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Celebrities may seem larger than life, but they aren’t immune to the phobias many of us experience. Take Jennifer Aniston’s fear of flying, for instance, or Justin Timberlake’s aversion to spiders.

But some famous folks have more unusual fears — phobias you’ve possibly never even heard of. Look no further than the Oscar-winning actress who gets freaked out by butterflies or the film star who’s repulsed by old European furniture. Here are six celebrities that have gone on record about their surprising phobias.

Billy Bob Thornton: Antiques

In a 2004 interview with The Independent, actor Billy Bob Thornton discussed his fear of antiques. “I don’t have a phobia about American antiques, it’s mostly French,” he said, noting he’s especially unsettled by items such as “big, old, gold-carved chairs with the velvet cushions.” 

He also noted his aversion to real antique silver: “You know, like the big, old, heavy-ass forks and knives, I can’t do that.” When asked why, Thornton admitted the fear isn’t rooted in logic, saying, “I just don’t like old stuff. I’m creeped out by it, and I have no explanation why.”

Thornton spoke about the fear again in a 2012 interview with The New York Times. That French/English/Scottish old mildewy stuff,” he said. “Old dusty heavy drapes and big tables with lions’ heads carved in it. Stuff that kings were around. That’s the stuff I can’t be around.”

Nicole Kidman: Butterflies

Nicole Kidman may be one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood, but there’s one animal she can’t act calm around: butterflies. The Oscar winner has a fear called lepidopterophobia, defined as an intense and irrational aversion to butterflies. 

Kidman developed the phobia during her childhood in Australia, when she would often come home from school to discover a giant butterfly or moth perched on her home’s front gate. “I would climb over the fence, crawl around to the side of the house — anything to avoid having to go through the front gate,” Kidman told World Entertainment News Network in 2005.

She has also admitted she’s unsuccessfully attempted to overcome her fear. During a trip to New York City, she visited the butterfly cage at the American Museum of Natural History and allowed the insects to crawl all over her — but to no avail.

Christina Ricci: Houseplants

For many people, houseplants add a welcome touch of warmth and greenery into the home. But actress Christina Ricci finds them more disturbing than inviting. 

Ricci’s phobia applies strictly to indoor plants, as she’s never expressed concerns with outdoor gardens or even cut flowers. But in a 2003 interview with British Esquire, Ricci said she considers houseplants to be dirty, and the sheer sight of them makes her uneasy. She said, “If I have to touch one, after already being repulsed by the fact that there is a plant indoors, then it just freaks me out.”

In the interview, Ricci professed a second uncommon fear: swimming in pools alone. “I won’t swim in a pool by myself,” she said. “I think that somehow a little magic door is going to open up and let the shark out.”

Megan Fox: Dry Paper

In a 2009 interview on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, actress Megan Fox admitted to a rare case of papyrophobia, or a fear of touching paper. She further specified, “I don’t like dry paper. Scripts, newspapers, or anything that’s not laminated.” She compared the feel of dry paper to the sound of nails on a chalkboard, adding that it gives her goosebumps and makes her deeply uncomfortable.

Of course, as an actress, Fox has to read scripts, so she’s developed some solutions to work around the phobia. Fox told Fallon that she either continually licks her fingertips to keep them moist or keeps a glass of water nearby so she can repeatedly dip her fingers into the cup to keep them wet. That small bit of moisture is enough to push past the discomfort.

Adele: Seagulls

Unlike ornithophobes who fear every type of bird, Grammy-winning singer Adele has laridophobia — a fear, specifically, of seagulls. In an interview with the U.K. publication Metro, Adele said her fear can be traced back to a formative and harrowing experience she had with the birds when she was 9 years old. 

While strolling along a promenade holding an ice cream cone, a hungry seagull suddenly attacked and snatched the snack from her hands. “I’ve still got a scar from its claw on my shoulders,” Adele said. “I thought it was going to take me away with it.”

Channing Tatum: Porcelain Dolls

On a 2014 episode of Ellen, actor Channing Tatum was asked about his unresolved fears. He replied, “I am terrified of porcelain dolls,” noting the fear may stem from a childhood viewing of a Friday the 13th TV episode featuring a possessed porcelain doll. 

“I just think they’re freaky,” said Tatum. “I just imagine when I walk by them their heads turn with you the whole time.” Of course, host Ellen DeGeneres then brought out two porcelain dolls, causing Tatum to viscerally recoil in fear.

The actor mentioned the fear again in a 2024 interview with IGV Presents. “I will smash them, I’ll burn them, I hate them,” said Tatum. He noted being particularly icked out by porcelain dolls whose eyes open when you pick them up and close when you lay them down.

