Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Beatrix Potter studied fungi before Peter Rabbit made her famous
She drew mushrooms in detail and investigated spore germination, with a paper read at the Linnean Society in 1897. Her scientific work was more substantial…
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Ian Fleming wrote Bond facing a wall
Fleming spent two months each year at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye, writing all 14 Bond books at a desk facing the wall so the Caribbean view wouldn't…
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Snow White's villain began as her mother in the Grimms' first edition
The 1812 version makes the jealous queen Snow White's biological mother. Later editions turn her into a stepmother, changing the family relationship while…
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James Joyce was terrified of dogs
James Joyce had a severe fear of dogs, known as cynophobia, after one bit him in his youth. If a stray dog approached, he might hide behind his friends—proof…
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Alcott was reluctant to write the book that made her famous
When her publisher asked for a story for girls, Louisa May Alcott initially preferred other work. She drew on the sisters and family life she knew to create…
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Agatha Christie couldn't stand Poirot
She called Poirot an “egocentric creep,” yet kept writing about him for more than 40 years as readers and publishers demanded more.
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William Faulkner penned his novels during night shifts
While working overnight at a university power plant in the late 1920s, Faulkner shoveled coal and wrote *As I Lay Dying* on an overturned wheelbarrow during…
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Boston's first newspaper was stopped after one issue
Benjamin Harris published Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick in 1690. Colonial authorities suppressed it before a second issue appeared,…
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The Great Gatsby was once a commercial flop
The Great Gatsby sold poorly after its 1925 release, and Fitzgerald died in 1940 believing his career had failed. The book found a much larger audience after…
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The first English dictionary was a cheat sheet for novices
In 1604, schoolmaster Robert Cawdrey published *A Table Alphabeticall* for “Ladies, Gentlewomen, or any other unskilfull persons” who struggled with…
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Nabokov wrote Lolita on index cards
Nabokov stored the cards in a long box so he could shuffle and rearrange scenes as he worked out the novel’s structure.
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L. Frank Baum supposedly named Oz after a filing cabinet
The story goes that Baum spotted a filing cabinet labeled “A-N” and “O-Z” and chose the latter for his imaginary land.
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Changing a worm into a caterpillar gave Eric Carle his ending
His early idea followed Willi Worm eating through things. Editor Ann Beneduce suggested a caterpillar, opening up the transformation into a butterfly. The…
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Oscar Wilde’s famous final joke involved wallpaper
In a cheap Paris hotel in 1900, while dying of meningitis, Wilde allegedly said, “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us…
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Peter Pan helped turn a child's nickname into the name Wendy
The story connects the name with Margaret Henley, a young friend of J. M. Barrie who called him her 'fwendy.' The play's success carried Wendy to a much…
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First crossword puzzle was shaped like a hollow diamond
Arthur Wynne’s 1913 “Word-Cross,” published in the New York World, used a hollow diamond grid with no black squares.
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Samuel Johnson slipped a self-roast into his dictionary
His 1755 definition of a lexicographer calls the dictionary writer a 'harmless drudge.' The entry then describes the work of tracing word origins and…
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Elwyn Brooks White dreamed up Stuart Little on a fast train
E.B. White dreamed up Stuart Little while asleep on a train in the 1920s: a tiny, dapper boy with mouse-like features and impeccable manners. He jotted the…
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Goodnight Moon left a nine-year-old a remarkable inheritance
Margaret Wise Brown left Albert Clarke the royalties from Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. As the bedtime books became enduring bestsellers, the…
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Why Gutenberg’s printed Bibles still needed artists
Movable type printed the text, but Gutenberg left blank spaces for artists to hand-paint colorful borders and illustrations in each copy.
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The Twilight Zone theme wasn't written for the show
The theme was assembled from two separate music cues by French composer Marius Constant. He reportedly didn’t realize his experimental guitar music had become…
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Film crews sometimes have camera operators walk backward while filming actors
To keep pace with actors walking forward, operators sometimes retreat while filming. An assistant may tug their belt to steer them through tight spaces and…
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Movie blood is mostly corn syrup
Corn syrup and food coloring give movie blood a thick, bloodlike look, though the mixture can leave the cast sticky.
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What actors are really drinking when they order a beer
Film crews often use warm, flat soda in place of beer. If a scene needs a thick foam head, they can add a little egg white or powdered chemicals.
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