The Most Historically Accurate Hollywood Films

Sole-Survivor Policy

Though the actual search for "Private Ryan" is fictional, the film is based on a real directive that was enacted in 1942. The "Sole-Survivor Policy" stated that if only one member of a family remains, they were to be protected from military duty. There was a real search and rescue mission for a man named Frederick Niland, who lost three of his brothers died at war over just one month. 

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The More You Know

  • The First Face on the $1 Bill Was Not George Washington
  • Inspiration for the Hulk came from Frankenstein’s monster.
  • The heads on Easter Island have bodies.
  • For 'Deadpool' (2016) Ryan Reynolds paid $10,000 of his own money for the right to wear a shirt with The Golden Girl’s Bea Arthur on it.
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