22 Very Interesting Facts I Learned This Week

2.

Steven Spielberg’s E.T. forever lives in my mind for being the first movie to ever make me cry. The movie actually originated from several separate ideas. Director Steven Spielberg was looking to film a smaller, more personal movie after a string of blockbusters, and he began work on a movie called Growing Up, which was inspired by his parents’ divorce. Although the movie was eventually shelved, Spielberg was still interested in the idea, even as he was feeling pressured to develop a sequel to his hit film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While he had no intentions of following through on the sequel, he began work on the script for Night Skies, which followed a family being terrorized by an alien. He later combined the alien premise with the personal plotline of Growing Up to develop E.T.

When it came to casting the child actors for the film, Drew Barrymore, who was 6 years old at the time, reportedly dazzled producers during her audition when she told them she wasn’t an actress, but the drummer for a fictional band. Meanwhile, Henry Thomas allegedly made Spielberg cry during his audition, earning him his role. While filming, Spielberg actually did the voice acting for E.T.’s character. In post-production, the voice of actor Debra Winger was used, until sound designer Ben Burtt hired Pat Welsh, a non-actor with a raspy voice who he met at a camera store. But perhaps the most shocking fact of all about the film is that Spielberg planned to reveal E.T.’s real name in a sequel. Although the sequel never panned out, we did get to learn E.T.’s name: Zrek.

4.

In 1989, actor Rebecca Schaeffer was found murdered in her Hollywood home. Schaeffer, who started as a model before transitioning to acting, starred on the CBS sitcom My Sister Sam, which garnered her a large fan base. After taking on a few film roles, she was in talks to star in The Godfather III. On July 18, 1989, Schaeffer answered a knock on the door. It was Robert John Bardo, a 19-year-old fan who had hired a private investigator to find Schaeffer’s address. Bardo was carrying a fan mail card that Schaeffer had sent him, a photo of Schaeffer, and a copy of The Catcher in the Rye, which was notably the same book that Mark David Chapman was carrying when he murdered John Lennon.

Schaeffer reportedly smiled at Bardo and told him to take care before shutting the door. An hour later, Bardo returned to Schaeffer’s home with a gun, killing her. He immediately fled the scene and was found running down the road in Tucson, Arizona. ABC News reported that he was screaming, “I killed Rebecca Schaeffer” when he was apprehended. Authorities began to look into Bardo’s connection to Schaeffer, and they found that he had likely been stalking her for years. There was evidence that he tried to get on the set of My Sister Sam but was turned away by security guards. It was later revealed that Bardo had decided to kill Schaeffer after allegedly becoming enraged while watching her in a love scene in the movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills.

Bardo was also reportedly inspired by an article about the attempted murder of Raging Bull actress Theresa Saldana. In 1982, Arthur Jackson went to Saldana’s home to kill her, but she survived the attack. During the trial, Bardo tried to plead insanity, with his siblings arguing that he had to drop out of school because of his mental health. In 1991, Bardo was found guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The year after Schaeffer’s death, California passed the United States’ first anti-stalking law. The law is now recognized in all 50 states.

5.

Ever wondered where the name P.F. Chang’s came from? Philip Chiang was inspired to start his own restaurant after seeing the success of the Mandarin Restaurant, which his mother, Cecilia, opened in 1961. Chiang ended up opening a restaurant called Mandarette. He later met restauranteur Paul Fleming, and the two entered a partnership to create a Chinese American restaurant. They decided to combine both of their names to give the restaurant its famous moniker: the P.F. comes from Fleming’s initials, while Chiang’s last name was tweaked just a tad.

6.

Eugene Shoemaker was a geologist and astronomer who dreamed of one day making it to the moon. After graduating with a degree in geology, Shoemaker worked for the US Geological Survey. In the 1960s, he helped develop the astrogeology branch of the USGS and started working with NASA to develop lunar exploration missions. Plans to have Shoemaker become the first geologist to walk on the moon were set, until he was disqualified from space travel after being diagnosed with Addison’s disease. Shoemaker instead worked closely with Apollo astronaut training and provided TV commentary for space missions.