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When you see the Nike Swoosh on a sneaker, spot one of Tiffany’s blue boxes, or recognize the unique contour of a Coca-Cola bottle, you’re not just noticing design flourishes. Those are trademarks, the symbols that signal a company’s identity. 

A trademark can be a name, logo, slogan, color, sound, shape, or, in rare cases, even a scent — anything that tells consumers, quickly and clearly, who stands behind a product or service.

Because trademarks are meant to prevent consumer confusion, not to eliminate competition, trademark law has firm restrictions. Federal protection applies only to marks that truly function as source identifiers. 

Over the years, applicants have tried to claim exclusive rights to everything from everyday phrases to pieces of shared culture, only to discover that the system carefully defines what can and cannot be monopolized. Here are five examples of what cannot be protected as a trademark.

Cultural Symbols and Historic Phrases

Some symbols and phrases are too culturally significant to be privately owned. After the September 11 attacks, for example, multiple applications sought to trademark “9/11” and related phrases for merchandise. Those attempts were quickly rejected, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has concluded such terms refer to a historic event, not a commercial source. Similar efforts involving national symbols, patriotic slogans, and civil rights references have consistently failed.

In limited cases, a historic symbol or phrase can receive trademark protection when it becomes closely associated with a specific organization. The National September 11 Memorial, for example, has trademarked a stylized “9/11 Memorial” logo — with “11” represented by two parallel vertical bars evoking the form of the World Trade Center’s twin towers — to protect its official identity.

Another example is Smokey Bear, the wildfire prevention mascot who began as a public service character for the U.S. Forest Service in 1944. Congress later granted the federal government exclusive rights to his name, image, and famous slogan — “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” — to prevent misuse and commercial exploitation, while leaving the public free to reference the character.

Famous Names That Aren’t Yours

A personal name can function as a trademark — but only under the right circumstances, and usually only with the consent of the person whose name it is. Elvis Presley’s name, for instance, became a valuable commercial asset after his death in 1977. His estate consolidated control of licensing in the 1980s through Elvis Presley Enterprises, which registered trademarks covering his name, signature, and likeness for everything from recordings to memorabilia. 

Over the years, outsiders have tried to register “Elvis” for unrelated merchandise, only to be rejected or challenged. Courts have consistently held that a famous name can’t simply be claimed by someone with no connection to it.

Under U.S. trademark law, living individuals must give written consent before their name can be federally registered as a trademark. After death, the commercial value of a name is typically controlled by the person’s estate or designated heirs, often through a combination of trademark rights and what’s known as the right of publicity, which governs the commercial use of someone’s identity.

Names of Geographic Places

Trademark law generally bars companies from claiming exclusive rights to real-life place names because those words describe geographic origin, not brand identity. Under the Lanham Act, trademark claims that are primarily geographically descriptive are typically refused. 

A business can’t simply trademark “Brooklyn” for clothing made in Brooklyn or “Napa” for wine from Napa Valley, since competitors in those areas have a legitimate need to describe where their products come from. Courts have repeatedly reinforced this principle, particularly in disputes involving wine, beer, and regional food products.

However, a geographic term can be registered if it develops secondary meaning, meaning consumers associate it primarily with a specific company rather than a place. That’s why brands including American Airlines, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Amazon can function as trademarks. In those cases, the geographic reference is either indirect or outweighed by strong brand recognition.

Functional Features

Trademark law cannot protect product features that serve a practical purpose. Known as the functionality doctrine, this rule prevents companies from monopolizing useful designs. 

In the 2001 Supreme Court case TrafFix Devices v. Marketing Displays (2001), the court rejected an attempt to trademark a dual-spring mechanism used to stabilize road signs, ruling that features improving performance must remain available to competitors. Similar efforts to trademark tread patterns, ergonomic shapes, and mechanical components have failed for the same reason.

The logic here is that trademarks identify brand origin, not product utility. Useful innovations belong under patent law, which grants temporary protection before releasing designs into the public domain. Once patents expire, competitors can copy those features, encouraging competition and lowering prices. Only purely ornamental elements — such as the distinctive curves of the Coca-Cola bottle — can qualify for trademark protection.

Generic Terms 

In 2008, technology company Dell applied to trademark the term “cloud computing,” just as the phrase was becoming the go-to shorthand for online data storage and remote software services.The move sparked protests within the tech industry at a time when the internet was dramatically expanding; competitors argued the term described an entire category of technology, not a single company’s product. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ultimately agreed, rejecting the application on the grounds that “cloud computing” was a common descriptor already in widespread use.

