Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Boston recorded its hit album in a basement
Tom Scholz recorded almost all of the band’s debut in his own basement studio, layering the guitars himself.
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Clownfish can raise their next generation in an aquarium
Aquarium breeding pairs lay eggs on a protected surface near their anemone. The male tends the nest, including fanning the eggs to move water over them. The…
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The first feature documentary was not as real as it looked
“Nanook of the North,” released in 1922, is considered the first feature-length documentary. Filmmaker Robert Flaherty followed an Inuk man and his family in…
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A movie rat has a handler behind the horror
Screen animals are trained and managed to produce a usable action on cue. Framing, lighting, and the surrounding set can make that performance look…
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Clerks faced an NC-17 rating over dialogue alone
The 1994 comedy's distributor appealed a rating driven by what characters said rather than explicit images. Lawyer Alan Dershowitz argued the case, and the…
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Hugh Jackman didn't know wolverines were real
He prepared by studying wolves, assuming the superhero was half-wolf, until the director explained that a wolverine is a real, different animal.
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Movie characters reach the doorbell in seconds
In movies, even someone asleep in a mansion’s third-story bedroom can reach the front door fully dressed seconds after the bell rings.
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Shattered picture frames symbolize ruined emotional bonds
In stories, a cracked picture frame can symbolize a relationship breaking apart—especially when the crack splits the couple's smiling faces.
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MGM's familiar lion was a role played by several animals
Different lions appeared in the studio emblem across its history, with Leo's version becoming the especially long-lived image from 1957 onward. The frame and…
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Classical musicians use rubato to manipulate song tempo
Rubato lets a performer subtly speed up or slow down instead of holding a perfectly steady beat, adding expressive tension to the music.
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How reality shows control when contestants sleep
Producers can manipulate contestants’ sleep schedules by controlling the soundstage lighting, even simulating morning at 4 a.m. when they want them awake to…
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Bill Murray was discussed for a very different Batman
Murray recalled an early proposed Batman project associated with Ivan Reitman, with Eddie Murphy discussed for Robin. It was a route the character might have…
Discover moreA game-show contestant beat the board by learning its patterns
Michael Larson studied recordings of Press Your Luck and noticed that the flashing board followed repeating sequences. In 1984, he used that knowledge to win…
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Halo energy swords kill enemies in a single dramatic lunge
In the game, the sword’s lunge pulls the player toward a nearby target, turning a close-range attack into a sudden, hard-to-escape hit.
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Storing the same meme twice need not mean storing two copies
Storage systems can use deduplication to recognize identical data and keep one copy with multiple references. Whether a service does this depends on its…
Discover moreSuperman's greatest weakness began on radio
Kryptonite appeared in the radio adventures before becoming a familiar part of the comics. It gives writers a way to put an almost invulnerable hero in…
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Concert setlists are securely taped to the stage floor
The next song may sound spontaneous, but singers can be following a setlist printed in large type and taped to their monitor wedges.
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The whistle that really runs the circus
The ringmaster’s whistle does more than cut through the crowd: its timed commands cue acrobats and direct the audience’s attention to the next act.
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Timbuktu manuscripts preserved desert wisdom
Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts accumulated in Mali over centuries, preserving knowledge long before the internet.
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KISS promoted a comic with their own blood in the ink
For the band's 1977 Marvel comic, blood drawn from its members was added to red printing ink in a photographed publicity event. The comic sold a superhero…
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Why square dancing is an official state dance
Twentieth-century lobbying campaigns led more than 20 states to name square dancing their official state dance.
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Woody Harrelson's father claimed he killed JFK
During a police standoff, Charles Harrelson claimed he had killed JFK, but authorities dismissed the claim as cocaine-fueled rambling.
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A fireplace bellows can fake a tired horse’s breath
Foley teams pump an old-fashioned fireplace bellows to create the raspy, heavy breathing of an exhausted horse. Its leather-and-wood construction gives the…
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Frankenstein's familiar face owes a great deal to a makeup artist
Jack Pierce transformed Boris Karloff for Universal's films, creating a screen appearance that became recognizable far beyond the story. The flat-headed…
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