Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Why Minesweeper lets your first click survive
You literally cannot lose on your very first move, because the board doesn't exist yet. To prevent instant unfair deaths, the game waits until you select a…
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The stranger who inspired Attack on Titan
The terrifying concept of massive, mindless, flesh-eating giants destroying humanity stems from an uncomfortable encounter at an internet cafe. Creator Hajime…
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Why Bollywood outproduces Hollywood
While American studios obsess over a handful of massive blockbusters, India is quietly churning out an absolutely staggering volume of content. The…
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Why nine Lord of the Rings actors got matching tattoos
Nothing bonds a group of grown men quite like hiking across New Zealand barefoot and fighting imaginary orcs for years. To celebrate surviving the massive…
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Halle Berry accepted her Razzie with an Oscar in hand
The ultimate power move in Hollywood history. Instead of hiding in shame for making one of the worst superhero movies ever conceived, Berry marched up to the…
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Why game shows gave landlocked winners boats
Winning big on screen often means bringing home a logistical nightmare. Broadcasts routinely award gigantic boats to people who live completely landlocked in…
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Count von Count makes math slightly less scary
Vampires were repurposed for arithmetic. The famous purple puppet was specifically modeled after classic horror tropes but injected with obsessive compulsive…
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Teen pageants dropped swimsuit rounds to deter predators
Protecting the youth eventually outweighed the tradition of the swimsuit round. Teen pageants controversially eliminated the swimsuit portion of their…
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Cheap theater tickets meant standing in a muddy courtyard
Being a budget-conscious patron during the Renaissance was a miserable physical ordeal. The cheapest admission didn't buy you a bad seat; it bought you the…
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The original Alien script ignored every character's gender
Because nothing screams pure equality quite like a terrifying xenomorph devouring a crew, the foundational script for this sci-fi nightmare completely ignored…
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Beatboxing was invented because drums were expensive
Necessity isn't just the mother of invention; it's the mother of spitting aggressively into a microphone. Because early digital rhythm machines cost a small…
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JoJo's creator was commissioned to make a Louvre comic
Anime is finally recognized as high art. Hirohiko Araki, the wildly fashionable creator of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, was officially commissioned to create a…
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Male ballet dancers lift more than a ton per show
Next time you think classical dance is just delicate prancing, remember these performers are basically human forklifts. Over the course of a standard…
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Why 45s were made for hit singles
The format that permanently fueled the concept of the one-hit wonder. Introduced by RCA Victor in 1949 as a direct competitor to the LP, the 7-inch 45 RPM…
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Friends almost took place in a diner
NBC executives thought a coffeehouse was too trendy and alienating for middle America, suggesting the gang hang out in a gritty diner instead. Luckily, the…
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Survivor tests every challenge before contestants
Before starving contestants are forced to balance on narrow pegs in the ocean, a group of well-fed production assistants does it first. This internal dream…
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Method acting originating from a strict Russian teacher
Every annoying actor who refuses to break character can trace their lineage back to Konstantin Stanislavski. This strict Russian theatre practitioner devised…
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Evil twins are a massive soap opera crutch
Why pay another actor when you can just use the one you have? When a beloved character becomes too boring, writers simply invent a diabolical twin with a…
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Survivor contestants risk $5 million for leaks
To keep the illusion of isolation alive, the network relies on sheer legal terror. Contestants sign ironclad non-disclosure agreements threatening them with…
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Lorne Michaels offered the Beatles $3,000 to reunite
Ah yes, the standard rate for the most legendary band in human history. In 1976, SNL creator Lorne Michaels went on live television and offered The Beatles…
Discover morePower-ballad singers use lozenges made for metal screams
To maintain that powerhouse vocal range, power ballad singers rely on intense lozenges strictly formulated for screaming German metal vocalists to prevent…
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The opera star who became famous for singing badly
Being rich means absolutely no one will ever honestly tell you that you are tone-deaf. Florence Foster Jenkins funded her own massive operatic concerts…
Discover moreThe Bee Gees wrote hits without reading music
The masterminds behind the entire 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack possessed an incredible musical secret: none of them could read or write actual sheet…
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Lilo’s voice actress also played The Ring’s terrifying girl
Talk about having range in your resume. The exact same child who warmed our hearts by adopting a blue alien dog also spent her weekends crawling out of…
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