Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Facebook started as a Harvard-only network
At launch, users needed a Harvard email address to join; that exclusivity helped fuel the network’s early growth.
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Japanese traditional umbrellas Wagasa use oiled paper
Wagasa stay waterproof because their folded paper canopies are coated in oil, turning a fragile material into a rain-shedding cover.
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Chuck E. Cheese is an orphaned rat
Chuck E. Cheese's backstory describes him as an orphan who never knew his birthday. He coped with growing up in an orphanage by singing loudly.
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Your vinyl record has just one groove
Each side of a standard album has one continuous spiral groove. Its tiny ridges make the needle vibrate, producing the sound.
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The water slide that knocked riders unconscious
The slide had a complete vertical loop that routinely knocked riders unconscious, broke noses, and left teeth embedded in its fiberglass walls.
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TanaCon left thousands stranded in the sun
An influencer tried to compete with a major convention by hosting an event in a small hotel lobby. Thousands of attendees were left waiting in the California…
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The pizza chain born from a feud
After a falling-out with the original founder, a wealthy franchisee launched a rival chain featuring a hillbilly bear. When the original company went…
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Club Penguin let kids run digital pizza shops
Players could spend hours baking and serving digital pizzas in Club Penguin’s virtual restaurants, swapping adventures in the snow for shifts behind the…
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Yoga was once more about stillness than stretching
Early yoga focused more on mental concentration and breathing than on elaborate poses. Practitioners often sat still rather than stretching into the poses…
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Blank VHS tapes contain magnetic rust particles
VHS tape stores video in patterns recorded on microscopic iron-oxide particles coating a plastic strip; the recorder's spinning head rearranges those particles.
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The summer outfit that began as a bathrobe
The lightweight cotton yukata was originally worn as a robe after bathing, before becoming popular as summer wear outside the home.
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Hot Wheels made the wheels the selling point
Mattel's cars were designed to roll freely and race on orange tracks, rather than merely look like miniature vehicles. Low-friction wheels and axles made a…
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Drum machines loop sounds with rigid mechanics
Early models used analog oscillators to make synthetic beats; modern ones can trigger digital audio samples in time with an internal clock.
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How Noh masks change mood with a head tilt
A mask’s carved expression seems to change as it tilts, because the angle shifts how stage light falls across it.
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Why traditional hanbok has no pockets
Traditional hanbok often lack pockets, so people carried belongings in separate silk pouches rather than adding bulky pockets to the smooth, bell-shaped…
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SeaWorld grew out of a restaurant idea
In the early 1960s, its founders wanted an ocean-themed restaurant with an underwater view. That plan evolved into the marine park that opened in San Diego in…
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Why Times Square drops a ball on New Year's Eve
Harbors dropped time balls at noon so ship captains could synchronize their chronometers before sailing. Times Square's New Year's Eve drop borrows that old…
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Reddit's founders supplied some of its earliest apparent crowd
Steve Huffman described the founders submitting links under invented usernames to make the young site look populated. This also helped establish the sort of…
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Indian block printing requires stamping fabric manually
A bedsheet can take about 500 hand-stamped impressions. Each intricately carved wooden block is dipped in dye and pressed onto the fabric by hand.
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One puppet show lasts from dusk until dawn
A single puppeteer manipulates dozens of leather figures behind a backlit screen for nine straight hours.
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Snapchat named its mascot after a Wu-Tang Clan member
The mascot, a smiling sheet called Ghostface Chillah, is named for Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah.
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Why Hershey built a park for workers
It began as an employee perk: Milton Hershey built a leisure area with canoes and carousels so factory workers had somewhere pleasant to spend their time off.
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Why Tom was everyone’s first MySpace friend
Tom Anderson hardcoded his profile so every new user started with a friend on the platform.
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Thai Khon performances feature heavily gilded ornate masks
The towering masks hide performers’ faces, so they convey emotion through posture and hand gestures instead.
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