponsorship bill.
A Hollywood star comes with a sponsorship bill. Selection for the Walk of Fame is followed by a substantial fee covering the ceremony, installation, and…
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