Sir Alec Guiness hated his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: “Apart from the money, I regret having embarked on the film,” calling the dialog “lamentable.” An autograph seeker told him he’d seen the movie over 100 times; he gave him an autograph on the condition he never see the movie again.
The terms “upper case” and “lower case”…
The terms “upper case” and “lower case” originated from the common layouts of drawers, called cases, used to hold movable type for letterpress printing. Capitol (or majuscule) letters were stored in the upper case; smaller (or minuscule) letters, in the lower case.
There is a village in India whose…
There is a village in India whose main export are men. This village prepares men to become bouncers for nightclubs and bars. They do so by having a 2 hour workout in the morning, followed by a 2 hour workout in the afternoon, in combination with high-protein food.
Oral tradition in Kenya tells…
Oral tradition in Kenya tells that 20 shipwrecked Chinese sailors washed up on shore in the 15th century and were given permission to settle and marry into local tribes. DNA tests conducted by China’s government in 2002 on one of the supposed descendants and found that she was of Chinese descent.
When French explorers…
When French explorers thought they were the first Europeans to ever reach some historical Afghan caves in the 1930s, they were surprised to find a text inscribed on the wall saying: “if any fool this high samootch explore, know Charles Masson has been here before”.
7/11 is named after their…
7/11 is named after their ‘new’ hours of 7am-11pm which were unprecedented in 1946, and they didn’t experiment with 24-hour stores until 1963.
On October 6, 1909, Vancouver…
On October 6, 1909, Vancouver revealed its first Auto Ambulance and was taken on a test drive, when it ran over and almost instantly killed a wealthy man from Austin, Texas. Ironically, this man was the first person the ambulance picked up.
In order to prevent tourists from…
In order to prevent tourists from stealing their beer glasses, some bars in Belgium require people to hand over one of their shoes as a deposit which is then put in a basket and hung from the ceiling. This shoes basket has also become an attraction.
Mick Jagger’s 1971 wedding…
Mick Jagger’s 1971 wedding involved, among others: the guests being informed only a day before, the public civil ceremony being stormed by paparazzi, Jagger being accidentally locked out of the church, and Keith Richards laying passed out on the floor, reportedly in a Nazi uniform.
Immediately after landing on the moon…
Immediately after landing on the moon, the Apollo 11 crew was supposed to sleep for 5 hours. They didn’t, because they figured they wouldn’t be able to.