by Brian GalindoBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffSenior Editor, Nostalgia Nerd

Obviously, before streaming took over, the music industry relied heavily on physical CDs, which had to be manufactured and shipped weeks ahead of their release dates. But in the mid-'90s and early '00s, that process created an unexpected vulnerability, since factory workers could access albums long before they reached stores, and leak them online.

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One of the most notable figures to exploit this gap was Dell Glover, who was an employee at Kings Mountain, a CD manufacturing plant in North Carolina. He secretly smuggled out advance copies and passed them on to an underground piracy network known as "the Scene," where groups competed to leak albums online as early as possible. Over time, Glover is believed to have been involved in leaking roughly 2,000 albums, including major releases from some of the biggest artists of that time, like Jay-Z, Ashanti, Blink-182, Eminem, U2, Mariah Carey, and Fall Out Boy. Eventually, the FBI caught Glover, and he served only three months in prison in exchange for testifying against others involved in the ring.

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When the PlayStation 2 launched in 2000, it entered a market where DVDs were still a relatively new and expensive format. At the time, many standalone DVD players cost as much as, or more than, the console itself, which made them a luxury purchase for a lot of households. Sony's decision to include a built-in DVD player turned the PS2 into more than just a gaming system (which, in itself, was a unique concept), but also an affordable home entertainment device.

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For many people, it became their first DVD player, making the console an easy choice even for those who weren't primarily gamers or had any brand loyalty to PlayStation. This helped drive massive sales of the PS2, which went on to become one of the best-selling consoles of all time. At the same time, its popularity helped accelerate the mainstream adoption of DVDs, making it one of the fastest-adopted consumer electronics.

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When the film Ghost was being cast, many well-known Black actresses auditioned for the role of Oda Mae Brown, however, Whoopi Goldberg was never approached. She only learned about the role through another actress, which made the oversight even more surprising. When she asked her agent why she didn't get an audition for the part, her agent told her the reason was that "They don't want you. They think that your persona, that Whoopi, is too big and will take people out of the movie."

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Meanwhile, Patrick Swayze was cast as Sam Wheat and quickly became a strong advocate for Goldberg. He was a friend, had seen her work, and believed she was the right fit to bring both humor and heart to the character of Oda Mae. Swayze pushed the producers to cast her, even flying out to meet her on location alongside the director to have her read for the part. However, Goldberg was still hesitant, so Swayze had to convince her to do it. Of course, she went on to deliver an iconic performance that earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, during which she thanked Swayze in her acceptance speech.

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Instagram actually started out as a location check-in app called Burbn. In fact, when it launched in 2010, Burbn was very, very similar to Foursquare, which let people share the places they visited. But to make it more fun, the app included a small feature that let users add filters to photos.

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Over the first few months, the founders noticed that people weren't as interested in the check-in part. Instead, they were obsessed with taking and sharing filtered pictures. Seeing this, the team decided to strip away everything else and focus only on photos. They rebranded the app as Instagram, leaning into its social aspect and addictive filters.

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The idea of an "EGOT" or "EGOTing" existed before it became part of mainstream pop culture, but it wasn't something most people or even celebs talked about regularly. The term, of course, refers to winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, and it was originally coined in 1984 by Miami Vice actor Philip Michael Thomas as a personal ambition rather than a common label. That changed in 2009, when 30 Rock turned it into a running joke and storyline involving Tracy Jordan and a literal "EGOT necklace."

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The show treated EGOTing like a goal people actively chase, which helped make the term feel more real and widely understood. After those episodes aired, the term started showing up more often in entertainment journalism and pop culture conversations. It also became a status that fan

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