Meanwhile, at some point in the 1980s, Shoemaker and his wife, Carolyn, began taking an interest in comet-spotting during their spare time. By the early 1990s, Carolyn was credited with 32 comet discoveries, while Shoemaker had 29. The couple made headlines in 1993 when they teamed with fellow comet-spotter Daniel Levy to discover a comet orbiting around Jupiter. The comet was later named the Shoemaker-Levy 9 after the discovery. The comet eventually hit Jupiter, an event that typically only happens every billion years. In 1997, Shoemaker was killed in a car accident on a research trip. His ashes were later carried to the moon to honor both his dream of being in space and his contributions to science.

8.

When Princess Diana and Prince Charles married in 1981, she omitted one particular line from the traditional wedding vows. About a month before the wedding, news broke that Diana was planning to “break royal precedent” and omit the word “obey” from her vows. The inclusion of the word had been part of the traditional royal wedding vows as printed in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which dates back to 1662. Prior to Diana’s wedding, every royal wedding had included the line in the vows, including Queen Elizabeth II’s nuptials. Diana’s decision was modeled after the Church of England’s more modern approach to wedding vows.

Instead of agreeing to “obey” Charles, Diana promised she would “love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health.” The New York Times reported that Charles and Diana allegedly had several serious conversations with Dr. Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury, before making their decision. While some might have expected backlash for the break in tradition, it was a popular decision. Dr. Edward Carpenter, the dean of Westminster Abbey, said he was “delighted” by the new vows, calling them “much more Christian.” In the years after Diana’s wedding, both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle also omitted the word “obey” from their vows during their royal weddings.

10.

Although many of Glee‘s memorable mash-ups and elaborate dance numbers helped the original songs see a resurgence on the charts, several artists notably refused to allow the show to cover their songs. In 2011, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash revealed that he turned down a request for the show to cover the band’s songs. “I draw the line at Glee,” he said. “Glee is worse than Grease and Grease is bad enough…. When Grease came out I was like, ‘Oh, c’mon, give me a break.’ Actually, I look at Grease now and think: between High School Musical and Glee, Grease was a brilliant work of art.” Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy shot back, telling the Hollywood Reporter, “Usually I find that people who make those comments, their careers are over; they’re uneducated and quite stupid.”

Slash wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a Glee fan. After Murphy’s comments, the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl called Murphy “a f**king jerk,” adding, “Dude, maybe not everyone loves Glee. Me included.” Murphy later called the members of Kings of Leon “self-centered assholes” after they denied the show use of the song “Use Somebody.” Other bands initially declined to have their songs featured until the show proved to be a huge success. Murphy said that while at first Coldplay rejected a request to cover “Vida La Vida,” they later had a change of heart and granted the show access to the band’s entire catalog.

12.

President Lyndon B. Johnson shocked both staffers and constituents when he decided not to run for re-election in 1968, revealing the news during a televised speech. While many believed that Johnson’s decision was because of opposition to the Vietnam War, in a 1988 essay for Texas Monthly, George Christian, the president’s former secretary, claimed that Johnson’s decision to not seek re-election was largely motivated by health concerns. In 1967, Johnson had secretly commissioned a study on his life expectancy, using the medical histories of his family members to guide the study and come to a decision.

“My daddy was only 62 when he died, and I figured that with my history of heart trouble I’d never live through another four years,” he told the Atlantic in 1971. “The American people had enough of presidents dying in office.” The study revealed that Johnson would die when he was 64 years old. Sure enough, Johnson died of a heart attack at age 64 on Jan. 22, 1973. Had he won re-election, his death would have come just two days after the Jan. 20 inauguration of his successor. Interestingly enough, in his final days, Johnson allegedly listened to “Bridge Under Troubled Water” by the vocally anti-war duo Simon and Garfunkel on repeat, concerned that his legacy would be marred by the Vietnam War and not the progress he made in equal rights and Medicare.

