EPTA famous scientist, or a famous artist for example. You know they were important but you don't really know why.
Recently I started googling famous names people mentioned. (when bored at work
)Famous names, but I wasn't sure why they were famous. And it's a quite funny and educational way to waste some time. Just google "why was ... famous" or "why was .... important" and you'll find a lot.
For example, I'm a beta nerd, not really interested in cultural things like theater.
I totally didn't know why Shakespeare was so important besides that he is very famous, was the best at what he did and that all actors want to play his work. Me not being English probably didn't help either.
And then I found a gem like this:
Bernard Levin said it best in the following quote about Shakespeare's impact on our language:
If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare;
if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare;
even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness' sake! what the dickens! but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare. (The Story of English, 145)
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/whystudyshakespeare.html
Funny thing is, a lot of these lines are literally translated in my language and probably many more as well.
For example "Wish is father to the tought" = "de wens is de vader van de gedachte" in dutch.
So many lines still used by everyone, 400 years after him. Now that's impressive, even for a-cultural me.
I wonder if anyone can come up with similar writeups for other famous people, that clearly explain in a few paragraphs some reasons why they were famous to people who know not much about them.
I love stuff like this
