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Mental Floss
Webster Edgerly had developed a system for “the management of the body and its members” that if carefully studied and committed to memory would turn anyone into “the PERFECT ACTOR.” Here are explicit instructions from “the Shaftesbury Method” on how to pe
Arika Okrent|
It’s no surprise that not every hugely popular retail giant was an instant success, but it may be a little shocking to realize that plenty of well-known stores didn’t even start out selling the stuff they’re best known for now.
Kate Erbland|
When Vincent Connare designed Comic Sans for Microsoft, he couldn’t have known how controversial his font would become.
Erin McCarthy|
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry didn't come by the phrase "What is essential is invisible to the eye" easily.
Erin McCarthy|
Check out these videos and photos of octopuses winning at life.
Mark Mancini|
We wanted to do one fact about Minnesota for each of its lakes, but 10,000 facts seemed like overkill.
Scott Pierce|
Chemical warfare. Hijacked communications. Stowaways. Eavesdropping. Sounds like the makings of a spy movie, but it’s just another day in nature.
Matt Soniak|
A few fun facts about Masschusetts to break out at your next Boston Tea Party.
Sean Hutchinson|
Boston was one of America’s earliest settlements, and that is reflected in its neighborhood and town names.
Jake Seiner|
Scarcity attracts people. What’s common is often ignored, overshadowed by the exotic and unusual. But sometimes—as this week’s featured dinosaur demonstrates—familiar things can teach us far more than the rarest of the rare.
Mark Mancini|
On our way into the Bangangai Game Reserve, a protected area of lowland forest and glades, we pass an open-air bushmeat market.
the mag|
The "anti-gravity treadmill" was originally invented by Robert Whalen, a biomechanics researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, in the 1990s. Hint: It *doesn't* defy the laws of physics.
Sarah Fecht|
Hearing hundreds of goals called, one right after the other, by excited announcers from various countries, can really make you notice the international differences in goal announcing style.
Arika Okrent|
The book provides advice in the form of example letters for all sorts of situations. But it is the many matters of the heart that come across as particularly dated and worthy of unraveling more than a century and a half later. Let's take a look at some of
Hannah Keyser|
Better late than never.
Rudie Obias|
When he’s not squiring the Cup around, Philip Pritchard is the Vice President and Curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. We called him at his office to find out what it’s like to be Keeper of the Cup.
Erin McCarthy|
These dissertation topics were kind of boring. You won't believe what happened next.
Rebecca OConnell|
The overarching drive in naming practices over time seems not to be toward giving names pre-determined masculine or feminine properties, but toward keeping them different.
Arika Okrent|
If fuzzy action movie science worked in real life, becoming a brand-new superhero would—with a little help from the animal kingdom—just be a quick organ transplant away.
Mark Mancini|
Erik Sass|
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