Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Why the Beatles stopped touring
The crowd’s screaming was so loud that the Beatles couldn’t hear their own amplifiers, making it impossible to hear the music clearly onstage.
Discover more
Bob Marley told his son that money cannot purchase life
He delivered the line to his son on his deathbed, turning a star’s fame and fortune into a reminder of what money can’t buy.
Discover more
Enya bought a castle to avoid human contact
The singer bought a large estate and filled it with cats. She rarely tours, keeping much of her life away from the public.
Discover more
Fleetwood Mac recorded breakup songs with the exes still in the band
During the making of Rumours, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were separating, as were John and Christine McVie. The band still had to perform together,…
Discover more
The Monkees turned a TV premise into chart-topping records
Assembled for a television series, the group placed four albums at number one in the U.S. during 1967. A fictional band's audience became a real record-buying…
Discover more
Rocket League's stadiums are smaller than they look
Developers say the arenas are normal-sized; the cars are essentially remote-controlled toys, making the field seem enormous by comparison.
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Gene Simmons possesses a surprisingly long human tongue
Gene Simmons's unusually long tongue became a signature part of his stage persona, often drawing more attention than his bass playing.
Discover moreElton John began life as Reginald Kenneth Dwight
The future singer grew up in Pinner and won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at eleven. His birth name belongs to the childhood behind the…
Discover more
Metal Gear protagonist mimics Walken
Solid Snake’s early 3D design used Christopher Walken’s face as its primary reference, according to the artist who created it.
Discover more
The Masked Singer's disguises came from a South Korean format
The American show adapted King of Mask Singer, which hides performers' identities behind elaborate costumes. The mask turns recognition into the central game:…
Discover more
How a stopwatch became Flavor Flav's signature
A friend dared him to wear a stopwatch on a big chain; he later upgraded to a wall clock and made it his signature look.
Discover more
The internet sent Pitbull to Alaska—and he showed up
A 2012 promotion promised a Pitbull visit to the Walmart with the most Facebook votes. Online pranksters backed remote Kodiak, Alaska, and it won. Pitbull…
Discover more
Johnny Cash sang an inmate's own song at Folsom Prison
Before his 1968 concert, Cash learned Greystone Chapel, written by prisoner Glen Sherley. He then performed it inside the prison for the audience that…
Discover more
Woodstock '99 ended in fires and riots
Overpriced water and intense heat fueled anger at the festival, which ended with fires and rioting.
Discover more
Why Yakuza pairs street fights with karaoke
The series pairs brutal brawls with an elaborate karaoke rhythm game for a jarring change of pace: you can go from smashing bicycles over thugs to singing…
Discover more
Ghost of Tsushima uses wind for navigation
Instead of a minimap, players can summon a gust that rustles the grass and trees toward their next objective.
Discover more
The White Stripes posed as siblings
Jack and Meg were former spouses; the sibling story diverted attention from their relationship to the music.
Discover more
Keith Richards's ashes story changed in the retelling
An interview produced the notorious claim that he mixed his father's ashes with cocaine. In his memoir Life, Richards rejected the cocaine part while…
Discover more
Bake Off fits a competition around ordinary jobs
The Great British Bake Off has traditionally filmed its main challenges on weekends, allowing amateur contestants to keep weekday commitments. Between filming…
Discover more
Why the FBI investigated “Louie Louie” for years
The FBI spent years analyzing the song’s muffled lyrics to see whether they were obscene, but concluded they were simply unintelligible.
Discover more
Overwatch heroes include pro gamers
D.Va was a world-champion esports player before becoming a mech pilot in the military. In the game’s sci-fi world, her gaming background becomes part of her…
Discover more
Ewok speech borrowed sounds from real human languages
Sound designer Ben Burtt drew on recordings including an elderly woman speaking Kalmyk, then edited and combined material to build the Ewoks' voices. Real…
Discover more
Die Hard turned a retired cop from a novel into John McClane
Roderick Thorp's Nothing Lasts Forever supplied the high-rise hostage story. Its protagonist, Joe Leland, goes to the building to see his daughter; the film…
Discover more
Stranger Things was once called Montauk
The Duffer brothers initially drew on conspiracy theories about the Montauk Project, then moved the story to the fictional town of Hawkins.
Discover more