12 Facts That Are Mind-Blowing And True
by Brian GalindoBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffSenior Editor, Nostalgia Nerd
1.
Lauren Weisberger, who wrote The Devil Wears Prada, never set out to write a tell-all about her time working at Vogue. In fact, she has said the idea only came up after she left the magazine and took a writing class, where her classmates were sharing real-life experiences in their stories. This prompted her to sort through her experience. At the time, she had been an assistant to Anna Wintour, and she hadn't fully processed how intense and demanding that job had been. Writing became a way to make sense of it. She has said she assumed no one would care about the manuscript and didn't expect Wintour — or anyone in media — to even notice it.
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When The Devil Wears Prada was published in 2003, though, it quickly became a hit, with readers seeing it as a thinly veiled portrait of Wintour and the inner workings of Vogue. While the book was well received, Weisberger was caught off guard by the reaction of some powerful women in media, who felt the book reinforced negative stereotypes about demanding female bosses, and that she came across as just whining without paying her dues. Condé Nast reportedly never acknowledged the book in any of its publications. However, after the movie was released and became a huge and beloved hit, Wintour and Condé Nast embraced it.
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2.
Love Story has become one of the breakout hits of 2026, and it's also drawn lots of praise for how accurately it captures Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's understated, iconic style. However, the show ran into unexpected trouble before it even aired. Early set photos of actress Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette sparked backlash online, with many people saying the looks were too modern or "off," which was a big issue since Bessette is still considered a major style icon.
Eric Liebowitz / ©FX / Courtesy of FX via Everett Collection
The reaction was strong enough that the production team took it seriously and made changes behind the scenes. They ultimately replaced the original costume designer and brought in Rudy Mance, who moved quickly, diving into research and sourcing vintage pieces to better match Bessette's real-life wardrobe. He even worked with collectors and tracked down specific items that she had worn to make the costumes feel more accurate and respectful to her legacy.
Eric Liebowitz / ©FX / Courtesy of FX via Everett Collection
3.
A novella published years before the Titanic disaster has long been considered one of the strangest coincidences in literary history. In 1898, author Morgan Robertson wrote Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, a story about a massive luxury ocean liner called the Titan that sinks after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
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What makes it eerie is how closely parts of the fictional disaster mirror what would happen to the Titanic 14 years later in 1912. In both cases, the ships were described as some of the largest ever built, believed to be "unsinkable," and traveling at high speed when they struck an iceberg on an April night. Also, neither ship carried enough lifeboats for everyone on board, which led to massive loss of life when they sank in the North Atlantic. After the Titanic sank, the book gained new attention because of those parallels.
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4.
"Mr. Brightside" by the Killers is now one of the most famous songs of the 2000s, but it didn't start out that way. When it was first released in 2003 as the band's debut single, it barely made an impact and was basically a flop. At the time, the band was still relatively unknown, and the song was only gaining traction through small shows and word of mouth.
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However, the band released their second single, "Somebody Told Me," which began charting and led them to sign with Island Records, where they recorded their debut album, Hot Fuss. Based on the success of their second single, they decided to re-release "Mr. Brightside," along with a new re-recorded music video. This time, the song caught on and went all the way to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over time, it became a staple at clubs, weddings, and festivals, which helped keep it in constant rotation. Streaming has also played a huge role in its second life, introducing it to younger listeners decades after its release.
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5.
In 2017, a Japanese company made headlines after it introduced an unusual perk: extra vacation days for employees who don't smoke. The policy came from Tokyo-based marketing firm Piala Inc., where non-smoking workers complained that colleagues who took cigarette breaks were effectively working less each day. Those breaks could add up to roughly 40 minutes daily, especially since employees had to leave their offices to reach designated smoking areas.
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Instead of punishing smokers,