Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
The wartime paperback made for soldiers' pockets
The publishing industry didn't democratize reading out of the goodness of their hearts; they did it for military logistics. During World War II, the military…
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Milton sold Paradise Lost for five pounds
Writing the greatest epic poem in the English language is apparently a terrible way to make a living. In 1667, a blind, impoverished John Milton sold the…
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England’s first printed book was about chess
When William Caxton brought the revolutionary printing press to England in 1474, he didn't start with the Bible or grand political manifestos. The very first…
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Jack London bought plots from another writer
Sometimes you have a great setting but absolutely zero imagination for what happens next. Jack London, famous for rugged survivalist novels, frequently ran…
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Walt Whitman secretly reviewed his own poetry
When the critics aren't giving you the respect you deserve, the only logical solution is to aggressively lie to the public. After self-publishing 'Leaves of…
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Charles Dickens kept his dead raven in his study
Dickens had a flair for the dramatic, both in his writing and his horrifying interior decor. He had a beloved pet raven named Grip who learned to mimic human…
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Dorothy Parker left her estate to Martin Luther King Jr
The cynical queen of the Algonquin Round Table had a surprisingly righteous final act. Despite never actually meeting him, Dorothy Parker left her entire…
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The missing word that told readers to commit adultery
One single dropped word can utterly ruin your theological credibility. A pair of London printers released a reprint of the King James Bible in 1631,…
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E. E. Cummings turned rejection into an urn
Rejection hurts, but wealthy poets have a uniquely permanent way of biting back. After his manuscript 'No Thanks' was rejected by fourteen different…
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Reader's Digest was born beneath a speakeasy
The official magazine of waiting in a dentist's office has shockingly rebellious origins. In 1922, DeWitt and Lila Wallace couldn't get a single publisher to…
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The word bestseller is older than you think
The concept of hyping up a book simply because other people bought it is older than you think. The word 'bestseller' was first printed in a Kansas newspaper…
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The first magazine was basically a theology argument
Before magazines existed to tell you which swimsuit to buy, they were just walls of angry German opinions. The world's first true magazine, published in 1663…
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Tolkien absolutely hated Narnia
You'd think the two grandfathers of modern fantasy would unconditionally support each other, but egos are fragile. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were famously…
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Truman Capote's photographic memory was a lie
When pioneering the non-fiction novel, it helps to convince people you have superhuman abilities. While researching 'In Cold Blood,' Capote refused to use a…
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Harper Lee published one novel, then disappeared
Dropping a Pulitzer-winning masterpiece and instantly retiring is an aggressive power move. After releasing 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in 1960, Harper Lee simply…
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Shakespeare invented the name Jessica
Before the year 1596, nobody on Earth was annoyed by a basic girl named Jessica. William Shakespeare completely made the name up for the daughter of Shylock…
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Sylvia Plath hid behind a pseudonym for The Bell Jar
Before becoming the tragic patron saint of confessional poetry, Sylvia Plath decided to completely hide her identity. In 1963, she published 'The Bell Jar' in…
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Jane Eyre's publisher thought Currer Bell was a man
Victorian misogyny was so thick that publishers couldn't conceive of a woman writing anything intense. Charlotte Brontë submitted 'Jane Eyre' under the…
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The novel that helped save Notre-Dame
In 1831, Notre Dame cathedral was literally crumbling and local officials wanted to demolish the ugly medieval eyesore. Victor Hugo was so outraged that he…
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T.S. Eliot reportedly wore green makeup
Because writing depressing poetry wasn't sufficiently edgy, T.S. Eliot took his angst to a cosmetic level. During his days at Harvard and early years in…
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The oldest recipe book was carved into clay
The original food bloggers didn't use massive paragraphs about their summer vacations; they used a chisel. The oldest known collection of recipes dates back…
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Tolstoy's wife copied War and Peace seven times
Behind every great male genius is a spouse suffering through massive carpal tunnel. Leo Tolstoy had abysmal handwriting, so his wife Sophia was tasked with…
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Roald Dahl was a spy before writing children’s books
Before he was terrorizing children with Willy Wonka, Roald Dahl was busy seducing women for the British government. During WWII, the eccentric author worked…
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Dante put his enemies in Hell
There is no revenge quite as permanent as writing your political rivals into a timeless theological masterwork. When Dante was exiled from Florence in 1302,…
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