Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Sunday had its own newspaper by 1791
London’s Observer launched on December 4, 1791. A weekly Sunday issue offered a different publishing rhythm from the daily news cycle, gathering material for…
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Below Deck's guests pay for a vacation that becomes television
The charter guests spend their own money, with filming arrangements that can include discounted rates and covered travel. In return, their behavior aboard…
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Stephen King's wife rescued Carrie from the trash
King got frustrated writing Carrie's opening shower scene and threw the pages away. His wife, Tabitha, retrieved them and encouraged him to continue; the…
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James Cameron rejected O.J. Simpson as the Terminator
Cameron rejected Simpson because he thought the football star seemed too nice to convincingly play a cold-blooded killer.
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Why restorers use saliva on priceless paintings
Saliva contains enzymes that can loosen grime, letting restorers clean delicate brushstrokes with a cotton swab.
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Those Eurovision guitar solos aren't played live
Instrumental backing tracks must be prerecorded, so the guitar solos and drum parts heard onstage aren't played live.
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Captain America's to-do list changes by country
The checklist was tailored to each country: references such as “I Love Lucy” and Steve Jobs were swapped for items like the World Cup or Sean Connery to…
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Naruto's creator postponed his honeymoon for over a decade
Masashi Kishimoto married while the manga was still running, but took his honeymoon after finishing its long serialization. A weekly series means repeated…
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Batman found Gotham in a jeweler's listing
Writer Bill Finger recalled spotting Gotham Jewelers in a phone directory after considering names such as Civic City. Gotham was already a nickname for New…
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Why movie best friends give terrible dating advice
They often have no hobbies, ambitions, or personal life of their own; their job is to deliver bad advice that triggers the story's second-act conflict.
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Why funhouse mirrors make you look distorted
Their uneven surfaces bend reflected light differently across the image, stretching or squashing your features.
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What Jeopardy’s blank screens are really for
The blank blue screens hide tracking lights that signal when the host has finished speaking, letting contestants know when they can buzz in.
Discover moreHow Max Payne slows time during a firefight
During a shoot-dodge, your aim stays responsive while the rest of the game—including falling shell casings and enemy reactions—slows down.
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Trivia tie-breakers rely on completely impossible guesses
Hosts may ask for an exact distance between obscure monuments, turning the final round into a guess rather than a test of trivia knowledge.
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Advice columns were answering readers' worries in the 1690s
John Dunton's Athenian Mercury invited questions on matters ranging from religion to everyday life. A surviving 1691 issue even considers whether tobacco does…
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Web servers primarily run on open-source operating systems
The infrastructure behind polished apps can depend on free, open-source code maintained by developers working at command lines.
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Charlie Sheen once reported a horror film as a real murder
After watching the Japanese horror film Guinea Pig, Charlie Sheen reportedly thought its gore was real and alerted authorities. The investigation ended when…
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Nacho cheese names a use, not one fixed recipe
The familiar sauce can be made with real cheese, other dairy ingredients and emulsifiers that keep it smooth. Unlike a specific standardized cheese variety,…
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A film's gaffer turns a lighting plan into an actual room
The cinematographer chooses the look; the gaffer leads the lighting crew that makes it happen. Lamp position, diffusion, power, and control determine whether…
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Why Die Hard is a Christmas movie
It unfolds on Christmas Eve during an office holiday party, with Christmas music, festive decorations, and a plot that ends with a family reunion.
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Play-Doh is basically salty baking ingredients
Its soft, salty texture makes Play-Doh easy to shape—and tempting for toddlers to taste, even though it isn't food.
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When actors performed without rehearsing together
A lead actor might arrive on show day knowing only their own lines and cues, leaving the evening's performance to unfold with little rehearsal together.
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Which infamous 1980 movie was so realistic that the director was arrested and charged with murdering his cast?
Which infamous 1980 movie was so realistic that the director was arrested and charged with murdering his cast?
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He's the most famous plumber in the world today, but what was Mario's actual profession when he first debuted?
He's the most famous plumber in the world today, but what was Mario's actual profession when he first debuted?
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