97 Fun Facts About Pop Culture

In January 2010, which movie surpassed Titanic to become the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide?

Avatar passed Titanic's worldwide gross on January 25, 2010, about six weeks after release; a 2021 re-release in China later lifted it back above Avengers: Endgame.

In 'Stranger Things', the older teens attend a school named after which fictional Indiana town?

The show's older characters attend Hawkins High, in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where the series is set in the 1980s.

Taylor Swift's album '1989' is named after what?

Taylor Swift named her 2014 album '1989' after her birth year. She was born on December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

Which social media platform introduced the 'Stories' feature first?

Snapchat's 'My Story' arrived in October 2013, stitching snaps into a 24-hour reel; Instagram cloned the format in 2016.

In the MCU, what is the name of Thor's hammer?

Mjolnir is Thor's hammer in both Norse mythology and the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Hela shatters it in Thor: Ragnarok, forcing him to take up Stormbreaker.

Which streaming service produced the Korean drama 'Squid Game'?

Squid Game premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2021, and quickly became the platform's most-watched series, reaching 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first 28 days.

What was the name of Beyoncé's visual album released in 2016?

Lemonade was released on April 23, 2016, as both an album and an accompanying film on HBO. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Which character does Steve Carell play in 'The Office' (US)?

Steve Carell played Michael Scott, the bumbling regional manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, for the show's first seven seasons before leaving in 2011.

What year did TikTok launch internationally (outside China)?

TikTok launched internationally in September 2017. It merged with Musical.ly in August 2018, which significantly boosted its user base in the US and Europe.

In 'Harry Potter,' what position does Harry play on the Quidditch team?

Harry Potter plays Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The Seeker's job is to catch the Golden Snitch, which ends the game and earns 150 points.

What was the name of the 2023 Greta Gerwig film starring Margot Robbie?

Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was released in July 2023 and grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide.

Which K-pop group released the hit single 'Dynamite' in 2020?

BTS released 'Dynamite' on August 21, 2020. It was their first song recorded entirely in English and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

What is Walter White's alias in 'Breaking Bad'?

Walter White adopted the alias 'Heisenberg' (named after physicist Werner Heisenberg) as his drug lord persona in Breaking Bad.

Which Pixar movie features the emotion characters Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust?

Inside Out (2015) takes place inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Riley, where her emotions are personified as characters. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

What does the acronym 'GOAT' stand for in sports and internet slang?

GOAT stands for Greatest Of All Time; Muhammad Ali's camp incorporated G.O.A.T. Inc. in 1992, and LL Cool J's 2000 album G.O.A.T. pushed the term into hip-hop and then sports commentary.

Which actor played the lead role in Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' (2023)?

Cillian Murphy starred as J. Robert Oppenheimer in the 2023 biopic, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.

What football team does Ted Lasso coach in the Apple TV+ series?

In Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis plays an American football coach who takes charge of the fictional English Premier League team AFC Richmond.

Which rapper's 'God's Plan' spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018?

Drake's 'God's Plan' debuted at number one in February 2018 and held the Hot 100's top spot for 11 weeks, the first of his three chart-toppers that year.

What is the name of the fictional land in 'The Lord of the Rings'?

The Lord of the Rings is set in Middle-earth, a fictional world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Peter Jackson's film trilogy (2001-2003) brought the setting to vivid life on screen.

What was the viral 2018 dance craze set to the song 'In My Feelings' called?

The Kiki Challenge (also called the 'In My Feelings' Challenge) went viral in 2018, with people jumping out of moving cars to dance alongside them. It was started by comedian Shiggy.

Which celebrity couple is commonly referred to as 'Bennifer'?

'Bennifer' is the portmanteau for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who first dated in the early 2000s, reunited in 2021, and married in 2022.

What was the Iron Throne made of in 'Game of Thrones'?

Legend says the Iron Throne was forged from a thousand swords surrendered by Aegon the Conqueror's enemies, fused by dragonfire into a jagged seat deliberately impossible to sit in comfortably.

Where was Billie Eilish's debut album 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' mostly recorded?

