1

James Dean’s red jacket in Rebel Without a Cause

Image: visualsofdana

James Dean owned the screen in Rebel Without a Cause while wearing a red Harrington jacket . Jim Stark’s rebellious spirit resonated with a generation of teenagers, turning the jacket into a symbol of youthful defiance. That cool, casual style caught on in the ’50s and influenced menswear for years to come.

2

Tom Cruise’s aviator sunglasses in Top Gun

Image: Nitin Dhumal

When Top Gun soared into theaters in the ’80s, sales of Ray-Ban Aviators took off like a jet fighter, reportedly increasing by 40%. Tom Cruise’s confident Maverick made these shades the ultimate symbol of effortless cool .

The latest installment of the franchise once again led to a surge in sales. Worn by pilots and by pop stars, Aviators remain a classic icon of the tough-guy aesthetic.

3

Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel’s haircut in Friends

Image: Ilse Orsel

"The Rachel" wasn’t just a haircut—it was the haircut. Salons were flooded with requests for Jennifer Aniston’s bouncy, layered style .

The irony? Aniston reportedly hated it. But that didn’t stop an entire generation from chopping their locks in pursuit of sitcom-perfect hair .

4

Nancy Sinatra’s go-go boots

Image: Heriberto Jahir Medina

Nancy Sinatra’s "These Boots Are Made for Walkin’"—along with the groovy go-go dancers on "Laugh-In" —made white go-go boots the must-have footwear of the swinging ’60s.

Fun, fashionable, and full of youthful energy , they became a symbol of the era. Every mod girl needed a pair to complete her look and strut her stuff.

5

Marilyn Monroe’s white dress

Image: Stephen Leonardi

A subway grate, a gust of wind, and boom. One of the most famous dresses in movie history was born. Marilyn Monroe’s billowing white halter dress is still a summer fashion inspiration more than half a century later.

Her signature winged eyeliner, red lips, and the Chanel No. 5 she allegedly wore to bed were also picked up by women all over the world.

6

Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hat & suits

Image: Florida Memory

Jackie Kennedy’s impeccable style captivated the nation. Her elegant suits and perfectly perched pillbox hats turned heads with every public appearance.

Women everywhere sought to emulate her sophisticated, polished look, turning the First Lady into an unexpected fashion icon.

7

Farrah Fawcett’s feathered hair in Charlie’s Angels

Image: Flybynight

An example of one poster that became one million salon appointments. Farrah Fawcett’s feathered waves became the ultimate hair trend of the 1970s, thanks to Charlie’s Angels.

Women flocked to salons, armed with cans of hairspray and dreams of achieving the perfect Farrah flip.

8

Madonna’s lace gloves & layered bracelets

Image: Paolo Sbalzer

Madonna was as much a fashion icon as she was a music sensation. During her Like a Virgin era in the ‘80s , she introduced a bold new style: layered rubber bracelets, rosary beads, lace gloves, and a rebellious attitude. Young girls everywhere embraced her edgy, playful look, making it a defining trend of the decade.

9

Run-D.M.C.’s Adidas sneakers

Image: Rahul Shah

No laces? No problem. Run-D.M.C. turned Adidas shell-toe sneakers into hip-hop royalty . Their song "My Adidas" made the brand explode, and suddenly sneakers with the three stripes were everywhere. Comfortable, stylish, and effortlessly cool—now that’s a trend anyone could get behind.

10

Reese's Pieces in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Image: FlyD

Did you know that in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , the beloved alien was originally supposed to be obsessed with M&Ms, not Reese’s Pieces ? Luckily for the latter, Mars turned down the offer to feature their product in a Spielberg movie.

The result? After the movie’s massive success, sales of Reese’s Pieces skyrocketed by 65%. A perfect example of how sweet product placement can be.

11

Etch-a-Sketch in Toy Story

Image: Nong

Sure, Toy Story featured dozens of different toys, but one classic that had been around for decades experienced a major resurgence after the movie’s release.

