Mental Floss

The 20 Most Commonly Confused Word Pairs in America, According to Google Data

Quiz: Can You Identify Which Weird Law Is Totally Real?

10 Things You May Not Know About Skunks

What’s an ‘Egress’ Window—And Why Is It Important?

‘Star Trek’ wasn't host to TV’s first interracial kiss, but it’s the one people tend to remember.

The ‘Star Trek’ Interracial Kiss That Made TV Executives Panic

Hint: No presidents were born in the White House.

Quiz: Match the President to His Hometown in This Fiendishly Tricky Game

Do not pack!

The Surprising Reason Why You Shouldn’t Wear Camo on a Cruise Ship

Why Is a V-Shaped Hairline Called a “Widow’s Peak”?

LANGUAGE

1

Definition Detective Quiz #50: Guess the Meanings of These Obscure Words

2

Map Shows the Hardest to Pronounce Town Name in Every U.S. State

3

The Right Way to Pronounce ‘Gyro’

4

Definition Detective Quiz #49

5

Why Are Police Officers Called “Cops”?

HISTORY

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Fallout shelters experienced explosive growth the early 1960s.

The Brief, Terrifying Time Americans Went All In on Fallout Shelters

Houses can have a lot of architectural quirks.

What Are Those Little Doors in Old Houses For?

Where does your state fall in the lineup?

Do You Know When Your State Was Founded? Find Out With This Interactive Map

American servicemen and women in Paris celebrate on V-J Day, marking the end of World War II.

12 Facts About the End of World War II

QUIZZES

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Esmeralda and Phoebus in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1996).

Quiz: Only a True Disney Fan Knows Who Voiced These Disney Characters

Can you figure it out?

Can You Solve This Old-Timey Riddle? #51

See if you can decipher this twisted tune.

Tune Twist Quiz #53

Ken Jennings.

What’s the Kennection? #180

FEATURES

John Humphrey Noyes, head of the Oneida Community, and Charles Guiteau, presidential assassin.

The Bizarre Free Love Cult That Housed a Presidential Assassin

‘Bruce’ menaces the ‘Orca II’ on the set of ‘Jaws.’

The Bizarre Tale of the ‘Orca II,’ the Stunt Boat from ‘Jaws’

Lights, cameras, and ... crickets.

An Oral History of When Geraldo Rivera Opened Al Capone’s Vault

BIG QUESTIONS

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Counterintuitively, pouring water over yourself on a humid day might not cool you off.

Why Isn’t 100 Percent Humidity Always Rain?

Sorry to vegans.

What’s the Little White Thing in an Egg?

Not everyone enjoys classical music blaring out of gas station loudspeakers. And that's the point.

The Surprisingly Harsh Reason Gas Stations Play Classical Music

So close to perfection.

What’s the Tough, Gray Band Inside My Steak?