Trademark law is especially strict about generic terms because granting exclusive rights to them could stifle competition almost overnight. For example, imagine if only one company controlled the word “email” or “smartphone.” 

Instead, businesses can protect distinctive brand names, such as “iPhone,” but not the name of the product category itself. Once a term becomes the accepted label for a type of product or service, it no longer points to a single source. It belongs to the marketplace — and to the language — not to the company that got to the trademark office first.

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Everyday life is filled with familiar noises we rarely stop to question: the hum of a dial tone, the chime of a computer, or the beep of a microwave to let us know our food is ready. From the earliest telephones and centuries-old clock towers to modern computers and electric vehicles, the chirps and chimes we’ve grown used to hearing didn’t happen by accident — they were carefully created to convey a message. Here are some of their stories.

Phone Dial Tones

In the early days of telephones, dial tones weren’t necessary because people couldn’t call each other directly. Instead, phones relied on human operators, who answered calls and connected them at a central switchboard.

That changed in 1919 when the Bell System adopted automatic dialing, becoming the first U.S. commercial company to do so. But with no operator on the line, callers needed a clear signal that the system was ready to dial; if you began dialing too soon, the first digits of the number wouldn’t register. The solution was a dial tone, an audible clue that you could start dialing.

The U.S. wasn’t the first country to use automatic dialing. One of the earliest adopters was Germany, where the dial tone was invented in 1909 by engineer August Kruckow in Hildesheim. The sound was known as the “Amtston” (German for “office tone” or “exchange tone”), and it was designed to emulate the sound of the letter “A” in Morse code, repeated. 

Audible Morse code consists of two sounds: “dits” and “dahs.” Each letter corresponds to a series of “dits” (dots), which are short tones, and “dahs” (dashes), which are long tones. The letter “A,” for instance, looks like “.-” and sounds like “Di-Dah” (the “T” is dropped when followed by another sound). 

The Amtston, however, didn’t become universal, and dial tones instead evolved differently across regions. Dial tones came in various sounds until the system became standardized in the 1960s. Today, modern landlines, such as those in offices and hotels, use standard dial tones that vary by country or continent. 

In North America, the Precise Tone Plan specifies the dial tone must be a combination of two simultaneous frequencies at 350 Hz and 440 Hz, which were chosen because they don’t interfere with the dialing system’s frequency and are audible above background noise, such as human voices. This results in one steady, recognizable tone, which is very different from Kruckow’s original “Di-Dah” tone. Other regions have different standard tones, such as Europe’s 425 Hz.

Microwave Beeps

You may have noticed that most microwaves produce a very similar “beeping” tone, regardless of the brand. That’s because the same sound technology is employed across much of the industry — it’s known as the “piezoelectric buzzer.”

The piezoelectric effect was discovered in 1880 by French physicists Pierre Curie (husband of Marie Curie) and his brother Jacques. They found that applying pressure to specific materials, such as crystals and ceramics, generates an electric charge. The effect’s name comes from the Greek word “piezein,” meaning “to squeeze.”

Nearly a century later, during the 1970s and ’80s, this electricity was harnessed by various Japanese manufacturers and used to make buzzers that were placed in many household gadgets, from microwaves to smoke detectors. Piezoelectric buzzers became the standard because they’re inexpensive, energy-efficient, and they work across a wide range of voltages. While some high-end microwaves now use digital sound chips that allow for more varied tones, piezoelectric buzzers are still the norm.

However, piezoelectric buzzers do have limitations, including the sound they produce. The frequency and length of the tone can be adjusted, but the buzzer’s general “beep” noise remains consistent. That’s why most microwaves sound so similar, even decades after the appliance’s debut. Because the sharp, simple tone is widely recognizable and easily cuts through background noise, microwave manufacturers have little incentive to change it.

Computer Startup Tones

Computers come with an array of distinct sounds: email swooshes, keyboard clicks, and startup tones. One of the most recognizable is Apple’s Mac startup sound, a bright C-major chord.

It was designed by audio engineer Jim Reekes, who wanted a pleasant sound during boot-up, especially at a time when computers crashed (and therefore restarted) fairly regularly. Rather than startling users, the chime was meant to signal that everything was working correctly.

Reekes’ inspiration for the sound was the Beatles song “A Day in the Life.” He recorded the new sound in his living room, replacing an earlier (and mostly forgotten) Apple startup sound, which had been a jarring tri-tone. The new Beatles-inspired tone was introduced on the original Quadra computer in 1991 and has been used off and on with various modifications ever since.

