Despite being one of the film’s most oft-quoted lines, the words “Play it again, Sam” are never said in Casablanca. It’s been called “probably the most misquoted line in cinema history,” not least because it’s usually attributed to the wrong character. The 1942 film’s protagonist, conflicted Morocco nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), is often imagined as the one saying the line, even though the closest equivalent — “Play it, Sam” — is actually said by Rick’s endangered ex, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). (Rick does later instruct Sam, the piano player in question, to “play it,” however.) For all that, Casablanca, a noir classic set in WWII, still has many other memorable lines, including six on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes list, the most of any film. (That includes “Here’s looking at you, kid” and “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”)

Ronald Reagan was originally supposed to play Rick.

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This urban legend has persisted for decades, despite being based on nothing more than an erroneous press release. The future president was never considered for the role that went to Bogart, though countless books, articles, and even television quiz shows have reported otherwise.

Of course, Casablanca is far from the only film to be misquoted. Dorothy never actually says, “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” in The Wizard of Oz, but rather, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Similarly, Darth Vader never says, “Luke, I am your father,” in The Empire Strikes Back. The actual line to his son is “No, I am your father.”

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You’d be forgiven for assuming that IKEA is a Swedish word related to furniture. In fact, it’s an acronym that combines the initials of founder Ingvar Kamprad (IK) with the name of the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd) and a nearby village (Agunnaryd). Kamprad was just 17 when he founded the company in 1943, initially selling small household items — think pens and wallets — rather than beds and sofas. He likely had no idea that there would one day be more than 450 IKEA stores across the globe.

FBI is an acronym.

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It’s actually an initialism, which differs from an acronym in one key way — the former is pronounced one letter at a time and the latter is pronounced as a word. Other examples of initialisms include CIA and HTML, while POTUS and NASA are acronyms.

IKEA isn’t the only unexpected acronym. It’s joined on that list by “laser” (light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation), “scuba” (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), “radar” (radio detection and ranging), and even fellow Swedes ABBA (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid).

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There are many approaches to promoting world peace — giving Nobel Prizes, developing diplomatic agreements — but none is quite as awesome as playing air guitar. In fact, that’s why the Air Guitar World Championships were created: The organization’s official website proclaims that “wars will end, climate change will stop, and all bad things will vanish when all the people in the world play the air guitar.”

In keeping with that (perhaps overly optimistic) outlook, each competition ends with every contestant playing the air guitar “all at once to save the world.” For more than 20 years, people have traveled from around the globe to Oulu, Finland, to participate, but not without first winning their respective National Championships. In most years, there are about 10 National Championships, with participating nations including France, Thailand, Chile, and beyond. The 2025 event, which runs from August 20 to 22, will feature champions from eight countries — Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and the U.S. — alongside last year’s champion, Canada’s Zachary Knowles, and other top performers from the qualifying rounds.

Finland drinks more coffee than any other country.

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Above even such coffee-loving countries as Italy and the Netherlands, Finland drinks the most coffee per capita in the world. The average Finn consumes 26.5 pounds of the brew each year — nearly five pounds more than their closest (literally, in this case) competitors in Norway.

The 2020 event was canceled, but in 2021, a virtual event pitting past champions against each other crowned Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard of Chicago the “Champion of Champions.” The 2021 event’s “air-judicators” judged performances using a 4.0 to 6.0 Olympic figure skating scale, with points awarded for technical merit, artistic impression, and “airness” — the latter being “the extent to which an air guitar performance exceeds the imitation of guitar playing and becomes an art form in and of itself.” Howard has been honing his skills — and winning competitions — since 2006, and according to his website, his mission is to share “his message of world peace, love, and understanding through invisible guitar licks and head-banging hair whips.”

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