Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
John Wick spent thousands on fake puppy poop
The beagle puppy wouldn't relieve itself on cue, so filmmakers used CGI to add dog feces to the lawn in postproduction.
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Bond nearly returned for a third film with Timothy Dalton
Plans for another Dalton film stalled during the long gap after Licence to Kill. By the time the series returned with GoldenEye in 1995, Pierce Brosnan had…
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Super Mario Bros was Hollywood’s first video game movie
The 1993 adaptation turned the colorful game into a gritty cyberpunk film starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper. Its critical and commercial failure kept…
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Bugs Bunny got his carrot habit from Clark Gable
Bugs Bunny’s carrot-chomping persona drew on Clark Gable in the 1934 film It Happened One Night: Gable leans against a fence, eats a carrot, and talks with…
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The Star Trek ship model approved upside down
Gene Roddenberry saw the model resting on its top and approved it. Its nacelles were intended to sit underneath, making the Enterprise look as if it were…
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A Jeopardy! tie ends in a one-question showdown
A tie is settled with one additional clue rather than a shared win; the runner-up receives the standard second-place prize.
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Bob Marley's home became a museum of his life
The house at 56 Hope Road in Kingston was his home from 1975 until his death in 1981. Rita Marley converted it into a museum six years later, preserving…
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Utilizing giant bodyguards as main characters
Daytime talk shows used muscular bodyguards not only for security but also as on-screen personalities who added to the drama during chaotic segments.
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Why zodiac signs do not predict serial killers
Charts that appear to link signs such as Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces to serial killers rely on cherry-picked samples, criminologists say.
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Why Asteroids is made of perfect polygons
Asteroids uses a vector display rather than pixels: each rock is drawn as lines connecting exact geometric points.
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Mario was actually hitting Yoshi
Developers confirmed that the original game sprites show Mario striking Yoshi on the head to make him stick out his tongue, rather than simply pointing forward.
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The surprisingly cheap rings on dating shows
For proposals filmed before couples have met, studios provide generic, discounted rings—not family heirlooms.
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Chess reaches 400 positions after just one move each
White begins with 20 legal moves: two options for each pawn and two for each knight. Black still has 20 replies after any of those openings, giving 400…
Discover moreRoboCop's armor turned acting into a heat-management problem
Peter Weller described losing pounds of water during hot shooting days inside the restrictive costume. The film's machine-like surface concealed a human…
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Why festival crews clean toilets during the headline act
The vacuum trucks need clear paths to reach hundreds of portable toilets, and the headline act draws fans away from the walkways.
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Wipeout made four giant red balls look deceptively crossable
The familiar obstacle asks contestants to move across rounded, unstable surfaces above water. Each landing has to become the setup for the next jump before…
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Stadium concrete requires several years to fully cure
The thousands of tons of concrete in the stands continue curing for years after the arena opens, gradually gaining strength.
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Among Us tasks include intensely swiping a plastic card
Players must swipe an ID card at just the right speed, a mundane task made tense by the possibility that an impostor is nearby.
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Walter Cronkite cried during the moon landing
As humans landed on the moon, Cronkite took off his glasses and shed a tear on live television—a rare public glimpse of the famously stoic broadcaster’s…
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The Godfather lost a music nomination over its own composer's earlier work
The Academy withdrew Nino Rota's original-score nomination after learning that parts of the music, including the main theme, had appeared in his 1958 score…
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Airport terminals are peak romantic declaration zones
Some travelers make a last-minute dash through a crowded airport to say goodbye before a loved one boards a flight to London.
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Independent Greek wedding films dominate rom-coms
A small independent film about a chaotic Greek family became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time. It built its audience through nearly a year of…
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Off-Broadway is about seats, not style
The label is based on theater size: Off-Broadway venues seat 100 to 499 people, not on whether a show is experimental.
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Entracte music was designed specifically for intermissions
Composers wrote these suites to play while patrons stretched their legs, bridging the two halves of a film.
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