Brother Finneas O'Connell produced it in his small bedroom studio at the family home in Highland Park, Los Angeles.

Which character joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019 after massive fan demand?

The duo was announced at E3 2019 to a rapturous reaction and released as downloadable fighters on 4 September 2019, along with a stage based on Spiral Mountain.

Who became the first person to reach 600 million followers on Instagram, in 2024?

Cristiano Ronaldo passed 600 million Instagram followers in January 2024, the first person to do so; only Instagram's own account has had a larger following.

Which Bong Joon-ho film became the first non-English-language Best Picture winner, at the Oscars in February 2020?

Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, took Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards on February 9, 2020, the first film not in English to win the top prize.

Starting in 2020, for how many consecutive years was Bad Bunny Spotify's most-streamed artist globally?

Bad Bunny was Spotify's most-streamed artist globally for three consecutive years, 2020, 2021 and 2022, before Taylor Swift took the title in 2023.

What is the name of the fictional paper company in 'The Office' (US)?

Dunder Mifflin Paper Company is the fictional paper and office supply company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where The Office (US) is set.

Which Disney+ series was the first live-action Star Wars show?

The Mandalorian premiered on November 12, 2019, the day Disney+ launched in the United States; it is set five years after Return of the Jedi.

Which podcast went exclusive to Spotify from September 2020 under a deal, announced that May, valued at around US$100 million?

The Joe Rogan Experience deal was Spotify's biggest podcast bet to date, making the show exclusive to the platform from September 2020.

Which 2019 single set the record of 19 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

'Old Town Road' by Lil Nas X, boosted by a Billy Ray Cyrus remix, logged 19 weeks at number one before Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy' unseated it in August 2019.

Which MCU film features the 'Snap' that eliminates half of all life in the universe?

In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet and snaps his fingers, wiping out half of all life in the universe; Endgame undoes it five years later.

What is the real name of the Star Wars character nicknamed 'Baby Yoda', revealed in The Mandalorian's second season?

Grogu's name came out in 'Chapter 13: The Jedi', where Ahsoka Tano reads his mind and reveals he was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Which Taylor Swift album includes the songs 'Anti-Hero' and 'Lavender Haze'?

Midnights, released on October 21, 2022, includes 'Anti-Hero' (which spent 8 weeks at number one) and 'Lavender Haze.' It became the best-selling album of 2022.

What was YouTube's most-viewed video of all time as of 2023?

Pinkfong's 'Baby Shark Dance' overtook 'Despacito' in November 2020 and in January 2022 became the first YouTube video ever to pass 10 billion views.

Which actress played Katniss Everdeen in 'The Hunger Games' film series?

Jennifer Lawrence starred as Katniss Everdeen across all four Hunger Games films (2012-2015). The role launched her to global stardom and she won a Best Actress Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook during the same period.

Which competition show is hosted by the performer behind 1992's 'Supermodel (You Better Work)'?

RuPaul, who recorded 'Supermodel (You Better Work)' in 1992, hosts and heads the judging panel of RuPaul's Drag Race, which premiered on Logo in 2009.

Which 2020 true-crime documentary series focused on the world of exotic big cat breeding?

Tiger King was released on March 20, 2020, just as COVID-19 lockdowns began, following zookeeper Joe Exotic and his feud with Big Cat Rescue's Carole Baskin.

In 'Game of Thrones,' what family's motto is 'Winter Is Coming'?

'Winter Is Coming' is the motto of House Stark of Winterfell. It serves as both a warning and a reminder of the harsh northern climate they endure.

Which Kevin Spacey political drama did Netflix release all at once on 1 February 2013?

House of Cards, led by Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, arrived on Netflix as a full 13-episode season on 1 February 2013, helping popularise binge-watching.

Which 2020 Fortnite event featured a virtual Travis Scott concert with 27 million participants?

The April 2020 shows used visuals based on Scott's Astroworld tour and set an attendance record for Fortnite events, kicking off the trend of in-game concerts.

Which Billie Eilish album, released in July 2021, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200?