By contrast, Microsoft has cycled through various startup tones over the decades, with at least 10 distinct sounds. One of the most memorable — the “ta-da” sound from Windows 3.1 computers — was created as a celebratory noise to signify the debut of the Windows Sound System, released in 1992. Before that, most PC sounds were restricted to basic beeps.

Another distinctive Microsoft startup sound is that of the Windows 95, created by celebrated British ambient music composer Brian Eno. Microsoft sought to create a musical piece with emotional depth, which led to a longer, more complex audio piece. Funnily enough, Eno composed the piece using a Mac.

Electric Vehicle Hums

Electric car motors are nearly silent, a quality many customers appreciate. But this poses a safety risk: Pedestrians and cyclists can’t hear them. To address that, electric vehicles must comply with rules set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which requires EVs and hybrids to emit artificial sounds when traveling at low speeds below 18.6 mph. 

Those almost angelic sounds, often heard as whirs, hums, or soft beeps, are designed to communicate movement. They play when the vehicle is reversing, traveling slowly, or stationary but still on. The goal is to make the vehicle’s presence and direction obvious, allowing drivers and pedestrians within earshot to remain aware of the car and its proximity to them.

The noises are designed with minimum audibility and recognizability in mind, meaning the sounds must be intense enough to be picked up by the human ear, and they must be recognizable enough to be perceived as an automobile. This allows us to react to them as we would to the noises of a gas-powered vehicle. Due to the NHTSA regulations, we can distinguish EV noise from other road noise.

Within those requirements, automakers still have room for creativity. For example, General Motors’ electric Cadillacs used an Australian wind instrument called a didgeridoo to create the brand’s sounds, which were also inspired by NASA recordings of noises made by the sun. BMW took a more cinematic approach, collaborating with Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer to craft custom sounds for the i4 and iX EVs.

Clock Chimes

Clock chimes are sharp tones and melodic sounds that indicate the passage of time in 15-minute intervals on analog clocks. Typically, they play a short tune at the intervals and strike a specific number of times at the hour mark to indicate the time. 

Those melodies and strikes are made by hammers that strike rods or gongs inside the clock. This mechanism isa holdover from the time before digital clocks, timers, and alarms when the sounds were used to announce the time without the need for a visual. While their practical purpose has faded, their nostalgic appeal remains today, serving mainly decorative purposes.

The most familiar clock melody in English-speaking countries is the Westminster Quarters. The tune originated in 1793 at Great St. Mary’s, the church at the University of Cambridge in England. It was composed by organ student William Crotch with the help of university staff and was inspired by Handel’s “Messiah.”

Originally known as the “Cambridge Quarters,” the chimes use the notes E, D, C, and G in various combinations. The melody was adopted by London’s Houses of Parliament in 1859, with distinct melodies for the quarter, half, three-quarter, and hour mark. Today, London’s Great Clock of Westminster — home to Big Ben — still plays the Westminster Quarters using four smaller bells alongside the famous hour bell.

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Each year, more than a million rowdy revelers take to the streets of New Orleans for one of the most vibrant, debaucherous, and flat-out fun celebrations of the year: Mardi Gras. But this festive event isn’t confined to just the Big Easy. Festivities are held across the U.S. and around the world, typically featuring mask-wearing revelers, colorful parade floats, and the excessive consumption of fatty foods, booze, and other indulgent treats. 

Beyond the bead throwing, lively jazz music, and at times excessive libations, this event also carries a deeper history and lore. Here are five festive facts you might now know about Mardi Gras.

The Official Colors Have Deeper Meanings

The three official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, gold, and green. The origin of these colors goes back to the first Rex parade, one of the oldest and most popular Mardi Gras parades, which was held in New Orleans in 1872.

Carnival historian Errol Laborde believes the colors were selected in keeping with the laws of heraldry, a medieval custom that dictates the design of flags, coats of arms, and other heraldic symbols. According to those laws, flags should contain three fields consisting of colors and metals (such as gold and silver), though the exact hues are left up to personal preference from there. 

The Rex Organization — the group that founded the eponymous parade — has never publicly stated why purple, gold, and green in particular were chosen as the color of Mardis Gras. But we do know the colors were assigned specific meanings at the Rex parade held on Mardi Gras in 1892.

The theme of the parade was “Symbolism of Colors,” and each float displayed a color and its associated theme. At that event, the purple float represented justice, the gold float represented power, and the green float  represented faith.

