Bob Dylan was the first songwriter awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 2016.

The British punk rock movement of the 1970s was partly an artistic and political reaction to economic decline.

The Maori creation myth describes the world emerging from Te Kore (the void) through stages of darkness to light.

Beethoven continued to compose music after going almost completely deaf, including his Ninth Symphony.

The Epic of Gilgamesh contains a flood narrative strikingly similar to the biblical story of Noah.

The word 'checkmate' in chess comes from the Persian phrase 'Shah Mat' meaning 'the king is dead.'

About 65% of people prefer texting over talking on the phone.

Extreme sports athlete Travis Pastrana became the first person to land a double backflip on a motorcycle at X Games 2006.

The Shinto shrine of Ise in Japan is demolished and rebuilt every 20 years — a tradition that has continued for 1,300 years.