The Etch A Sketch saw a spike in sales in the ’90s, thanks to its memorable cameo in the Pixar movie. Maybe kids were drawn to its simple shake-and-draw magic , or perhaps parents couldn’t resist a wave of nostalgia.

12

Kurt Cobain’s grunge look

Image: Ralph Rabago

Kurt Cobain didn’t dress for the cameras or the music industry, yet he defined an iconic style in the ’90s. His thrift-store flannels, ripped jeans , and round sunglasses became the uniform of a generation.

Ironically, the grunge aesthetic—born from a rejection of mainstream fashion—became one of the decade’s biggest trends.

1

The first Thanksgiving feast

Image: Claudio Schwarz

The story of the first Thanksgiving is often heavily romanticized, but it was largely rooted in political and survival needs. Wampanoag leader Ousamequin reached out to the English at Plymouth not out of inherent friendship, but because his people had been devastated by epidemic disease and needed allies.

Moreover, English Thanksgivings were originally solemn occasions of fasting and prayer —quite different from today’s feasts of abundance and celebration. The truth is that around the 1760s, Pilgrim descendants in Plymouth, concerned about their declining cultural influence, began promoting the idea that the original Pilgrims were America’s founding fathers. The notion of a holiday symbolizing unity and friendship between colonists and natives gained traction, eventually shaping the Thanksgiving tradition we know today.

2

Paul Revere’s "Midnight Ride"

Image: Priscilla Du Preez

Though "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" is legendary, Revere certainly didn’t act alone. The famous silversmith was only one of several riders, including William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who warned of the British army’s approach. To be fair, much of the well-known story was fabled by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem "Paul Revere’s Ride," which is far from a historically accurate account.

Additionally, Revere would have never shouted "The British are coming!"—that wouldn’t have made much sense, as most Massachusetts colonists still identified as British. The actual alert was closer to "The Regulars are coming," referring to British troops.

3

The frontier was lawless

Image: Idean Azad

Popular culture paints the American West as a wild, lawless frontier, but crime was actually lower in many Western towns than in Eastern cities at the time. Local codes, vigilante groups, and early forms of law enforcement helped keep order, even in the most remote pioneer towns.

Many towns established designated areas where firearms were off-limits, requiring visitors to put away their weapons before entering. Of course, cities like Dodge City and Tombstone had their rowdy moments, but local communities established governance quickly. In many cases, justice in the West was rough but effective, and it helped establish America’s early legal backbone.

4

Washington chopped down a cherry tree

Image: Terence Starkey

Though it’s deeply etched in American memory, the story of young George Washington confessing to chopping down a cherry tree is entirely fictional. This tale was fabricated by Parson Weems, Washington’s biographer, to depict him as morally upright and honest from an early age.

While the story is charming and has contributed to America’s sense of ethos, it underscores the tendency in early American history to create heroic, almost mythical personas for its leaders. Yet, Washington’s legacy hardly needs fabricated childhood anecdotes to shine; his real courage and dedication to his country speak for themselves.

5

The Liberty Bell rang on Independence Day

Image: Dan Mall

The story of the Liberty Bell ringing for independence traces back to a fictional tale by George Lippard in an 1847 issue of The Saturday Courier. In this story, an elderly bellman in the State House steeple anxiously awaited news of Congress’s decision. Doubting their resolve, he suddenly heard his grandson’s triumphant shout: "Ring, Grandfather! Ring!"

This story captivated the public and cemented the Liberty Bell’s association with the Declaration of Independence. However, historians now doubt that the bell actually rang in 1776; at the time the State House steeple was reportedly in poor condition, and the bell may not have been in use. Though many bells rang throughout Philadelphia on July 8 to celebrate the Declaration, whether the Liberty Bell itself rang remains uncertain due to a lack of contemporary accounts.