The First U.S. Celebration Was Held in Alabama

Before Mardi Gras came to the Americas, it was a popular celebration in Europe, especially among French Catholics, who brought the holiday with them to the United States. And although most Americans associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans, the first official recorded celebration in the United States took place in Mobile, Alabama.

On March 2, 1699, French Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville and a team of explorers arrived 60 miles south of New Orleans on the eve of Mardi Gras. Given the timing of their arrival, they named the spot where they landed “Pointe du Mardi Gras.” 

By 1702, Bienville had made his way east down the Gulf and established Fort Louis de la Louisiane along the Mobile River. That settlement came to be known as Mobile, and in 1703, a local Frenchman named Nicholas Langlois helped organize the first recorded Mardi Gras celebration in the United States. 

Details of the festivities are sparse, but we do know that inaugural celebration predated the founding of New Orleans by 15 years, and Mardi Gras events didn’t become common in NOLA until the 1730s. Mardi Gras continues to be a beloved and well-attended tradition in Mobile today, attracting an estimated 1 million annual attendees (compared to the 1.4 million revelers who visit New Orleans).

Parades Are Organized by “Krewes”

In many parts of the U.S. where Mardi Gras is celebrated, official festivities are orchestrated by social clubs called “krewes.” Krewes are inspired by the Cowbellion de Rakin Society, a mystic society founded in Mobile in 1830. But the term didn’t exist until several decades later, when celebrants in New Orleans emulated their neighbors in Alabama and founded secretive societies of their own.

“Krewe” is an old-fashioned spelling of “crew,” and the term was coined no later than 1857 in New Orleans. Krewes are private clubs that primarily exist for the purpose of celebrating the Carnival season, especially Mardi Gras. Each year, those krewes work behind the scenes to plan parades and other festivities. 

That work involves making colorful floats, designing elaborate costumes, and hosting various parades or balls in the two-week period leading up to Mardi Gras. Krewes are also tasked with electing the Rex (king) each year, whose lavish parade serves as the climactic event that caps off the year’s Mardi Gras festivities.

The oldest recorded krewe is the Mistick Krewe of Comus, whose origins in New Orleans date back to 1857. That year, the group paraded through the streets wearing costumes, establishing a new standard that other krewes adopted. Today, the oldest and largest of NOLA’s truck float krewes is the Krewe of Elks Orleans. Founded in 1935, they roll out 50 individually designed truck floats and 4,600 riders for their annual parade.

There Are Strict Parade Rules

While everyday attendees are welcome to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans however they please, parade participants must abide by a strict set of rules. During Mardi Gras, float riders are mandated to wear festive masks during parades. In Jefferson Parish (located in the Greater New Orleans area), anyone who removes their mask may be banned from the parade and is subjet to fines of up to $500.

New Orleans also prohibits the commercialization of any krewe-organized Mardi Gras parades. Displaying corporate logos on the float and throwing advertisements into the crowd are some of the more common violations the city has cracked down on. This rule exists to maintain the parade’s artistic integrity and annual theme.

More recently, there’s been a push to remove plastic beads from celebrations in the name of environmental sustainability. In 2025, the Krewe of Freret became the first New Orleans krewe to ban plastic beads from events, with the goal of eliminating the 200,000 sets of beads estimated to end up in trees, storm drains, and landfills each year.

It’s Just One Part of the Carnival Celebration

Mardi Gras marks the end of a weeks-long period of revelry known as Carnival. This festive season begins on the Christian holiday Twelfth Night, which traditionally falls on January 6. It runs all the way until Mardi Gras — which can fall as early as February 3 or late as March 9 — meaning Carnival can be as short as 29 days and as long as 64 days (on leap years). 

Mardi Gras, which means “Fat Tuesday” in French, falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the Christian holiday that marks the end of the celebrations and the start of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer.

In the days before the Mardi Gras parades begin, people in New Orleans and other areas that observe Carnival celebrate in other ways. Local organizations in the Big Easy are known for their streetcar parades, and the Krewe of Joan of Arc parades through town donning medieval garb on January 6 in honor of the French heroine’s birthday. 

There are generally dozens of themed parades and fancy balls, as well as the copious consumption of King Cake, a colorful treat served at bakeries throughout New Orleans, with similar variations also served in Latin America and parts of Europe. In the U.S. and Latin American traditions, each cake contains a tiny plastic baby concealed inside to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. 

In France, cakes typically contain a bean or coin, and the Portuguese hide a dried fava bean inside. Whoever finds the hidden item in their slice of cake is typically responsible for buying the next King Cake or hosting the next celebration.