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Did you know? Two years after his Oscars for "The Deer Hunter", Michael Cimino was hailed as an untouchable directing genius. Then came "Heaven's Gate" — a western epic so lavish that its 1980 failure became a turning point. United Artists was sold soon after, and the freewheeling director-driven cinema of the 1970s was declared over. A single film made Hollywood history — as a cautionary tale.

Did you know? After his liberation from Buchenwald in 1945, Elie Wiesel did not speak of what he had endured for ten years. "I made a vow: not to speak, not to touch upon the essential for at least ten years," he later explained — long enough to find the right words. Only then did he write "Night," which became an enduring testimony to the Holocaust.

Did you know? Back in 1970, long before the internet or the smartphone, Alvin Toffler described in "Future Shock" the feeling of being overwhelmed by too much change in too little time – and coined the term "information overload." His most important collaborator was his wife Heidi, who co-wrote for decades uncredited before finally being named as co-author.

Did you know? Eli Wallach acted in more than 90 films across six decades — from Tuco in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" to the bandit Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven." Not one of those roles ever earned him an Oscar nomination. Only in 2010, at the age of 94, did he receive an Honorary Academy Award for his life's work — becoming the oldest Oscar recipient ever.

Did you know? Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine — and deliberately chose never to patent it. Asked who owned the patent, he replied: "The people. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" A fortune was within reach; he chose to give it to everyone.

Did you know? George Carlin's legendary „Seven Dirty Words“ routine reached the US Supreme Court. The 1978 ruling still shapes what may air on US broadcast media.

Today marks 25 years since Carroll O'Connor (1924–2001) passed away. American actor.