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AMAZING FACTS
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ENTERTAINMENT
ENTERTAINMENT
#TBT
MOVIES
MUSIC
POP CULTURE
TV
HISTORY
HISTORY
ARCHAEOLOGY
BAD OLD DAYS WITH A.J. JACOBS
BIOGRAPHIES
KING TUT
TITANIC
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
LISTS
LISTS
BOOKS
FOOD
LANGUAGE
WORDS
LIVE SMARTER
LIVE SMARTER
HEALTH
SMART SHOPPING
TRAVEL
HACKS
FUN
QUIZZES
QUIZZES
KENNECTIONS WITH KEN JENNINGS
BRAINTEASERS
SCIENCE
SCIENCE
ANIMALS
ENVIRONMENT
SPACE
ALL STORIES
NEWSLETTER
THE AFTERNOON MAP
Map: The Most Dangerous Road in Every Country
NATURE
25 Species That Have Made Amazing Comebacks
MUSIC
Live Aid: The Complicated History of the World’s Biggest Charity Concert
CONSUMER ALERT
Ford Is Recalling Over 850,000 Vehicles Due to a Serious Safety Issue
CULTURE
Why Are the Metal Bars on Some Windows Curved?
LIVE SMARTER
Which States Will Pay the Most—and the Least—for Electricity This Summer?
TBT
When WWF Wrestling Figures Ruled the ‘80s
FOOD
10 States That Eat the Most Fast Food
LANGUAGE
1
Mental Floss’s 2026 Desk Calendars Are for Word Nerds and Fact Fans of All Kinds
2
The Reason Why ‘Peggy’ Is Short for ‘Margaret’
3
Definition Detective Quiz #45
4
13 Things Made Collectible Thanks to Spelling Errors
5
Why Is It Called a “Ball Peen Hammer”?
HISTORY
SEE MORE
How Superman Helped Foil the KKK
10 Amazing Archaeological Finds Discovered by Ordinary People (and One Badger)
What Exactly Is Patent Leather—And Is It Actually Patented?
10 Artists Who Refused to Play Live Aid
QUIZZES
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Tune Twist Quiz #49
Can You Guess How These 10 Diseases Were Treated in the 1700s?
What’s the Kennection? #174
Can You Solve This Old-Timey Riddle? #46
FEATURES
The Bizarre Tale of the ‘Orca II,’ the Stunt Boat from ‘Jaws’
An Oral History of When Geraldo Rivera Opened Al Capone’s Vault
How Paperbacks Transformed the Way Americans Read
BIG QUESTIONS
SEE MORE
Is It Actually Safe to Swim in Lakes?
Why Do So Many Porches in the South Have Blue Ceilings?
Why Are Gas Stations So Close to One Another?
Sardines vs. Anchovies: What‘s the Difference?