Happier Than Ever, Eilish's second album, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in August 2021 and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 64th Grammys, losing to Jon Batiste's We Are.

Which ship got stuck in the Suez Canal in March 2021, becoming a global meme?

The Ever Given, a 400-metre container ship, blocked the canal in both directions from March 23, 2021 for six days; the tiny excavator digging at its bow became the meme.

Who received her fourth Oscar nomination at age 25 for playing Jo March in 'Little Women' (2019)?

Saoirse Ronan's Little Women nod made her the second-youngest person to reach four Oscar nominations, behind Jennifer Lawrence; her earlier nods were for Atonement, Brooklyn and Lady Bird.

In 'Squid Game', 456 players risk their lives for how many Korean won?

₩45.6 billion (about $38 million): each of the 456 players is worth 100 million won, so the pot grows with every death.

Which wizarding-school franchise film was split into two parts, released in 2010 and 2011?

Deathly Hallows, the final book, became two films released in November 2010 and July 2011 at executive producer Lionel Wigram's suggestion, a pattern later copied by Twilight and The Hunger Games.

What was Lady Gaga's 2010 MTV Video Music Awards outfit made of?

A dress made of raw meat, worn on September 12, 2010, became the 'meat dress', one of the most argued-over red-carpet moments in pop history.

Which of these singers was the first person to reach 100 million followers on Instagram?

Selena Gomez hit the milestone in 2016 while she was the platform's most-followed person; Ariana Grande later became the first woman to pass 200 million.

Who bought Wordle from its creator in January 2022?

The New York Times paid a 'low seven-figure sum' for Wordle; it stayed free, though some offensive words were quietly removed.

In Succession, what is the name of the Roy family's media conglomerate?

Waystar RoyCo is Logan Roy's conglomerate; its news arm ATN ends up under Tom Wambsgans after his stint overseeing the cruise division. The series ran four seasons on HBO.

Which real fungus is the source of the outbreak in HBO's The Last of Us?

Real Cordyceps species do hijack insects, which is why the show's creators called the premise 'real'. The first season had over 3,000 visual effects shots.

Which 1985 Kate Bush song hit number one in 2022 after appearing in Stranger Things?

'Running Up That Hill' reached UK number one in June 2022, 37 years after release, a record climb, and made Bush at 63 the oldest female artist to top the UK chart.

In The Bear, Carmy returns to which city to run his late brother's sandwich shop?

The Original Beef of Chicagoland sells Italian beef sandwiches before Carmy converts it into a fine-dining restaurant called The Bear.

Jenna Ortega choreographed Wednesday Addams' viral dance to a song by which band?

The song was 'Goo Goo Muck' by The Cramps, their 1981 cover of a Ronnie Cook track; TikTok users then recreated the dance to Lady Gaga's 'Bloody Mary', reviving that 2011 song.

What was Olivia Rodrigo's debut single, released in January 2021?

'Drivers License', released January 8, 2021, debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the spot for eight weeks, a rare opening for a debut single.

Which album won Album of the Year at the 65th Grammy Awards in 2023?

Harry's House won Album of the Year at the 65th Grammys in February 2023; its lead single 'As It Was' topped the charts in both the US and UK.

Which 2021 film brought back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as web-slingers?

Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021) reunited Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield with Tom Holland through the multiverse; Holland repeatedly denied the pair's involvement during filming.

In Top Gun: Maverick, what is the call sign of Goose's son, Bradley Bradshaw?

Maverick had blocked his Naval Academy application to honor a promise to Rooster's dying mother. Miles Teller played the role.

Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress Oscar in 2023 for which film?

Everything Everywhere All at Once won Yeoh the award in March 2023, making her the first Asian Best Actress winner; the film took seven Oscars from eleven nominations.

Who voiced Mario in 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie?

The casting baffled some fans, but the directors said Pratt is 'really good at playing a blue-collar hero'. Charlie Day voiced Luigi and Jack Black was Bowser.

Which studio developed the social deduction game Among Us?

