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Mental Floss
You’re sitting on a plane destined for a far off place, sandwiched between two people, and you're doing your best to sit back and get comfortable. But as the plane takes off and makes its rapid ascent toward cruising altitude, a baby begins to cry, the pe
Sean Hutchinson|
It's a sad day for Twinkie enthusiasts. Hostess Brands announced that it's asking a federal bankruptcy court for permission to shut down operations. Another company could swoop in and resurrect the more popular products, but there is no guarantee. So if y
Stacy Conradt|
Delve into the strange cases of dancing plagues, laughter epidemics, and other bizarre manias throughout history.
Linda Rodriguez McRobbie|
This is the third installment of legendary monsters of North America, as everyone has their local favorite -or has even seen one of these creatures! Previous posts have legends of other parts of the world, too. Here are more monsters from the stories told
Miss Cellania|
Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his "Daily Knowledge" newsletter, click
Daven Hiskey|
In large swaths of the U.S. this time of year, it seems you can’t get more than a few feet without tripping over a Canada Goose; they come down here from the Great White North for the winter months (or, in some places, hang out year-round). When they’re n
Matt Soniak|
Have you ever seen the moon floating above the horizon of your city, and noticed that it looked oddly huge? I sure have. In fact, I've seen the effect in lots of popular media, including that one iconic shot from E.T. and other "supermoon" photos. But
Chris Higgins|
The Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins pulled off a blockbuster deal on Tuesday night that sends Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and others to Toronto in exchange for several young players and touted prospects. Analysts were quick to point out th
Danny Groner|
You might think that the death of a famous person would be relatively easy to double check before reporting it—but you would be wrong. For hundreds of years, the news has been jumping the gun on the deaths of some of our most celebrated personalities, so
Kathy Benjamin|
To the dismay of many people with swag, "GIF" edged out "YOLO" to become the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year. (In the UK, the top word was "omnishambles.") Other shortlisted terms include "nomophobia," or cellphone separation anxiety (no+mobile+phobi
Adrienne Crezo|
Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his "Daily Knowledge" newsletter, click
Daven Hiskey|
Today the U.S. Army is celebrating its 240th birthday.
David W Brown|
Installment #43: After simultaneous defeats at Kirk Kilisse and Kumanovo, October 22-24, 1912, the Ottoman Empire’s plan for defending its European territories collapsed. In the first half of November the armies of the Balkan League advanced on all sides,
Erik Sass|
The science titan wasn’t used to being outsmarted. But after two years of trying to shut down English counterfeiting, one underworld kingpin was still getting the better of
Judy Dutton|
Back when I was a kid, life was pretty simple. Saturday morning cartoons were awesome, Ecto Cooler was abundant and the Soviet Union collapsed before they could drop any nukes on us. I couldn’t watch the news, or even my cartoons, though, without being re
Matt Soniak|
Of the almost 200 current member states (and one observer state) of the United Nations, the British have, at some point in history, invaded and established a military presence in 171 of them.
Matt Soniak|
In the majority of the United States, one candidate gets all of a state’s electoral votes. Two states, however, don’t have to go the all-or-nothing route: Nebraska and Maine, thanks to the Congressional District Method.
Stacy Conradt|
Don’t be surprised if you hear a meteorologist refer to the nor'easter that’s about to hit the East Coast as “Athena.” They’re just following the example of The Weather Channel, which recently announced that it will name “noteworthy winter storms,” just a
Erin McCarthy|
“Vagabond Ways” Written by Marianne Faithfull and David Courts (1999) Performed by Marianne Faithfull The
Bill DeMain|
Wikimedia CommonsThat’s all, folks: The 2012 election is finally over. In the run up, we tackled big election questions, from why we vote on Tuesdays to what would happen in the event of a natural disaster on Election Day to whether Americans actually mov
Erin McCarthy|
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