Few horror villains are as instantly recognizable as Michael Myers. The silent killer from the classic horror film Halloween became an icon partly because of his eerie, emotionless white mask. But what many fans don’t realize is that the mask has a surprisingly simple origin—it started as a cheap mask of William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk. During the production of Halloween  in 1978, director John Carpenter and the film’s small-budget crew needed a mask that would make their killer look...

In the music industry, a song can become a massive global hit and still lead to complicated financial outcomes for the artist behind it. That’s the surprising story surrounding French Montana and his smash single Unforgettable. Released in 2017, “Unforgettable” quickly became one of the biggest songs of the year. Featuring vocals from Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd, the track blended hip-hop, pop, and Afrobeats influences to create a sound that resonated worldwide. The song climbed into the Top 10...

Before becoming one of the most recognized companies in the travel industry, Airbnb faced a wave of rejection that could have easily ended the idea before it ever took off. In the early days of the startup, founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk struggled to convince investors that their concept—allowing people to rent out spare rooms or homes to travelers—could become a large, scalable business. At one point during their fundraising efforts, the founders pitched their idea...