Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Smudging black print on fingers while reading news
Before glowing rectangles, everyone started their mornings staring at massive folded sheets of cheap paper covered in smudge-prone ink. Attempting to properly…
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Movie monsters once breathed through scuba-gear valves
The massive terrifying creatures in classic films brilliantly run on pneumatic cylinders. The valves used to effortlessly control the compressed air were…
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Evil twins returning dramatically from the grave
Soap operas rely on an endlessly repeating formula of hidden amnesia, fake deaths, and shockingly wealthy local families. Characters regularly fall down short…
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Pro wrestling maintains strict rules despite the theater
The outcomes are entirely predetermined and the punches are famously pulled, but the physical athleticism is undeniably real. Performers suffer genuine severe…
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A candy rumor forced a manufacturer to beg parents publicly
A pervasive urban legend claimed a child violently perished after mixing carbonated soda with crackling rock sweets. The utterly false panic literally forced…
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Sawing smiling assistants entirely in half
Theatrical tricksters proudly present a smiling volunteer crammed into a wooden crate before aggressively slicing it. The audience gasps, fully knowing the…
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Walking incredibly slowly for digital cameras
Famous individuals inch down a plush crimson walkway while desperately attempting to look totally candid. Photographers relentlessly shout their names to…
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Cheap paper covers completely revolutionized modern reading
Until publishers realized they could bind pages with inexpensive glue and flimsy covers, owning a novel was a luxurious flex reserved mostly for the wealthy.…
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Stage magicians fiercely guard secrets using strict contracts
The alliance of professional illusionists absolutely despises when basic sleight of hand methods are exposed to the masses. They enforce heavy non-disclosure…
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Falling for extremely obvious clickbait
Clicking an article titled with outrageous claims, knowing full well it will just be a slideshow of ads. Curiosity continually overrides basic common sense on…
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How cheap pulp magazines shaped modern fiction
Cheaply printed short story collections stamped onto incredibly terrible paper essentially invented the modern hardboiled detective and gritty sci-fi genres.…
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Boring topics made thrilling by deep voiceovers
Nature features use sweeping dramatic orchestral scores and an incredibly soothing narrator to make a sloth slowly climbing a branch feel like an epic,…
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Audiobooks once came on stacks of vinyl records
Before digital chapters lived effortlessly on your phone, enjoying spoken literature required flipping massive grooved discs every ten minutes. Listening to…
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Early quiz shows gave answers to attractive contestants
Early broadcast quiz programs literally just handed the answers to the most attractive contestants beforehand because nobody actually cared about fair…
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Wearing terrible wigs to hide faces
The most dangerous cinematic feats are performed by uncredited athletes in bad wigs violently throwing themselves out of windows while the main star watches…
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TV apartments that could never exist
If you actually mapped out the apartments of iconic television characters, the bedrooms would intersect the hallway and the bathroom would be floating in a…
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Why glossy magazines are coated in clay
The slick, highly shiny pages of high-end lifestyle periodicals are cleanly achieved by heavily coating the paper with extremely fine layers of kaolin clay.
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Staring at massive outdoor advertisements instead of walking
Massive illuminated signs are positioned high above the ground, desperately begging passing crowds to stare at gigantic logos instead of walking safely.
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Yelling rapidly about products nobody actually ever needs
Late-night television broadcasts constantly feature overly enthusiastic hosts aggressively shouting about completely useless contraptions that no sane person…
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Answering obscure trivia for giant cardboard checks
Contestants willingly humiliate themselves answering deeply obscure general knowledge questions just for a remote chance to hold an oversized novelty check.
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How dating shows manufacture romantic drama
Putting completely incompatible models on an island guarantees explosive yelling matches. Producers carefully edit hundreds of hours of footage to create…
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The article may be an ad in disguise
Flipping through glossy pages reveals that the advice column is just a thinly veiled recommendation for luxury face cream. The actual content serves only to…
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Winning shiny new appliances by answering trivial queries
Winning shiny new appliances by answering incredibly trivial queries on television is a highly nerve-wracking way to acquire a free refrigerator.
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Broadway theaters leave a ghost light after shows
A single naked bulb is left glowing on stage after every single massive performance. It prevents people from tripping, but actors claim it keeps the theater…
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