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Mental Floss
Installment #48: As 1912 drew to a close, Europe seemed to be teetering on the brink of war. The victory of the Balkan League over the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War put Serbia on a collision course with Austria-Hungary over the issue of Serbian a
Erik Sass|
Nobel Prize winners and MacArthur "Genius" Fellows alike have held forth on the metaphysical, philosophical, semiotic, sociological, literary, and historical implications of latkeness vs. hamentashness.
Arika Okrent|
English has taken over pop music to the point where many bands from other countries will write their songs in English in order to appeal to a wider audience. The Eurovision Song Contest provides one place where other languages can get a chance at a bigger
Arika Okrent|
Our resident food expert spills the history of his favorite creamy holiday
Alton Brown|
During the American Civil War, the Union Army quickly figured out how to play Confederates’ own prejudices against them. They found that many Confederate troops would speak openly about tactics and troop movements or leave maps and orders out in plain vie
Matt Soniak|
“Marie Provost” Written by Nick Lowe (1978) Performed by Nick Lowe The
Bill DeMain|
That depends on how you define a “car.” In 1869, Irish scientist Mary Ward was riding in a steam-powered automobile built by her cousins.
Matt Soniak|
Stephen Fry is an actor, writer, poet, TV host, narrator, and for all I know a terrific cook -- the man is so prolific he has a Wikipedia page devoted simply to listing his works. Through all of his work he weaves threads of good humor, keen intellect, a
Chris Higgins|
“Midnight Rambler” Written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (1969) Performed by The Rolling Stones The
Bill DeMain|
The slate board is used to make syncing audio and film easier, but here are more facts to know about it.
Matt Soniak|
Buckingham Palace has confirmed what the British tabloids have suspected for a while: The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting. Unfortunately, Kate has also been admitted to the hospital due to hyperemesis gravidarum, or acute morning sickness—so severe that
Kara Kovalchik|
Installment #47: Seeing his armies exhausted following their defeat at Chataldzha, Bulgaria’s Tsar Ferdinand (pictured) finally listened to the pleas of the Bulgarian civilian government and the advice of Bulgaria’s patron Russia, and consented to an armi
Erik Sass|
After 18 players died on the field, the president decided it was time to change the game.
the mag|
In 2012, we invested in dictionaries. Old dictionaries. Slang dictionaries, mostly, and often we didn't have to invest much. What we spent at yard sales and used book stores was well worth it, and we've been shoehorning great terms like these into office
Jason English|
For a long time, scientists thought that pruning of the skin after spending time in the water was simply a matter of fingers being a little spongey. The outermost layer (the stratum corneum) of the outermost layer (the epidermis) of our skin is mostly mad
Matt Soniak|
For most folks, the abdomen is the part of the body between the chest and the pelvis. For a generation of men who took to the seas during World War II, though, abdomen is also a 5.3-mile long uninhabited chunk of rock sitting somewhere in the middle of A
Matt Soniak|
Installment #46: In the autumn of 1912, the Balkan League’s conquest of the Ottoman Empire’s European territories triggered an international crisis which threatened to provoke a general European war. The crisis resulted from Serbia’s desire to obtain acce
Erik Sass|
Last night, director Christopher Nolan visited the IFC Center in New York City to screen his own restored print of his first film, Following. After showing the film (as well as one of his early shorts, Doodlebug), Nolan and incoming Village Voice film cri
Erin McCarthy|
Killing off a popular TV character is a surefire way to get your show noticed. But for some characters who were supposed to die, the writers just couldn't do it.
Mark Juddery|
You probably had dozens of them in a shoebox. They were strange and awesome and … pink. But just what were those M.U.S.C.L.E. figures anyway? Let’s take a look. The
Rob Lammle|
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