[pictured: Ronald Reagan wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt. His body is nearly turned sideways, chin lifted and grinning at the camera, resting his weight on his right elbow with his left hand clasped loosely over his resting right wrist. Italicized text upon this propaganda poster reads: “RONALD REAGAN speaks out against SOCIALIZED MEDICINE”]
>a c-list actor's career flopped so now I have to pay $1000 to set foot in an ambulance
any other examples like this?
For bigger-pictures examples of this, I think you're looking for the TV series, Connections, hosted by James Burke. It's old but still VERY good.
Each episode started with James Burke showing you something cool, and tracing how it got here/got that way, often in unusual circumstances.
"I'm standing next to a nuclear reactor. This single building generates power for the city below, 50,000 people. And today every one of them would be sitting in the dark, or at a pitiful small fireplace, if it weren't for an Italian peasant whose mother forbade him to play the lute, in 1032."
Reminds me of the "WWI started over a sandwich" thing
I had to look up the sandwich thing. Nope, these are all true, meticulously explained as the program progresses, sources quoted, everything.
Yeah, I'll be bonest, I don't think the sandwich thing is that historically reliable. Was just funny. But some people do pinpoint it on the wrong turn which is accurate.
The first episode's a little weird, but the rest are fantastic.
The sequel series are never quite as good. Especially when he gets into futurism and opens each episode with "Konichiwa." I forget what year that series was allegedly looking back from, but I'll bet we're past it.