13.

Willie Nelson has played the same guitar for decades, dating back to the late 1960s. The guitar, known as Trigger, was purchased by Nelson in 1969 after a drunk person reportedly destroyed his guitar during a break between sets at a concert. Nelson had the new guitar customized with parts from his old guitar and began using it in his shows. Trigger now has a massive hole in it, but Nelson reportedly refuses most fixes for the instrument in order to keep it as close to original condition as possible. In the late 1990s, Nelson found himself in financial trouble with the IRS. After paying most of the back taxes he owed, he reportedly couldn’t afford to pay a backing band, so he recorded an entire solo album using Trigger. The album did so well that he was able to pay off the rest of his debts.

14.

In 2011, just two days after the US military killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Disney attempted to trademark the name “SEAL Team 6,” the elite Navy unit that led the mission. Disney reportedly planned to develop a TV series based on the SEALs that would air on ABC, but the trademark application included everything from games to Christmas stockings. When news broke that the company was trying to trademark the name, they faced intense criticism and became fodder for comedians. Jon Stewart joked that he couldn’t “wait for the Happy Meal” on The Daily Show.

About two weeks after Disney filed their trademark applications, the Navy filed two of their own, seeking trademarks for both “SEAL Team” posters and clothing and “Navy SEAL” goods and services. “The Navy is fully committed to protecting its trademark rights as it pertains to this matter and is currently examining all legal options,” Navy spokesperson Amanda Greenberg told news outlets. On May 25, 2011, Disney pulled their trademark application out of respect for the Navy, but said that they were still interested in producing a show that focused on the Navy SEALs.

15.

In 1945, artist Al Hirschfeld wanted to celebrate the birth of his daughter Nina by hiding her name in the background of his latest cartoon for the New York Times. Once people caught wind of Hirschfeld’s gesture, he decided to continue the gimmick and began hiding the name Nina in many of his drawings. He sometimes even included the name several times and would denote how many times it was hidden in the cartoon by putting a number next to his signature. In 2020, a virtual exhibit opened that chronicled the search for Nina in Hirschfield’s work.

16.

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, so chances are you’re dusting off your romantic playlists in anticipation of the holiday. “Unchained Melody,” known as one of the most classic love songs of all time and popularized by the Righteous Brothers, was first written in 1955 for a rather unexpected reason: It was the theme song for Unchained, a movie about a man in maximum security prison who is torn between being on his best behavior in order to potentially shorten his sentence or escaping from prison in order to reunite with his beloved wife. The first version of the song was performed by Todd Duncan, who also had a role in the film. The song was a modest hit at the time.

Meanwhile, in 1965, the Righteous Brothers had just negotiated a deal to release music on Phil Spector’s Phillies record label. Spector was known for putting more unconventional songs that weren’t made for radio on the B-side of singles, and he decided to have the duo record their own spin on “Unchained Melody.” When the song was released in 1965, it entered the charts at No. 72 before quickly climbing up to the No. 4 spot within a few weeks. In 1990, the song appeared in the movie Ghost and once again became popular. The Righteous Brothers wanted to record a new spin on the song, and eventually, both the original version and the 1990 version were both on the charts. “Unchained Melody” was notably one of the last songs Elvis Presley publicly performed before his death in 1977.

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17.

After the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, newspapers reported that there were over 118,000 people who claimed they were supposed to be on the ship but missed it for various reasons. Some of those people were pretty famous faces for the time period. Milton Hershey had allegedly sent a deposit for a stateroom aboard the ship in 1911, but business concerns surrounding his growing chocolate empire kept him home. Financier J.P. Morgan also reportedly had a ticket for the Titanic’s maiden voyage, but was supposedly enjoying his vacation so much that he chose to extend it instead of boarding the ship.

18.

