Movie Article

What We Learned This Summer

Summer movie lessons -- We look at the fun facts we learned from 'Deep Impact,'' ''Saving Private Ryan,'' and more

No matter what anyone says, ignorance isn't bliss. Thank goodness, then, for pop culture. By Labor Day, moviegoers, couch potatoes, readers, and the like will have drunk at a veritable fountain of knowledge via the summer's many offerings — and just in time for back to school. Here are this season's fun facts (don't worry, there won't be a quiz).

Phillips Exeter Academy began admitting women in 1971 (A Widow for One Year)

A comet is mostly ice (Deep Impact)

Digitalis, an angina medicine, can be an untraceable poison in large doses (Melrose Place)

The Good Samaritan Law (which makes it a crime not to help someone in danger) began in France (the Seinfeld finale)

There are 6 billion people on the planet (Armageddon)

Fubar is an acronym for ''f---ed up beyond all recognition'' (Saving Private Ryan)

Tumors can grow teeth and hair (Guinness World Records: Primetime)

In England, one would dial 1471, not star 69, to see who called (Bridget Jones's Diary)

Originally posted Sep 11, 1998 Published in issue #449 Sep 11, 1998 Order article reprints
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