Innersloth, a tiny Washington-state studio, launched Among Us quietly on iOS and Android in 2018; it only exploded in popularity during the 2020 lockdowns, two years after release.

Which company originally developed and published Pokémon Go in 2016?

Niantic, spun out of Google in 2015, built Pokémon Go on the Unity engine with The Pokémon Company; it launched in July 2016 with the original roughly 150 species placed by GPS.

Which company bought Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014?

Microsoft announced the $2.5 billion Mojang purchase in September 2014, months after creator Markus 'Notch' Persson tweeted asking whether anyone wanted to buy his share of the company.

What is the title of Adele's 2021 album, the one inspired by her divorce?

30, released in November 2021, grew out of Adele's divorce from Simon Konecki; on her therapist's advice she recorded conversations with her son Angelo, which surface in 'My Little Love'.

The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' comes from which album?

'Blinding Lights' was the second single from After Hours (2020), released in November 2019 and co-written and produced with Max Martin; Billboard named it the top Hot 100 song of all time in 2021.

Who headlined the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show while pregnant?

Rihanna, pregnant with her second child, played Super Bowl LVII in February 2023, her first live show in about five years; she had declined the 2019 show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick.

Which Taylor Swift tour, 149 shows across 21 countries in 2023 and 2024, was the first ever to gross over $1 billion?

The Eras Tour went on past $2 billion as well, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time.

Which Kendrick Lamar diss track swept all five of its Grammy nominations in 2025?

Not Like Us won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and three more at the February 2025 Grammys, its five wins tying 'Up, Up and Away' as the most-awarded song; Lamar accepted in a 'Canadian tuxedo'.

Who directed the 2021 adaptation of Dune starring Timothée Chalamet?

Denis Villeneuve directed Dune, titled Dune: Part One on screen, which covers only the first half of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel; he co-wrote it with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth.

Who played Queen Elizabeth II in seasons three and four of The Crown?

Olivia Colman played the Queen in seasons three and four, between Claire Foy and Imelda Staunton, as the principal cast was replaced every two seasons to age the characters.

Bridgerton is based on a series of Regency romance novels by which author?

Julia Quinn wrote the eight Bridgerton novels, beginning with The Duke and I in 2000; Chris Van Dusen adapted them as Shondaland's first scripted series for Netflix in 2020.

What is the name of the chess prodigy played by Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen's Gambit?

Beth Harmon's rise runs from a 1950s Kentucky orphanage to 1960s championship play; the 2020 miniseries adapts Walter Tevis's 1983 novel, and its title is a real chess opening.

Which actor played ranch patriarch John Dutton in Yellowstone?

Kevin Costner played John Dutton across five seasons of Taylor Sheridan's neo-Western on Paramount Network (2018-2024), leaving before the final episodes; the show spawned prequels 1883 and 1923.

Luis Fonsi's 2017 smash 'Despacito' features which rapper?

Daddy Yankee, like Fonsi a Puerto Rican, features on 'Despacito', whose title means 'slowly'; a later remix with Justin Bieber helped it conquer English-language charts.

Which music video was the first on YouTube to reach one billion views?

Psy's 'Gangnam Style' crossed one billion views on December 21, 2012, and YouTube marked it with a dancing cartoon Psy beside the counter; it stayed the most-viewed video until 2017.

In Frozen, Elsa and Anna are royalty of which fictional kingdom?

Elsa accidentally traps Arendelle in eternal winter, and Anna sets out with iceman Kristoff, reindeer Sven and snowman Olaf to find her.

Which Encanto song spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022?

'We Don't Talk About Bruno' topped the Hot 100 for five weeks in early 2022, only the second chart-topper from a Disney animated film after 'A Whole New World' in 1993.

Who voiced the shape-shifting demigod Maui in Disney's Moana?

Johnson, who has Samoan heritage, also sings 'You're Welcome' in the 2016 film. Maui is a legendary but egotistical figure who joins Moana's voyage.

T'Challa is crowned king of which fictional African nation in Black Panther?

Wakanda, the vibranium-rich hidden nation, is T'Challa's kingdom; the 2018 film was the 18th MCU entry and the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture. Zamunda is from Coming to America.