The Golden Raspberry awards, typically known as the Razzies, award the worst film performances of each year. The award show recently came under fire after nominating Ryan Kiera Armstrong, a 12-year-old actor, for Worst Actress for her performance in Firestarter. After facing backlash, the organization ended up rescinding Armstrong’s nomination and made a rule that minors could no longer be nominated for the awards. Prior to Armstrong’s nomination, other child actors had been nominated for their performances. In 1999, Jake Lloyd was nominated for his role in Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, while Macaulay Culkin was nominated in 1995 for three separate roles. This turn of events made me curious to see if they had ever rescinded any other nominations before, and turns out, they have!

In 2021, the organization retracted the “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in 2021” award after the actor revealed he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects language and communication. “If someone’s medical condition is a factor in their decision making and/or their performance, we acknowledge that it is not appropriate to give them a Razzie,” organizers John J.B. Wilson and Mo Murphy said in a statement. They also retroactively rescinded Shelly Duvall’s 1980 nomination for her role in The Shining, citing reports that she had allegedly been mistreated by director Stanley Kubrick while on set, after previously acknowledging that they felt bad for nominating her.

20.

You probably knew that The Wizard of Oz was based on a novel, but did you know that the series eventually grew to include 14 books and was even later dubbed the “Harry Potter of its time?” In 1898, L. Frank Baum, who had already released two children’s books, began working on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He was reportedly struggling to come up with a name for the magical land where the novel takes place, until he looked at his filing cabinet, where the drawers were labeled “A-G,” “H-N,” and “O-Z.” He liked the way “O-Z” looked together, solidifying a name for the wonderful land of Oz. After finishing the novel, Baum actually assembled the first copy of the book himself as it came off the press, and gave the edition to his sister.

Within two weeks, the book sold out, and it went on to sell around 90,000 copies in six months. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz stayed on the bestseller list for two years. By the time the sixth book came out, Baum was allegedly sick of writing the series and wanted to move on to other projects. During this time, Baum was facing financial issues and soon realized he had to continue writing more Oz books in order to stay afloat. In 1903, Baum adapted the book into a successful musical, which later moved to Broadway. By 1910, a silent film based on the novel was released, paving the way for the 1939 classic film that has allowed the novel to endure for decades.

22.

And finally, Amelia Bloomer was a suffragist who was also instrumental in changing women’s clothing styles. Although Bloomer only had a few years of formal education, she became a teacher. After marrying David Bloomer, the couple moved to Seneca Falls, where she quickly became involved in the political community. After all, Seneca Falls was the home of the women’s suffrage movement. David soon picked up on his wife’s passion for political causes and encouraged her to write a newspaper column. Amelia attended the first women’s rights convention in 1848. Within a year, she had developed the Lilly, a women’s newspaper. During this time, David had become the postmaster of Seneca Falls, and he tapped Amelia to be his assistant. They soon transformed the post office into the headquarters for the women’s rights movement.

Amelia was passionate about reform in women’s clothing. She noticed that there were health and safety concerns surrounding the dresses and corsets most women wore, and she decided to advocate for a new fashion. She pushed for women to wear pantaloons under their dresses instead, which became known as “bloomers” because of Bloomer’s influence. The bloomers were reportedly mocked by more conservative people, but soon became a symbol of activism for the suffrage movement. In 1851, Bloomer introduced Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, both key members of the movement. In 1853, Bloomer and her husband moved west and eventually settled in Iowa, where she advocated for women to become property owners. Bloomer continued to stand for women’s rights until her death in 1894, although her support of temperance (prohibiting alcohol) proved to be controversial.

9. Hydrangeas are known as nature’s pH indicator. The blooms change colors depending on the level of pH in the soil. When the flowers are in acidic soil, their blooms are blue, whereas when planted in more neutral or basic soil, the flowers tend to be red or pink.

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9.

Hydrangeas are known as nature’s pH indicator. The blooms change colors depending on the level of pH in the soil. When the flowers are in acidic soil, their blooms are blue, whereas when planted in more neutral or basic soil, the flowers tend to be red or pink.