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Serving as an imprint of DC Comics, Vertigo began publication in 1993. Founded by editor, Karen Berger, the Vertigo brand was created to publish stories with more adult and graphic content as opposed to what DC Comics usually featured in their comics. The comics under this brand were given more creative freedom due to being unconfined by the rules imposed by the now defunct Comics Code Authority.  Stories tend to thematically revolve around supernatural, horror, and crime-noir themes. Though many Vertigo titles take place in the greater DC Comics universe, many comics under the imprint exist within their own separate and original continuity. In the years since its introduction, Vertigo has enjoyed numerous successes as a result of a passionate fan-base. Examples of its more popular works include  The Sandman series, Preacher, & Fables. 

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Though many believed the end of World War II would usher in a period of stability and peace, a new conflict between the United States and Soviet Union was brewing at the time. What resulted was a decades-long Cold War characterized by international proxy wars and a tense arms race. The competition for nuclear supremacy led to several close calls, including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which led many Americans to question the safety of nuclear stockpiles. Protests were launched all around the nation that argued for nuclear disarmament. Some even pointed to the ethical dilemmas and environmental issues involved with the use of nuclear weapons, citing Hiroshima as a case in point. The largest anti-nuclear protest took place on June 12, 1982, in New York City, where more than one million people gathered at Central Park to denounce the arms race. Though the two superpowers eventually entered a period of reduced tension in the 1970s and agreed to thin out their stockpiles, both countries still retain relatively large amounts of nuclear weapons.

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"Take the rich off welfare," is a campaign slogan for former Oklahoma Senator (1964-1973), Fred Harris. In 1976, Harris led a grassroots effort to gain the democratic nomination for President, eventually losing to Jimmy Carter. His platform pushed for the United States to redistribute its wealth by “getting the rich off welfare.” Harris frequently championed issues of human rights and income equality. During his term as Senator, he worked toward creating the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission and helped pressure President Lyndon B. Johnson into forming the National Advisory Committee on Civil Disorders. He is credited as being the “Godfather of Populism” by Jesse Jackson and was interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine in 1975 in an article titled, Fred Harris: A populist with a prayer, The Senator responsible for “a new populism.” After his political career ended, Harris went on to teach political science at the University of New Mexico and penned 6 books, including 2 novels and a memoir.

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Smoking stinks was the key slogan of a campaign against smoking by the American Cancer Society in the 1970s through the 1990s. They ran a series of commercials in 1978 depicting Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, and Sleeping Beauty rejecting their princes for smoking. The flower arrangement can be seen at the end of television commercials as an early representation in the media as the flowers represent something that smells nice and was adopted to contrast the bitter smell of cigarette smoke.

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The Movement for Economic Justice was formed by George Wiley in 1972 after he stepped down from the National Welfare Rights Organization. Wiley was firmly dedicated to fighting for welfare rights for low income families, and although he was CEO of the NWRO, he believed a broader movement that would promote progressive taxation and redistribution would benefit all Americans dealing with high property taxes. Following Wiley's untimely death in August of 1973, the MEJ was dissolved. 

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“No” is a denial, a negative vote or answer, and used to mean not any.

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"One in a million" is a slogan used by those who play the lottery, a form of gambling that distributes prizes, often large sums of money, among a group of people by chance of those who have drawn the correct numbers from a defined set of numbers. The phrase has been used in many state lottery games in the United States and the star logo can be seen across multiple designs linking them to the lottery system. The grand prize for a lottery winner was often around a million dollars so the phrase one in a million was both to distinguish a player overcoming great odds and also to reinforce a large sum prize money.

There are several variations on the traditional pick six numbers lottery game including pick three, mega millions, and powerball. Powerball is a variation introduced in 1992 where a specific ball, a different color, is pulled and that number may warrant different rewards. The player selects five numbers from 1 to 69 for the white balls, then selects one number from 1 to 26 for the Powerball. There are 9 ways to win the Powerball jackpot. If there are no winners for a given session, the jackpot rolls over to the next contest. In 2021, the Powerball lottery expanded and now includes three days of draws. As of 2021, the odds of winning a prize playing Powerball are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

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The first recorded strike in the US occurred in 1768 when a group of NY tailors demanded higher wages. From the 1800s, unions proliferated as the demands of the Industrial Revolution forced workers to seek protections. Membership began to flourish during the Great Depression as President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to strengthen unions, and by the end of WWII more than 12 million workers were unionized.

Significant pushback against unions began in the 1970s in an increasing environment of deregulation, monopolies, competitive pressures, and a wave of foreign goods entering the country. Many saw unions as counter-competitive, and with the election of Ronald Reagan anti-union policies took center stage. Between 1975 to 1985, union membership fell dramatically. By the end of the 1980s, less than 17 percent of American workers were unionized, which was half the amount of the 1950s.

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The phrase, “freeze profits, not people,” was very popular with Richard Nixon’s opponents in the mid 1970s. At a corporate funded Boston Tea Party reenactment in 1973, protesters took over the event throwing oil barrels into the water holding signs that read “freeze profits, not people” as well as “Down the King Richard” referring to President Nixon. The phrase has been used in common speech after that time to protest increasing utility rates and shut-offs of heat or power during the winter.