The first song in 1958’s The Blob was composed by Burt Bacharach and Mack David. The film provided a break out role for Steve McQueen.

Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, has been called misogynist, racist, antisemitic, and anti-Black.

David Bradley is the IBM engineer who came up with Control-Alt-Delete to reboot a computer. According to Bradley, the keystroke was not intended to be used by end users, originally.

The Great Wall of China consists of more than 21,000 km of interconnecting walls, some of which date back almost 3,000 years. The wall is not one massive, unbroken structure, as there are sizable gaps between sections.

When Bayer released heroin cough syrup in 1895, it was marketed as a safer alternative to morphine.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.