6

Betsy Ross made the first American flag

Image: Luke Michael

The story of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag is one of America’s favorite tales, but the sad truth is that there’s no historical evidence to support it. The story only emerged nearly a century after the Revolution, when her grandson published the account in a paper for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1870.

While the Continental Congress did approve a flag design in 1777, it’s unclear who actually made it. However, despite historians' doubts, the early flag design with 13 stars in a circle is still popularly known as "the Betsy Ross flag."

7

Orson Welles’ broadcast induced mass panic

Image: Muhammed ÖÇAL

It’s widely believed that Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds caused widespread panic across the United States, with listeners mistaking it for real news of an alien invasion. However, the actual extent of the panic was greatly exaggerated by newspapers looking to discredit radio as a rival news source.

While the broadcast did unsettle some listeners, most of the audience knew it was a dramatic performance. Reports of mass hysteria were largely fabricated, and ironically, the media’s reaction to the broadcast may be a greater testament to its power than Welles’ fictional invasion ever could be.

8

Cowboys wore big, flashy hats

Image: Brice Cooper

While movies and TV shows often show cowboys wearing wide-brimmed, flashy hats, most cowboys actually wore bowler or derby hats until the late 19th century. These hats were more practical and better suited for riding. Men also wore flat wool caps, Mexican sombreros, or even old Civil War hats like the kepi.

The wide-brimmed "cowboy hat" only became popular later and evolved into a cultural icon thanks to cinematic depictions of the Wild West. As with most things, in truth practicality ruled the range, and the stereotype of the cowboy hat developed more from fiction than reality.

9

Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity

Image: Felix Mittermeier

Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment didn’t really "discover" electricity but rather demonstrated that lightning was a form of electrical energy. In fact, historians aren’t even sure whether he performed the famous experiment himself. At the time, scientists in Europe had been experimenting with electricity for decades.

That being said, Franklin’s findings did help advance science, and laid the groundwork for future innovations. His research not only led to the practical study of electricity, but his invention of the lightning rod also helped save both people and structures. In any case, Franklin never patented any of his inventions, believing that "products of the human imagination belonged to no one person," so he likely wouldn’t have wanted credit as the discoverer of electricity either.

10

The Fourth of July marks the signing of the Declaration

Image: Trent Yarnell

The Declaration of Independence is celebrated on July 4th, but the actual timeline of events is a bit more complex. Independence was formally approved by Congress on July 2, 1776, through the Virginia resolution, which officially severed ties with Britain. However, the text of the Declaration was subjected to intense debate and revisions before Congress approved the wording on July 4.

Further complicating things, the Declaration wasn't publicly read until July 8, and it took several more weeks before all signers had added their names. While some Founding Fathers, like John Adams, initially advocated for celebrating on July 2, the public ultimately gravitated toward July 4—the date displayed on the final document.

1

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Image: Tim Hart

A natural monument of unparalleled beauty, painstakingly carved over millions of years by the Colorado River , The Grand Canyon’s layered bands of red rock reveal more than just a part of the history of the land, but also offer a humbling window into deep time and Earth’s origins.

President Theodore Roosevelt himself was one of the foremost advocates for the preservation of the Grand Canyon area , frequently visiting to hunt and revel in its natural beauty. Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was continuously inhabited by various Native American groups, who often dug and carved their settlements directly into the ancient rock.

2

Yosemite Valley, California

Image: Robby McCullough

Located in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, Yosemite Valley’s granite cliffs, towering waterfalls, and ancient sequoias draw millions of visitors each year. Shaped by the action of glaciers during most of the last 30 million years , today its lush forests and incredibly diverse fauna are a living monument to our country’s biodiversity.

The towering granite peaks that encircle the valley, including Half Dome and El Capitan , are famed for their impressive rock walls and the breathtaking vistas they offer to hikers from above.

