Shirley Temple was rumored to be a potential Dorothy

Judy Garland's body double wore a sepia dress in the movie's most famous scene

A famous scene from "The Wizard of Oz" features Dorothy leaving behind her home in Kansas and walking into Oz. The filmmakers wanted the character to exit a colorless world and enter a Technicolor one, though the nascent technology required more than some clever postproduction tricks. The scene was painted sepia, as was Judy Garland's body double's dress. As she walks through the door, into Oz, the camera turns away. Then, Judy Garland strides back into frame, wearing her iconic blue dress.

Over the years, Baum’s story has had several adaptations and reinterpretations

The original 1900 book, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,’ has been adapted in various forms for various audiences. There’s been a Muppet-centric Oz, a 3D-generated Dorothy, and one that imagines an adult Dorothy living as a children’s author in New York, just to name a few.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

The 1939 film changed Dorothy's slippers from silver to ruby

Baum’s original book listed the slippers as silver, but the filmmakers wanted the shoes to pop on film—and highlight their use of Technicolor—so they turned them ruby. The slippers wound up becoming one of the movie’s most iconic elements.

Minnelli's acting career began as a toddler

Her first film appearance was at age three in 1949's "In the Good Old Summertime," which starred her mother, Judy Garland. Minnelli's stage debut came not long after, at the age of 10. At age 19, she'd made her Broadway debut in "Flora, the Red Menace," and landed a Tony Award for the performance.

The lives of Liza Minnelli and her mother, Judy Garland, have many striking similarities

Both performers charmed audiences with their immense talent, particularly their singing and acting. They also shared struggles, as both battled with addiction, experienced multiple divorces, and dealt with public criticism. Both are also beloved icons of the gay community, with Garland even earning an informal title as the "Elvis of Homosexuals."

Juvenile Oscars were handed out from 1935 to 1961

The Academy Juvenile Award recognized the best child actors in a given year, with luminaries like Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, and Mickey Rooney taking home the prestigious trophies. Fittingly, they were 7 inches tall, about half the size of a regular Oscar.

Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of 'Wicked,' is named after 'The Wizard of Oz' author

Gregory Maguire named the Wicked Witch of the West after L. Frank Baum. “I tried Lafaba, I tried Lafeyba," he said. "And then I tried Elphaba. As soon as I got Elphaba, I thought, oh, that's it.”

'Over the Rainbow' became a widely covered standard

Judy Garland’s original 1939 version won the Academy Award for best original song, though it never appeared on the Billboard pop singles chart (which didn’t appear until 1940). Twenty different versions of the song by other artists—including Willie Nelson, Patti LaBelle, and Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole—have appeared on numerous Billboard charts.

Dolly Parton jumped to Hollywood in the 1980s

Costar Jane Fonda said she heard Parton’s song “Two Doors Down” on the radio while the movie was still being developed and knew she’d be a perfect fit for one of the starring roles. The success of that movie kickstarted an acting career, following up with roles in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Steel Magnolias,” and more.

Minnelli is the goddaughter of Kay Thompson, the author of the 'Eloise' books

Many people speculate that Eloise, the little girl living at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in Thompson's popular series, is Minnelli. The actress, however, denies the claim. Still, people continue to theorize that Minnelli likely influenced the privileged, precocious character's traits.

Jean Stafford’s ‘A Mother in History’ followed the mother of JFK’s assassin

Marguerite Oswald, the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, leaned into the public eye after her son’s crime. Stafford’s decision to interview her was the subject of controversy, but offered an interesting character study of a maligned woman openly inclined to make money off the attention she was receiving.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

How Audrey Hepburn became a spy during the Nazi occupation

Despite her status as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses, Audrey Hepburn experienced a war-torn childhood in Europe that few people know about. During her upbringing in the Netherlands, the Nazi occupation caused Hepburn to quit her life as a ballerina and made her family go hungry. In the face of adversity, Hepburn bravely carried messages for the Dutch resistance. Learn more about the star’s compelling life before finding fame.

Judith Resnik was the second American woman to fly in space

A PhD in electrical engineering, Judith "Judy" Resnik flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1984, becoming the second American woman in space, and later served as a mission specialist on Challenger's STS-51L mission.

Joan Didion interviewed The Grateful Dead in 1967, before they became music icons.

'You can't be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.'

- Actress and comedian Tina Fey (1970-present)

Shirley Jackson is one of horror’s most important writers

The author of 20th-century classics like “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Hangsaman” was a master of domestic horror, though she was often minimized during her life for writing horror. Since her death in 1965, Jackson’s work has proven to be influential to horror and literary writers alike.

The creator of Sherlock Holmes published a book claiming fairies were real

In 1917, two young girls took photos of one another appearing to interact with fairies and a gnome. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes books and a fervent believer in spiritualism, published the photos in a magazine and asked the girls to recreate them, which they did. Conan Doyle went on to write a book about the fairies. In 1983, decades after his death, the girls admitted the photos had been faked.

The forgotten campaign to replace the Teddy Bear with 'Billy Possum'

After a 1909 pre-inauguration dinner for incoming President William Howard Taft featured possums and potatoes as the main course, Susie W. Allgood wanted to produce and market an alternative to the Teddy Roosevelt-inspired teddy bear: Billy Possum. Kids thought it looked too much like a rat.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

'Barbenheimer' resulted in a historic box-office event

The cultural sensation that erupted when Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" and Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" shared an opening night was something that no one could have predicted. "Barbenheimer," as the pairing was called, became a semiserious litmus test for relationships: Who wanted to see which film, and in what order? The viral moment led to box-office gold for both movies, as well as a few Oscars.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

The board game Candyland was invented for children quarantined in polio wards.

Eliza Scidmore advocated for planting cherry trees in Washington, DC, in the early 1900s

The first female writer for National Geographic, Scidmore championed planting Japanese cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Her idea succeeded in 1912, after years of lobbying, creating one of the National Mall's most enduring traditions and tourist draws.

Claims about 'Twenty-One' weren't taken seriously until other quiz shows were exposed

Contestant Herb Stempel alleged that “Twenty-One” was fixed after his loss to Charles Van Doren, saying that everything on the show was “carefully choreographed,” though his claims were dismissed as mere bitterness. In truth, Stempel had been promised a network job if he went along with the con and became outspoken when it didn’t materialize. Van Doren, meanwhile, became a celebrity, donning the cover of Time magazine.

Salvador Dalí’s remains were exhumed for a paternity test

Years after Dalí’s death in 1989, fortune teller Pilar Abel filed a suit claiming she was the child of an affair Dalí had with her mother. In 2017, Dalí’s body was exhumed for testing. Dalí was not the father, but the artist’s mustache remained intact decades after his passing.

Sylvia Robinson is considered ‘the Godmother of Hip-Hop’

While hip-hop was soundtracking countless parties in the early ‘70s, Robinson saw the music’s potential. She began writing, producing, and releasing some of the music’s earliest singles through her Sugar Hill Records label and helped build a place in the music industry for the young music. Robinson’s groundbreaking work led to a 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Disneyland's drinkers once had their own unofficial mascot

Disney has countless subcultures and unofficial fan clubs, including D3, also known as the Disney Day Drinkers. Founded in 2021, the club began informally meeting near a trashcan, nicknamed Binny, in Disney World’s Epcot park … until it mysteriously disappeared in 2023.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people