Which actor won the Best Actor Oscar for the 2019 film Joker?

Joaquin Phoenix won for Joker, which also took the Golden Lion at Venice and became the first R-rated film to gross $1 billion; its eleven Oscar nominations were a record for a comic-book film.

In his Disney+ series, Loki is arrested by what bureaucratic organization?

The Time Variance Authority (TVA) exists outside time and space and polices the 'sacred timeline'; Loki ends up hunting a female variant of himself named Sylvie.

WandaVision takes place in which New Jersey town trapped inside a sitcom reality?

Westview, New Jersey, is the town Wanda seals inside the Hex; WandaVision was the first MCU series made by Marvel Studios itself, each episode homaging a different sitcom decade.

Who played a second-year, insomniac Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves's 2022 film The Batman?

Robert Pattinson took over as Bruce Wayne in The Batman (March 2022), with Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano as the Riddler; the film grossed over $770 million worldwide.

Which sitcom swept all seven major comedy awards at the 2020 Emmys?

Schitt's Creek won all seven comedy categories for its final season at the September 2020 Emmys; Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy became the first cast to sweep all four acting awards.

Who created, wrote and starred in the BBC comedy-drama Fleabag?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge grew Fleabag out of her one-woman show at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe; most main characters, including hers and Andrew Scott's 'Hot Priest', are never named.

Which 2024 miniseries was adapted from Richard Gadd's autobiographical one-man show?

Baby Reindeer, released on Netflix in April 2024, has Gadd playing a version of himself stalked by Jessica Gunning's Martha; the title is the nickname she gives him.

Which company bought the streaming platform Twitch for about $970 million in 2014?

Amazon announced the $970 million Twitch deal in August 2014 after Google, the widely reported frontrunner, fell away; Twitch had begun as a spin-off of Justin.tv, which shut down weeks earlier.

In which year did Meta launch Threads, its text-based rival to Twitter/X?

Threads launched on July 5, 2023 in 100 countries, known internally as 'Project 92'; Meta held it back from the European Union until December 2023 over data-collection rules.

BeReal, the app with a daily two-minute photo alert, was created in which country?

BeReal was created in France in 2020 by Alexis Barreyat, a former GoPro employee, and Kévin Perreau; the app nudges users at a random time each day to post an unfiltered photo.

In the Australian cartoon Bluey, what is the name of Bluey's younger sister?

Bingo is four (later five) and the family are Blue Heelers; dad Bandit is an archaeologist and mum Chilli works part-time in airport security.

The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raised money to fight which disease?

The challenge raised over $220 million worldwide for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease) charities and generated 2.4 million tagged Facebook videos in the summer of 2014.

The viral 2015 photo known as 'The Dress' showed a garment that was really which colours?

The Roman Originals dress was really blue and black; more than ten million tweets mentioned it within a week, and the retailer made a one-off white-and-gold version for charity.

What was the real name of the internet-famous feline known as Grumpy Cat?

Tardar Sauce, born in Arizona in 2012, owed her permanent scowl to an underbite and feline dwarfism; she became famous after her owner's brother posted a photo to Reddit in September 2012.

The 2013 'Harlem Shake' video craze was set to a track by which producer?

Baauer's 'Harlem Shake' (2012) soundtracked the meme, whose template came from a Filthy Frank video uploaded on January 30, 2013 with costumed people flailing to the drop; it reached number one on the Hot 100.

The robbers in Money Heist wear masks depicting which artist?

The Spanish series, originally titled La casa de papel, pairs the Dalí masks with red jumpsuits, a look that spread to real protests and costume parties.

How many Tony Awards did Hamilton win at the 2016 ceremony?

Hamilton took 11 Tonys from a record 16 nominations in June 2016, one short of The Producers' record 12, and also won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Zendaya became the youngest Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy winner for which HBO series?

Euphoria's Rue Bennett, a teenager struggling with addiction, won Zendaya the award in 2020 at 24 and again in 2022; at 16 she had been the youngest contestant on Dancing with the Stars.