3

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Image: Nicolasintravel

A geothermal wonderland, home to geysers, hot springs, and bubbling mud pots , Yellowstone is a wildlife haven where bison, grizzly bears, and wolves roam freely amidst its stunning natural features. Moreover, Yellowstone not only holds the distinction of being the first national park in the U.S. but also in the whole world, setting a precedent for conservation laws and standards that would be emulated worldwide.

Interestingly, the Yellowstone Caldera—the volcanic system responsible for the park’s intense geothermal activity—is the largest in North America and is considered a dormant "supervolcano." In the past, large eruptions from this region likely contributed to the extinction of many species, blanketing much of central North America in ash.

4

Denali National Park, Alaska

Image: Bryan Goff

At the heart of Alaska lies Denali, North America's tallest peak. Officially named Mount McKinley until 2015, the peak was renamed after the native word for the mountain, which fittingly means "the high one."

The region surrounding the legendary mountain became a National Park in 1917 , and since that time the rugged landscape of the park has been a haven for outdoor enthusiasts, offering unique opportunities for wildlife viewing. The pristine landscape features a diverse mix of forests, deciduous taiga, tundra, and glaciers , preserving a slice of untouched wilderness that highlights the raw, untamed beauty of Alaska.

5

Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee

Image: Div Pithadia

With its mist-shrouded peaks and verdant forests, the Great Smoky Mountains are one of the most scenic and alluring landscapes of the United States.

A subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, the soothing vistas of lush forests growing above the ancient peaks are often veiled by a hazy blue-ish mist , which gives the name to the region. The mysterious fog is caused by various organic compounds emitted by the lush vegetation, which end up forming dense vapor columns.

6

Zion National Park, Utah

Image: Jamie Hagan

Zion's breathtaking sandstone formations are truly a sight to behold. The region is renowned for its towering cliffs, narrow slot canyons, expansive mesas, and captivating natural arches , each sculpted by the forces of time and nature into awe-inspiring works of art.

With a geological history that spans over 150 million years , Zion National Park is a testament to the immense geological forces that have shaped our land over millennia.

7

Niagara Falls, New York

Image: Kalen Emsley

One of the world's most famous waterfalls, Niagara Falls is an emblem of America’s diverse natural beauty. Straddling the international border between Canada and the United States, millions of gallons of water cascade over its cliffs every minute , drawing visitors from both nations to marvel at this awe-inspiring natural spectacle.

Formed by the Niagara River, which channels the waters from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario before ending up in the Atlantic, the falls experience a rate of erosion of almost a foot per year. If the erosion continues at this pace, in about 50,000 years the falls will completely erode the remaining 20 miles to Lake Erie and cease to exist.

8

Glacier National Park, Montana

Image: Justin Kauffman

One of the most pristine landscapes in the United States, Glacier National Park harbors ancient peaks and valleys that provide sanctuary to a diverse array of wildlife, home to thousands of unique species.

With more than one million acres, several glaciers, and over a hundred named lakes, this landscape offers a glimpse into the untouched beauty that greeted the first inhabitants of this land upon their arrival.

9

Acadia National Park, Maine

Image: Benjamin R.

Maine’s Atlantic coastline offers a stunning landscape of timeless beauty and rich history. From the towering Cadillac Mountain - the highest peak on the Atlantic coast - to the U-shaped valleys, and cobble beaches, Acadia's natural wonders are captivating.

Inhabited over 10,000 years ago by the Wabanaki people, Acadia's story is full of tales of exploration and resourcefulness. Amidst the harsh terrain, John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s historic carriage road system still meanders , a testament to human resilience amidst nature's raw beauty.

10

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Hawaiʻi

Image: Cedric Letsch

If you are eager to witness the true raw power of nature in action, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is the place to go. Home to two of the world's most active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa , the park is teeming with primeval scenes and dramatic contrasts. From lava tubes to lush rainforests and stunning beaches, the islands abound with natural wonders.

Acknowledging its unique natural attributes, the park earned the prestigious designation of International Biosphere Reserve in 1980, followed by World Heritage Site status in 1987.