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Mental Floss
When you're waking up from a nightmare, your first question might be, “Was that a bagel chasing me through my house with a sledgehammer?” And after the shock of dreaming about a homicidal, anthropomorphic breakfast dish wears off, your next question is pr
Erik van Rheenen|
You know some other animal adjectives ending in -ine: feline (catlike), canine (doggy) and bovine (cow like). How many more are there? A herd, a flock, a whole bunch. Here’s a dozen.
Judith Herman|
With the 1980 census, a three-part question was adopted that applied to everyone, giving a more complete picture of language in the U.S.
Arika Okrent|
Hau`oli la Hanau, Hawaii! Yes, you read that right. It was only 54 years ago today that Hawaii became part of the U.S. Let's celebrate with 22 facts about the Aloha State.
Amanda Green|
Sometimes it helps to get away.
Erik van Rheenen|
After realizing that there are a lot of taphophiles (cemetery and/or tombstone enthusiasts) out there, I’m finally putting my archive of interesting tombstones to good use.
Stacy Conradt|
There's a new Portuguese water dog roaming the White House grounds. Now that Sunny has joined Bo, let's look back at some of our favorite White House pets.
Ethan Trex|
Sometimes it’s literally a glob of grease, other times it’s a synthetic sticker. We’ve all seen baseball and football players with the black rectangles under their eyes on sunny days, which is thought to help reduce the sun’s glare and allow athletes to b
Will McGough|
Some companies find their niche and stick to it. Others, though, have to adapt to changing markets in order to thrive.
Ethan Trex|
People have been riding horses for over 4500 years, and from the start, they’ve been doing it sans saddle. But riding bareback isn’t easy. If you really want to become more interesting, though, here’s how to ditch the saddle without eating dirt.
Editorial Staff|
Could it be true? That the summer’s biggest hit is not really a Robin Thicke original? There's controversy brewing over “Blurred Lines.”
Stacy Conradt|
In 1963, Singapore declared its independence from Great Britain. Without much land area or natural resources of its own, the new nation secured some protection and economic help by joining Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia. But
Matt Soniak|
A miniature desert blankets 40 acres of land just a stone’s throw west of Freeport, Maine. An uncanny contrast with the state’s sweeping trees, the dunes (dubbed the “Desert of Maine”) are a geological curiosity—and Mother Nature’s way of reminding us tha
Lucas Reilly|
Chris Higgins|
We're covering the events that led to World War I exactly 100 years after they happened.
Erik Sass|
Mae West quipped, "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
Amanda Green|
Earlier this month, award-winning composer Derrik Wang wrote an opera, Scalia/Ginsburg, based on the friendship of Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader-Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. It's not the first time politics have gotten a musical treatment. Here are fi
Maureen Monahan|
Some variety shows launched characters that transcended popular culture then as Bart Simpson and the Sex and the City ladies have in more recent years.
Kara Kovalchik|
In 1895, the Women's Christian Temperance Movement turned its sights on Hires, partially because of the word "beer" in the name.
Ethan Trex|
Good sportsmen (and women) play by the rules. Even the rules you've never heard of.
Jessica Bloustein Marshall|
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