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Mental Floss
Hannah Keyser|
Miss Cellania|
Unlike underground distilleries that could whip up small batches of illegal liquor, big breweries couldn't just slip into the woods for 13 years. How did the few breweries that survived Prohibition do it?
Nick Greene|
Matt Soniak|
The Oxford English Dictionary is honoring the centenary with an appeal to the public for help in finding the earliest documented uses of words that first came into English during World War I.
Arika Okrent|
Happy Kurt Cobain Day to the residents of Aberdeen, Washington.
Jennifer M Wood|
Furbys were all the rage in the late nineties—1998 alone saw the sale of a whopping 27 million units—and remain popular to this day. But did you know that they’ve actually been cited as a national security threat?
Mark Mancini|
Here are five storytelling terms to store away for movie trivia night.
DeAnna Kerley|
Have you ever visited the local zoo and found yourself wondering how a juicy hunk of boiled penguin breast might taste? Just about every creature under the sun has been sautéed, deep-fried, and/or sprinkled over a pizza at some point in human history.
Mark Mancini|
While many of the results match up with our expectations, not everything was so obvious.
Arika Okrent|
Lawsuits against video game developers and publishers usually arise from copyright infringement, plagiarism, or, in some cases, wrongful death. Most of these lawsuits are settled out of court, but sometimes they go to trial—and the subsequent court decisi
Rudie Obias|
Scientists believe that cobras don’t specifically aim for the eyes, but for the center of whatever body part their tormenter puts closest to them.
Matt Soniak|
Let us take you through five of the world’s most bizarre and forgotten drug fads.
Meera Jagannathan|
Well-meaning geologists ended up confusing plenty of folks when they named stalactites and stalagmites. Both of these similar-sounding structures—typically formed in limestone caves—are capable of stretching over 27 feet in length. But what's the differen
Mark Mancini|
We're covering the events that led to WWI exactly 100 years later. In this installment, Archduke Ferdinand makes an appearance! (Spoiler: He's important to all this.)
Erik Sass|
I had a pen pal when I was a little kid. My teacher set up a program for our class with another teacher's classroom across the country. I imagine a bunch of you had a similar setup sometime in elementary school, and so did Washington, D.C. student Rudy Hi
Stacy Conradt|
Being the president of the United States comes with all kinds of perks, but political office can't protect a person from disease. Here are six ailments that afflicted US presidents, many of which can be prevented today.
Chris Higgins|
If you watch the speed skaters during this year’s Winter Olympics, you’ll certainly notice something strange about the footwear they’re sporting. With a hinged blade that moves independently from the boot, modern speed skates look nothing like hockey or f
William Herkewitz|
If television existed in the 18th and 19th centuries, Thomas Jefferson could’ve earned a living starring in Dos Equis commercials. As a writer, wine-maker, astronomer, gourmet chef, and even a fossil-hunter, our third President was clearly one of the most
Mark Mancini|
Tug-of-war made the cut for every Olympic Games from Paris in 1900 to Antwerp in 1920—but the sport was plagued by controversy.
Ethan Trex|
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