40 Random Bits of Trivia Wrapped in Cheese So You Don’t Know They’re Good for You

40 Random Bits of Trivia That Touch Upon Movies, TV, And Music

40 Cryptic Jokes and References Expertly Hidden in TV Shows and Movies That You’ll Need A Comedic Rosetta Stone to Unravel

31 of the Wildest ‘Fire Me, I Dare You’ Moments

Kevin from ‘Home Alone’ and Everything Else Europeans Consider Low-Class

38 Impressive Historical Firsts from Entertainment and Technology Pioneers

The earliest known color film footage is way older than you think

38 Impressive Historical Firsts from Entertainment and Technology Pioneers

December 25, 2023

History was not so kind to these industry pioneers. We should all be able to regurgitate these names like we can with George Washington, but alas (for them), we’re guessing you don’t know the name of the first ever stuntman, or the grandfather of the green screen. For shame! Study up, kiddos. There’ll be a test on these in the morning!

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

38

The first PG-13 rating 1984 CRACKED.COM Even though it clocked in at 134 acts of violence per hour (Guinness counted), Red Dawn was the first film to officially find itself between PG and R. — Source

37

The first $100 million movie. 1975 CRACKED.COM Jaws was one of the first films to be released nationwide, all at once, instead of slowly rolled out across the country. That helped it crush the barrier and score $260 million on its first run. — Source

36

The first CGI. 1973 CRACKED.COM We get to see through the eyes of an evil robot in a scene in Westworld, and it's... boring. The motif was inspired by the first images of the surface of Mars. — Source

35

The first copyrighted motion picture. 1894 CRACKED.COM W.K. Dickson copyrighted Fred Ott's Sneeze, a 5-second film of Thomas Edison's assistant snorting some sketchy 1800's stimulant and then, spoiler alert, sneezing. — Source

34

The first 24-hour newsday 1963 CRACKED.COM The networks threw their regular programming out the window to cover the assassination of JFK around the clock. — Source

33

The first to credit the full crew. 1977 CRACKED.COM George Lucas decided to list every last crew member in the Star Wars final credit crawl. Before that, only department heads would get their moment in the limelight. — Source

32

The first movie filmed in color. 1922 CRACKED.COM There are color films that predate this one, but they all required post-production coloring processes. The Toll of the Sea was the first movie actually filmed in color. — Source

31

The first movie studio. 1893 CRACKED.COM Thomas Edison's New Jersey studio, The Black Maria, was built for about $600 to produce short films for the Kinetoscope. — Source

30

Mary Kay and Johnny 1947-1950 CRACKED.COM The very first U.S. sitcom featured the first time a couple slept in the same bed and the first time a woman's pregnancy was shown on TV. — Source

29

L.A. Law 1991 CRACKED.COM The show featured a bisexual woman who kissed a colleague. It was the first same-sex kiss shown on U.S. television. — Source

28

Dawson's Creek 2000 CRACKED COM The first passionate kiss (not just a peck like Will & Grace) shared between two men was on the teen soap opera. — Source

27

The Birth of Reality TV

Candid Camera 1948 Candia Camera CRACKED COM The show (originally a radio show called Candid Microphone) was the first televised reality show, featuring regular members of the public as its stars. — Source

26

Dirty Sexy Money 2007 CRACKED.COM The first TV show to feature a recurring trans actor playing a trans character was Candis Cayne's role in Dirty Sexy Money. Also noteable was Alexandra Billings, who played a trans character in the TV movie Romy and Michele: In the Beginning two years earlier. — Source

25

The Ethel Waters Show 1939 N в C CRACKED.COM Ethel Waters was the first Black person to star in her own TV show. She would later be the first Black woman to be nominated for a primetime Emmy. — Source

24

Hot L Baltimore 1975 CRACKED.COM George and Gordon were the first gay couple to be shown on TV. The show ran with a disclaimer about 'mature themes.' — Source

23

I Love Lucy 1953 CRACKED.COM The first televised birth (well, not graphic birth) goes to Lucille Ball, who wasn't even allowed to say the word 'pregnant' because it was too taboo. — Source

22

The First TV Spin-Off

The Adventures of Champion 1955 CRACKED.COM The first TV show spin-off was based on The Gene Autry Show, with the titular Champion being Gene Autry's horse. — Source

21

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first F-bomb on SNL Letterman's bandleader Paul Schaffer was an SNL cast member in 1980, and is credited with the show's first F-bomb. During the show's 100th episode, he was meant to say the word flogging, but well, you know... — Source

22 Wild ‘Oh No, This Person’s A Psychopath’ Moments

26 Stupid Things People Said With Complete Conviction

40 Random Bits of Classic TV and Movie Trivia That Are Now Available in Technicolor

40 Fresh-Faced Bits of Trivia That Dream of Getting Their Big Break on ‘Jeopardy!’

36 of the Funniest Tweets from Monday, March 24, 2025

25 Mistakes That Ended Up Really Benefitting Someone

20

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first scripted curse word on Network TV Yes, SNL and other live broadcasts accidentally cussed here and there, but the 1999 CBS show Chicago Hope dropped the first-ever scripted curse word. Mark Harmon (Dr. Jack McNeil) utters the phrase, s**t happens. — Source

