A guide for visitors trying to navigate the peculiarities of American life.

LISTS
Shakespeare’s life is as full of fiction as his plays are.
When it comes to cranking out literary treasures, celebrated authors have turned to some strange strategies to find their muse.
Actress Rue McClanahan, who passed away in 2010, wanted her memorabilia to go to her fans, with proceeds from the sale going to her favorite charities. Here's the ultimate wish list for the average rabid Golden Girls fan.
Most movies are easy to make. Then there are these monuments to the determination of their directors, casts, and crews.
Over the span of human spaceflight, some pretty weird things have made the trip. Here are a few of them.
Here's a little-known fact: January 4th is National Trivia Day! Here are some fun facts to impress your neighbors.
Happy 30th birthday, 1984! If you're turning 30 this year, you're in good company—here are 30 things that share your birth year.
Charles Schulz’s widow, Jean, did a Q&A with Redditors, and spent hours giving thoughtful, detailed answers to fan questions about her husband and the comic strip that has become a pop culture mainstay.
Food fights: They're not just for the middle school cafeteria!
After Isaac Asimov attended the World's Fair in 1964, he penned an essay he titled "Visit to the World's Fair of 2014."
Due to unusual record-keeping practices or because of months that were eliminated over the centuries, there are a few days you’ll never see on your joke-a-day calendar.
Arguably Wilde’s most famous and well-known work, the play The Importance of Being Earnest, has spawned plenty of big screen adaptations (and more than a few versions have gone the radio, television, and opera route), but it’s far from the only Wilde work
Geckos and shrubs and sharks, oh my! 2013 was a big year for new species. Scientists found hundreds of them this year. Here are some of our favorites.
There are some Christmas songs that don't get a lot of attention because they're dark, even by non-holiday song standards.
Before Ernest Hemingway was a literary giant, he was a cub reporter. When Hem graduated high school at 18, he moved to Kansas City and started a six-month stint with the Kansas City Star—a job that molded his trademark punchy, staccato style.
Sometimes, a single moment in sports is so transcendentally classic, that the only way to recapture in its full glory is to rebuild it brick by brick. Literally.
Just because an author can write a best-selling and critically acclaimed novel doesn’t necessarily mean he can make the transition to screenwriter.
For some of these big-name personalities, spying taught them the skills that made them famous; for others, being famous made them the perfect spooks.
Actor, director, and occasional presidential candidate Tom Laughlin passed away last week at the age of 82. Laughlin will probably be remembered most for the film Billy Jack, which he wrote, directed, and co-starred in.
Don't be a Scrooge—read up on these fascinating facts about Charles Dickens's classic novella, 'A Christmas Carol.'
From the conjoined livers from a pair of Siamese twins to slides of Albert Einstein’s brain, Philadelphia's Mütter Museum houses dozens of strange artifacts from medical history.