The first officially celebrated Independence Day in 1777 was marked in a way that would be very familiar to most modern Americans. There was an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts were made and 13-gun salutes fired. There were speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white and…
Jack Kerouac is often seen as the father of the Beat Generation. He represents the romance of the open road and the passion of mad wanderings. He is an icon of wanderlust for those who wish to emulate a life of spontaneity and perpetual restlessness. In reality Kerouac was a complicated man filled with contradictions….
1. Sean Connery wore a wig in every single one of his Bond performances. 2. Some Wookie suits were made from human hair. 3. Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid approximately $21,429 for every one of the 700 words he said in, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. 4. Star Wars was originally prefixed by the definite article ‘The’.
We are all creative. But what differentiates papier-mâché masks or crocheted undergarments from the Nobel Prize-winning artworks of Ernest Hemingway? Maybe Ernest was just a little stranger than most. New studies show that both creativity and eccentricity may be the result of genetic variations that increase the brain’s ability to filter out useless distractions. Papa…
Genius is rarely ordinary. Scientists suggest that the ability of high achievers to focus intensely often results in unusual behavioural side effects. These quirks explain the unexpected habits of beloved cultural icons. Audrey Hepburn is a primary example of this phenomenon. A numbers game Football fans understand the importance of specific digits. Hepburn considered 55…
Eccentricity and genius go hand in hand. Research suggests that peculiar habits are side-effects of the kind of clever thinking that gets results. As artistic oomph goes, one of the twentieth century greats is Andy Warhol. He was the mop-headed Pop Art supremo who screen-printed his way into every student bedroom in the Western world….