BY BRIAN KEVIN As soon as he became the first director of the National Park Service in 1917, millionaire borax magnate Stephen Mather promoted the parks as the ultimate social equalizers, places "accessible alike to the poor and to the rich." According to Mather, the Parks were places where identities were leveled, and visitors were equally humbled by nature. On occasion, this concept even extended to the nation's top office. Below, a few instances where executive privilege got checked... READ ON
BY ADAM K.... READ ON
BY BRIAN... READ ON
This week we're thrilled to have guest blogger Courtney Humphries posting with us. Courtney is the author of Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan...And the World and today she's riffing on why the U.S. military has awarded pigeons medals, the strange role they've played in financial journalism, and what they've got to do with Noah's Ark. We'll let her take it from here: Pigeons in a Time of War We don't think of pigeons as being particularly useful in recent history. Sure, they were invaluable as... READ ON
This week we're thrilled to have guest blogger Courtney Humphries posting with us. Courtney is the author of Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan...And the World and today she's riffing on pigeons as a meal. We'll let her take it from here: Pigeons are edible, I swear! Since pigeons tend to poke around for food on sidewalks and in gutters, it might not occur to you that the birds are actually pretty appetizing. These days, we're too used to seeing them as dirty urban pests instead of the... READ ON
This week we're thrilled to have guest blogger Courtney Humphries posting with us. Courtney is the author of Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan...And the World and today she's riffing on pigeons in the military. We'll let her take it from here: As I investigated the unusual history of our friend the pigeon, one of the most bizarre stories I encountered was of Project Pigeon: psychologist B.F. Skinner's government-funded project to develop a pigeon-guided missile during WWII. At the time, Skinner... READ ON
This week we're lucky to have guest blogger Courtney Humphries blogging with us. Courtney is the author of Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan...And the World and she's got 5 great posts on pigeons. We'll let her take it from here: Pigeons are ubiquitous, so common we hardly even see them. When they're noticed, they're castigated as flying rats, or turned into punchlines for New Yorker cartoons. But when I began researching pigeons a few years ago, I discovered a fascinating history and a trove... READ ON
Editor's Note: The deadline for our $50,000 Tuition Giveaway is January 31. Rather than nag you every day with a post that starts and ends with "TIME IS RUNNING OUT," we've decided to keep the scholarship top of mind by re-running some of our favorite college-centric stories and quizzes. Today's selection comes from our former marching band correspondent Steven Clontz. In my first full-band rehearsal for my university's marching band, our director emphasized one thing: Class. Wherever we go, we... READ ON
By Steven... READ ON
By Adam Winer, author of How Dumb Are You? My quiz book is full of questions every mildly-educated American SHOULD be able to answer—but often can't. Prior to publication, we ran all the questions past a test audience to see how many people answered each one correctly. Those stats are included in the book, so you can see exactly how poorly you stack up against your fellow countrymen. Plus each answer comes with a rip-roaring Fun Fact. For Mental Floss, I'll be taking the best facts... READ ON
5 Questions: Boys Behaving Badly
Lesser-Known Founding Fathers
For one day in 1998, Topeka, Kansas, renamed itself “ToPikachu” to mark Pokemon’s U.S. debut.
