Internet History
This company launched a search engine in 1998 that would eventually dominate how people find information online
This company patented a method for “one-click” online purchasing to simplify e-commerce transactions
Amazon
This energy company collapsed in 2001 after a massive accounting fraud scandal involving hidden debt and fake profits.
Enron
This U.S. government program secretly experimented with mind control, LSD, and psychological manipulation during the Cold War.
Project MKUltra
In this dinosaur film, the size and layout of the T. rex paddock appears to change dramatically between scenes, creating one of cinema’s most famous continuity issues.
Jurassic Park
This phrase was famously spoken when AOL notified users they had received a new email message.
You’ve got mail
This unusual patent described a method of swinging on a swing sideways instead of back and forth.
Sideways swing
This video rental chain failed to adapt to streaming services and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2010
Blockbuster
This real FBI program covertly surveilled, infiltrated, and disrupted political activist groups in the United States during the 1950s–70s.
COINTELPRO
In this time-travel film, a photograph gradually changes as the protagonist alters the past, despite the movie never clearly defining how timeline changes physically propagate.
Back to the Future
This early peer-to-peer music sharing service, launched in 1999, was shut down after major legal battles over copyright infringement.
Napster
This major tech company received a patent for a transparent glass staircase design used in many of its retail stores.
Apple
This German payments company collapsed in 2020 after discovering that nearly $2 billion in cash likely never existed.
Wirecard
This tobacco industry conspiracy involved companies suppressing internal research about the health risks and addictiveness of cigarettes.
Tobacco industry cover-up
In this space opera sequel trilogy, hyperspace travel is suddenly weaponized in a way that raises questions about why it was never used before.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
This programming language, created by Brendan Eich in 1995, became the foundation of interactive web browsers.
JavaScript
This bizarre patented concept proposed a vehicle restraint system designed specifically to protect passengers during collisions with kangaroos.
Kangaroo collision safety system
This automobile manufacturer became embroiled in the “Dieselgate” scandal after software was used to cheat emissions testing
Volkswagen
This NSA surveillance program, revealed in 2013, collected bulk internet and phone metadata from millions of people.
PRISM
In this superhero film, the villain’s elaborate ferry experiment depends heavily on human behavior unfolding exactly as predicted, despite massive uncertainty.
The Dark Knight
This document, proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, laid the foundation for what became the World Wide Web.
Information Management: A Proposal
This inventor patented a “high-five machine,” designed to simulate human celebration without another person present.
Keio University researchers
This telecommunications company filed what was then the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history after an $11 billion accounting fraud was uncovered
WorldCom
This secret U.S. government operation in the 1930s–70s intentionally withheld treatment from Black men with syphilis in order to study disease progression.
Tuskegee Syphilis Study
In this sci-fi film, the machines use humans as batteries despite thermodynamics suggesting there are vastly more efficient energy sources available.
The Matrix