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Mental Floss
We don't want to spoil anything from this season of Breaking Bad for those who haven't seen it. But for the floss readers curious about lily of the valley, a plant that played a part in Sunday's season finale, we're happy to talk botany. Read on at your o
Matt Soniak|
Bargain bin recording artists are people, too. In the interest of balanced reporting, I hereby submit to you the very human stories behind some of those infamous photos.
Kara Kovalchik|
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has been gracing breakfast tables since 1906 - and the idea of hiding prizes within the box of crunchy corn bits is almost as old. Kellogg’s was the first company to offer children’s prizes with the purchase of their cereal in an at
Stacy Conradt|
Don’t be down about your next panel of consonants. Instead, take the challenge as an opportunity to show off your newly acquired vowel-free vocabulary. Three-Letter
Jamie Spatola|
Hot sauces, curries, wasabi peas and other spicy treats turn you into a snot faucet. Why is that? Capsaicin is the chemical found concentrated in the placental tissue of chile peppers and allyl isothiocyanate is an oil contained in plants like mustard and
Matt Soniak|
As a father of two small children, I know that it’s always a little easier to get a child to follow a routine if one of their favorite characters are involved. Want you child to go to bed? Maybe you get some Elmo bed sheets. Having trouble getting your li
Colin Patrick|
Earlier this year, Bill DeMain introduced us to 15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent. Now that you've integrated those into your vocabulary, here are 14
Haley Sweetland Edwards|
"THAT's a word?" If you play Words With Friends and are frequently demoralized by opponents scoring very big points using very small words, this list will help you up your game. If you don't play Words With Friends, perhaps you can work these into conver
Jamie Spatola|
The animal actor who played Lassie was ready to retire after 11 years in the industry.
Stacy Conradt|
Today is Rosh HaShanah, which literally translates into "Head TheYear" or "head of the year." It marks the Jewish New Year and the period where Jews finish the Torah, or the Five Books of Moses and begin the Good Book all over again, reading a little bit
David K. Israel|
Dog turds are stealth weapons. People with 20/20 vision often fail to notice them until they appear hours later, on the bottom of a shoe. How the heck is someone who can’t see supposed to track down and eliminate these sidewalk scourges, then?
Matt Soniak|
"Knute Rockne's Notre Dame all-stars arrived in New York for their battle with the New York Giants pro team in a charity grid battle. They were received by Mayor Walker at City Hall in New York." © Bettmann/CORBIS When the Great Depression started squeez
Ethan Trex|
A couple of years ago, I did a post on celebrities who got their first tastes of the entertainment biz by working at one of the Disney Parks, whether they did tricks at the Magic Shop (Steve Martin) or cracked wise as a Jungle Cruise skipper (John Lassete
Stacy Conradt|
My next-door neighbors have a little terrier named Melvin (not pictured). My old neighbor had a very big Bernese mountain dog (also not pictured). I didn’t know its name, and usually just referred to it as The Big Dog or The Beast. Ten Melvins, soaking we
Matt Soniak|
We can't be 100 percent positive about the "actual" part.
David K. Israel|
A look at those who didn’t light the academic world on fire.
Ethan Trex|
When we study war in history class, we learn about kings, presidents, and generals. It's a shame we don't get to learn about the many everyday people who step up and do extraordinary things, like the medical workers who perform heroically under terrible c
Miss Cellania|
For most of its journey from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River takes a pretty direct path. Sure, it zigs east here and zags west there, but nothing too crazy. Around Kentucky, though, the river’s course gets a little convoluted.
Matt Soniak|
Since the Greeks first told the myth of Pygmalion, who wished the statue he loved would come to life, it seems man has been trying to build a perfect replica of himself. Some would say we're getting closer to that possibility as computer technologies evol
Rob Lammle|
The death of a show's character has become fairly commonplace nowadays, but it wasn't always that way.
Eddie Deezen|
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