Jonathan H. Kantor

A common trope in the Star Wars franchise is that Jedi die... a lot. In the first film, the only Jedi known to be alive, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), dies when he faces off against his former pupil. Jedi deaths continued with Yoda's (Frank Oz) in "Return of the Jedi," and the trend reappeared in the prequel trilogy. After Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) issues Order 66, the Great Jedi Purge quickly unfolds across the galaxy, amounting to a Jedi genocide.

Star Wars is one of the most influential and widespread franchises in popular culture, and there's so much more to it than just feature films. On top of all the TV shows that have come out in recent years, fans have plenty of comic books, novels, and video games to consume. While video games like "Knights of the Old Republic" and "Jedi: Survivor" get a lot of attention, another area of gaming where Star Wars excels is in pinball machines.

The Douglas F3D Skyknight had an escape chute in the bottom of the plane's fuselage instead of an ejector seat due to side-by-side crew design limitations.

Jonathan H. Kantor If you happen to live near an Air Force or Naval Aviation base, there's a good chance you've seen various aircraft flying overhead.

While he's best known for creating Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry wasn't a one-hit wonder in the world of television. He continued working on Star Trek projects as the franchise grew, but Roddenberry also developed pilots and other projects before his death in 1991. After his passing, Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett, took his notes and produced another successful science fiction series that's largely forgotten today: "Earth: Final Conflict."

Long before streaming services made film distribution as easy as clicking a button on your remote, new movies had differing means of reaching audiences. The most common was a theatrical release, while far cheaper options were also available, such as releasing a movie directly to television or video. The latter market was popular, though the movies put out under this strategy were often poorly made, low-budget slop that would have failed in theatrically.

Jonathan H. Kantor Militaries began using camouflage during World War I as the rise of aerial photography and trench warfare rose in popularity.

Jonathan H. Kantor If you've ever sat down to watch a military movie with a service member or veteran, you've likely had to listen to all the ways the production got the uniforms wrong.

You might expect that regular civilians flat-out cannot buy military vehicles or aircraft. The reality is a bit more complicated than a binary answer.

Throughout the history of television, sitcoms have drawn a great deal of attention and plenty of viewers. Many of them are celebrated long after they go off the air. Think of series like "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Three's Company," "The Cosby Show," and many others. They all remain a part of popular culture through merch, fan appreciation, syndication, and their unique aspects that permeate the zeitgeist. Things like "Seinfeld's'" so-called "Soup Nazi," or the iconic sweaters of "The Cosby Show"... if not so much the man wearing them, any more.