Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
The studio wanted the John Wick puppy to live
In a shocking display of completely misunderstanding the assignment, the studio financiers fought tooth and nail to save the beagle. They argued that killing…
Discover more
Steven Spielberg only invented the modern blockbuster suspense thriller because the mechanical shark he built for Jaws kept sinking to the bottom of the ocean; the prop,…
Steven Spielberg only invented the modern blockbuster suspense thriller because the mechanical shark he built for Jaws kept sinking to the bottom of the…
Discover more
George Lucas completely outsmarted Fox executives in the nineteen-seventies by accepting a lower salary for directing Star Wars in exchange for keeping the merchandising rights,…
George Lucas completely outsmarted Fox executives in the nineteen-seventies by accepting a lower salary for directing Star Wars in exchange for keeping the…
Discover more
Jim Carrey learned to speak backwards for Ace Ventura
Why use expensive editing techniques when you can just be completely unhinged? For a scene in 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' where his character supposedly…
Discover more
Toto earned more than the actors playing Munchkins
In 1939, Hollywood's pay scale was brutally clear: cute terriers outrank human background actors. Terry, the female Cairn Terrier who played Toto in 'The…
Discover more
Why Tarantino misspelled Inglourious Basterds
When you're an auteur director, you don't make typos; you make stylistic choices. Quentin Tarantino intentionally botched the spelling of his WW2 epic…
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.
Where Sheldon got Bazinga
The defining catchphrase of 2010s nerd culture is rooted in a terribly unfunny office prank. Writer Stephen Engel used to play practical jokes on his…
Discover more
Doctor Who's terrifying angels were actors in foam
For a beloved sci-fi show with a production budget that frequently rivaled a local middle school play, they certainly knew exactly how to traumatize an entire…
Discover more
Under Pressure was born from a chaotic studio binge
Musical genius is apparently just 90% alcohol and 10% competitive ego. David Bowie dropped by Queen's studio in Switzerland for a casual visit, which rapidly…
Discover more
Sean Connery wore a hairpiece in every single one of his appearances as the iconic British spy James Bond, starting from Dr.
Sean Connery wore a hairpiece in every single one of his appearances as the iconic British spy James Bond, starting from Dr. No in 1962 all the way to Never…
Discover more
Alfred Hitchcock's legendary 1960 thriller Psycho holds the incredibly prestigious honor of being the very first American feature film to show a toilet flushing on screen.
Alfred Hitchcock's legendary 1960 thriller Psycho holds the incredibly prestigious honor of being the very first American feature film to show a toilet…
Discover more
Pokémon stands entirely unchallenged as the highest-grossing media franchise in human history, easily crushing massive cultural juggernauts like Star Wars, Marvel, and Mickey…
Pokémon stands entirely unchallenged as the highest-grossing media franchise in human history, easily crushing massive cultural juggernauts like Star Wars,…
Discover more
Will Smith only agreed to star in the beloved nineties television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air because he had wildly mismanaged his early rap career finances and owed the…
Will Smith only agreed to star in the beloved nineties television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air because he had wildly mismanaged his early rap career…
Discover more
The Beatles nearly voiced The Jungle Book's vultures
Nothing screams corporate synergy like trying to trap the biggest band in the world inside an animated bird. Disney animators deliberately drew the vultures…
Discover more
Qui-Gon Jinn's comlink was made from a women's razor
A galaxy far, far away apparently shops in the ladies' hygiene aisle. If you look closely at the sleek, futuristic comlink Liam Neeson dramatically talks into…
Discover more
Hollywood made a King Kong sequel in nine months
Hollywood's obsession with milking a profitable IP to death isn't a modern phenomenon at all. When the original 'King Kong' shattered box office records in…
Discover more
Voldemort was 71 when Harry Potter defeated him
For an evil wizard who desperately split his soul into seven pieces just to avoid dying, he really didn't make it that far. The Dark Lord was a ripe…
Discover more
Why Superman keeps appearing in Seinfeld
If you look closely at Jerry Seinfeld's impeccably tidy apartment, you'll notice the Man of Steel is constantly stalking him. A massive Superman fan in real…
Discover more
R2-D2's voice is part machine, part baby
It is incredibly poetic that the galaxy's most beloved and sophisticated astromech droid is essentially half machine, half screaming infant. Sound editor Ben…
Discover more
You've probably been saying Voldemort wrong
After eight massively successful films, theme parks, and billions of dollars in global merchandise, the creator casually mentioned we've all been saying the…
Discover more
Friends quietly changed Monica's apartment number
Because apparently, the highly paid showrunners realized halfway through the first season that apartment number 5 simply wouldn't exist on an upper floor in…
Discover more
Chuck E. Cheese began as an Atari strategy
That terrifying animatronic rat wasn't born out of a love for pizza, but as a corporate trojan horse for video games. Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari,…
Discover more
The Alien costume that used part of a human skull
Swiss artist HR Giger decided that regular foam and plastic props just weren't nightmare-inducing enough, so he raided a medical supplier. The terrifying…
Discover more
Doom’s chainsaw sound came from a real chainsaw
Nothing captures the ambiance of a demonic hellscape quite like your uncle's yard equipment. The iconic, terrifying purr of the space marine's favorite melee…
Discover more