The writers at Cracked took a look at how some of our most famous bits of culture were partly driven by financial motives:

• Batman and Superman first started working together because DC Comics needed to save on paper costs during the Great Depression.
• Instead of printing two separate comics with the two heroes, it was cheaper to bring them together to tell one big story over fewer pages.
• Hip Hop got its start in inner-city New York because instruments were too expensive for families living there.
• Teenagers would take the records that they had, scratch them, merge beats together, and experiment until Hip Hop was born.
• The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy because paper shortages during World War Two meant that it was impossible to release it as one big volume, the way that J.R.R. Tolkien originally intended.

The full article takes a look at why Darth Vader is Luke’s father and how George Carlin got his start. You should read it here.

Source: Cracked