The true end of an American institution draws closer, as after two closings in Alaska, only one Blockbuster Video remains in business in the U.S. It might seem like a lifetime ago to many, but before subscription streaming services like Netflix and Amazon dominated the home video rental market, the good old-fashioned video store was king. The biggest player in that industry up until its final gasps as a major force was Blockbuster Video, which employed over 58,000 people and operated over 4500 stores in the U.S. at the company's peak in 2004. Blockbuster Video was founded in 1985, naturally right around the beginning of movie rentals as a whole. The company dominated the 80s and 90s, and became culturally ubiquitous. Of course, it wasn't always widely known for good reasons. Things like lacking supplies of new releases, annoying late fees, and Blockbuster's tendency to put surrounding independent video stores out of business by undercutting their prices, all became inf
Tom Marvolo Riddle started out as an orphan at a muggle orphanage. He was convinced that he had a destiny greater than mundane obscurity. Then Albus Dumbledore arrived and told Riddle that he was a wizard. Riddle jumped at the chance to go to Hogwarts. However, he had already developed cruel and selfish tendencies - tendencies that he carefully worked to hide from the Hogwarts students and staff. He quietly expanded his knowledge, power, and influence until he reemerged many years later as Lord Voldemort. Voldemort spread such a reign of terror across Great Britain that the magical community as a whole feared to speak his name. They only referred to him as “You Know Who” or “He Who Must Not Be Named.” Just when he was at the height of his power, Voldemort was defeated and banished after an encounter with an infant. Harry Potter became known as the Boy Who Lived. For the rest of his life, Voldemort was obsessed with regaining his power and destroying Harry Potter, the supposed chos
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