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Mental Floss
Eighteen years ago last week, the world lost one of Hollywood's greatest entertainers: Gene Kelly. Arguably, most of the public today knows Kelly because of his iconic performance in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), but here are a few other facts about the leg
Kelli Marshall|
Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty turns 55 this year.
Stacy Conradt|
One hundred and seventy-five years ago, Charles Darwin set out with a survey voyage, aboard the HMS Beagle, in what would be a groundbreaking expedition for his own theories, and the way the world would come to see the origin of species. Darwin brought th
Arallyn Primm|
Erik Sass|
Over 100 million people watch the Super Bowl each year ... and some of them don't give a flying pigskin about football. Here are some facts to tide them over until halftime.
Amanda Green|
Chris Higgins talks to the polarizing contestant about playing to tie, Watson's influence, Cliff Clavin, and more.
Chris Higgins|
The Super Bowl draws in the largest TV viewing audience of the year, so it makes sense that the network that hosts the Big Game takes advantage of the ratings bump by showcasing new or fan-favorite TV shows.
Rudie Obias|
The government and/or terrorists must have dumped fake snow on the South as a chemical attack.
Matt Soniak|
In the 1890s, Paul D. Hubbard—the Deaf quarterback for Gallaudet University's football team—had his offense form a tight circle so that they could discuss plays without the other team seeing what they were signing
Arika Okrent|
Something would definitely happen—but it wouldn't be a big something.
Hannah Keyser|
Super Bowl XLVIII is this weekend, and both teams have already selected their designated uniforms for the occasion. But have you ever wondered why we call these athletic garments “jerseys” in the first place?
Mark Mancini|
If coming in second place just makes you the first loser, what can be said about a team that finishes in third? Well, for ten seasons (1960-69) of NFL football, they’d call you the winner of the Playoff Bowl.
Alex Watt|
Before the dot-com bubble burst, many companies spent millions to air 30-second commercials during the Super Bowl to gain national exposure. Here are a few of them.
Rudie Obias|
“Squatter’s rights” isn’t a list of specific rights, but refers to a specific form of adverse possession, a legal principle that we inherited from England and has been around, in one form or another, for ages.
Matt Soniak|
Bad breath usually won’t win you many friends, but at least it will keep your enemies at arm’s length, too. The larval caterpillar form of a moth called the tobacco hornworm, scientists have discovered, uses a blast of nasty air to fend off wolf spiders a
Matt Soniak|
Leaving aside for now the few foreign loanwords (e.g., Qatar, Iraq) where Q shows up without a U, an English Q is the only letter that can't go anywhere without a partner. Why does a Q always need a U? We can blame it on a whole bunch of our alphabetic an
Arika Okrent|
It was September 27, 1726, and Mary Toft was going into labor. The 24-year-old peasant, who worked in hop fields of rural England, called out for her neighbor, Mary Gill. Gill rushed inside Mary’s house and found her squirming in pain. Then something unus
Lucas Reilly|
Colleges are notoriously weird; celebrities are equally strange. Sometimes, when the two are combined, magic happens.
Meredith Danko|
Kind of. Boredom won’t directly kill you on its own, but it does make it more likely that a handful of other things will put you six feet under.
Matt Soniak|
We’ve looked at some of the most beautiful lighthouses, libraries and museums from around the world. Today it’s time to look at more iconic and beautiful buildings—train stations.
Jill Harness|
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