19

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY - a PORT The first ever X and R ratings Brian De Palma's 1968 film Greetings was slapped with the first ever X rating. Не cut some sexual content to be downgraded to an R rating, but Gordon Flemyng's film The Split was the first ever R rated movie (released one month before Greetings). — Source

18

Glorifying the American Girl

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first audible curse words in film The 1929 Paramount film Glorifying the American Girl has the first curse words in cinema history. They say damn six times, and jackass twice. — Source

17

Hot I Baltimore

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first TV show with a warning label In 1975, because of controversial characters like prostitutes, illegal immigrants, and one of the first gay couples on TV, the Norman Lear show Hot I Baltimore was the first TV show to be slapped with a warning label before each episode. — Source

16

Captain Kangaroo

The first kids' show 1955 CRACKED.COM Captain Kangaroo was a show based on the warm relationship between grandparents and children and inspired all your favorite shows when you were a wee lad or lass. — Source

15

The first instant replay 1963 CRACKED.COM The technology was ready just in time for the big Army-Navy game... at John F. Kennedy Stadium! — Source

14

The Hank McCune Show

The first laugh track 1950 CRACKED.COM The Hank McCune Show, a TV show about a guy running a variety show, was kind of like an early 30 Rock, except it was cancelled after 3 weeks. — Source

13

The first sci-fi series 1949 CARTAIN VIDEO CRACKED.COM Captain Video and His Video Rangers was a kids' show with a $25 prop budget per episode. — Source

12

The first televised World Series 1947 CRACKED.COM The New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers - featuring a rookie Jackie Robinson. — Source

11

The First TV Soap Opera

The first soap opera 1946 the entire production Faraway written and directed by Hill DAVID P. LEWIS GRACKED.COM Farway Hill, about a New York City widow who finds herself upstate in a love triangle, was the first to port the soap opera from radio to TV. — Source

10

Live News

The first live news story 1938 CRACKED.COM NBC New York interrupted its scheduled programming to report on a fire on Ward's Island, home to both an Inebriate Asylum and an Idiot Asylum. — Source

9

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first full-length 1925 stop-motion animation Stop-motion pioneer Willis O'Brien developed several innovations for The Lost World that are still used today. Не created a technique that joined stop- motion and live-action onscreen at the same time. CRACKED — Source

8

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects Hg1 Frank Williams: Grandfather 1916 of the green screen 5 Fig.2. 6 Williams' traveling matte system shot actors or vehicles against a black background and isolated them to be placed on other moving images. It could only work in black and white, but is a direct precursor of blue/green screen technology. CRACKED — Source

7

Film Firsts

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects 1909 George Albert Smith patents double exposure Не built his own movie camera and used his newly patented double exposure technique to make a ghost for his 1909 short The Corsican Brothers. CRACKED — Source

6

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The earliest known 1902 color film footage British inventors Edward Turner and Frederick Lee produced color motion picture tests of Turner's children playing. Не died before perfecting it, but his work led to Kinemacolor in 1906 (the world's first motion picture in natural colors.) CRACKED — Source

5

Edison Labs

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first-ever special effect 1895 Shot at Edison Labs in New Jersey, 1895's Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots was the first film to use a visual effect. They used stop- action for her beheading, and since no one had ever seen special effects, viewers thought they actually killed the actress. CRACKED — Source

4

Car Chase Stunts

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first car chase stunts 1958 Car stunts had been done (notably 1955's Rebel Without A Cause), but Cary Loftin and his team's work on Thunder Road was ground zero for the modern action movie (although driver safety became a new issue). CRACKED — Source

3

Early Hollywood Stuntmen

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first safety precautions 1923 I IV ESTIC E S I II 1 Hollywood realized their stars' worth and took precautions. Ironically titled Safety Last! the 1923 film's iconic clock scene used stunt doubles, safety nets, harnesses, and camera tricks to pull off Harold Lloyd's dangle from a skyscraper. CRACKED — Source

2

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first realistic 1920 sword fighting In 1920's The Mark of Zorro, Douglas Fairbanks brought in a fencing master, creating the first realistic on-screen swordplay. Prior to this, films had primitive whacking, but this opened doors for the countless swashbuckling films to come. CRACKED — Source

1

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first stuntman 1903 In the Guinness Book of World Records as the first stuntman, Frank Hanaway landed a part in 1903's The Great Train Robbery for his ability to fall off a horse without injuring himself. CRACKED — Source

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Trivia & Jokes

12 Trivia Facts That Touch Upon Pop Culture, Science, And A Burrito

Movies & TV

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia Honked to Us by a Particularly Savvy Goose

Trivia & Jokes

36 of the Funniest Tweets from Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Science & History

40 Bits Of Pop Culture Trivia To Scratch That Nostalgia Itch

Movies & TV

‘Abbott Elementary’s William Stanford Davis Says the ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Half of the Series’ Crossover Is ‘Pretty Crazy’

Trivia & Jokes

20 of the Greatest Lengths to Which People Went for Sex

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

The Irrepressibly Chaotic World of Tracy Morgan, According to ‘30 Rock’s Grizz and Dot Com

2

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia We’re Baby-Birding Into Your Brain

3

36 of the Funniest Tweets from Wednesday, March 26, 2025

4

14 Actors Behind Important Details In Movies And Shows

5

14 Celeb Actual, No-Kidding, Gloves-Off Fistfights