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Mental Floss
Installment #16: On May 9, 1912, the mounting tensions between Britain and Germany claimed a high-profile victim, if only in the professional sense, with the resignation of Count Paul Wolff-Metternich (pictured) as German ambassador to London. While prese
Erik Sass|
Some animals have it made. Their whole day revolves around eating and having sex (and, to be fair, trying not to get eaten themselves). And when winter arrives, they get to curl up somewhere and wait things out until the weather is nice again. Can humans
Matt Soniak|
If you’re not washing it, then yeah, it can get kind of gross. Reusing an unwashed bottle or cup, even if you’re “only” drinking water out of it, puts your mouth in intimate contact with a wonderful bacterial breeding ground.
Matt Soniak|
Installment #15: One of the grand traditions of Britain’s Royal Navy was the royal review, in which all the vessels of the home fleet – the core force, responsible for protecting the British Isles from invasion – assembled for a ceremonial inspection by t
Erik Sass|
Lie detector image via Shutterstock There are two things you can say for sure about human beings: our opposable thumbs make us great at using tools, and we are all big, fat liars. By age four, 90% of children have grasped the concept of lying, and it jus
Kathy Benjamin|
In advance of Saturday's Kentucky Derby, here's our three-minute guide to the most exciting two minutes in
Ethan Trex|
Trent Richardson with the BCS trophy. © Tyler Kaufman/Icon SMI/Corbis Carleton Tinker, the father of Alabama long snapper Carson Tinker, accidentally shattered the Crimson Tide’s 2012 BCS championship trophy last month. Tinker can take comfort in the fac
Scott Allen|
As the dot-com bubble reached its peak in 2000, Internet entrepreneurs faced a problem: every word in the dictionary had been registered as a dot-com domain name. So their bold new innovation was to register domains ending in something other than dot-co
Chris Higgins|
Trauma, that’s what. It’s the smell of chemical defenses and first aid. The fresh, “green” scent of a just-mowed lawn is the lawn trying to save itself from the injury you just inflicted.
Matt Soniak|
Installment #14: In the years leading up to the First World War, the European Great Powers competed in a number of ways, ranging from colonies to armaments to trade and finance. One of the most important arenas, from both a military and symbolic standpoin
Erik Sass|
© Bettmann/CORBIS Groucho Marx is unmatched in wit and humor. But one of his most poignant moments wasn’t remotely funny, nor was it caught on camera like so many of his one-liners and zingers. During the summer of 1958, Groucho and his You Bet Your Li
Stacy Conradt|
Let’s say that the conspiracy theorists are right...
Matt Soniak|
The date was March 29, 1989. The most famous comedienne in the history of show business was about to make her final TV
Eddie Deezen|
There are over 100 species of marine mammals in the world, and most of them have as much cool stuff going for them as any old Moby Dick.
Maggie Ryan Sandford|
© Mahmoudreza Kalari/Sygma/Corbis The Iranian Hostage Crisis, in which Iranian student revolutionaries held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, was an unprecedented act of state-sanctioned terrorism and a profound humiliation for the United States. In man
Erik Sass|
© David Bergman/Corbis If book smarts translated to field sense, NFL coaches would be desperately recruiting mathletes. But a soaring SAT score is the last thing you need to excel on the gridiron. According to Jonah Lehrer, author of the 2009 bestseller
David Goldenberg|
Adam's apple photo via ShutterstockTouch your fingers to the front of your throat and start humming. Feel around until you can feel vibration directly under your fingers. That’s your larynx, or voice box. It houses your vocal cords and is involved in brea
Matt Soniak|
Freedom of speech? Not if it's deemed "obscene." These celebrities found that out the hard way. Though they weren't all convicted, they did end up fighting costly battles in court and had their names dragged through the mud, though in some cases - looking
Stacy Conradt|
Brain image via Shutterstock Scientists have long known that our genetic makeup influences our intelligence. But now, thanks to the largest brain study of its kind, they've pinpointed one gene in particular that may be responsible for our IQ levels. Meet
Jessica Hullinger|
Installment #13: Since the time of the Trojan War, the narrow straits between Europe and Asia have been crossed by merchants and armies, diplomats and traitors. Simple geography made whoever controlled the straits wealthy and powerful – but also a target
Erik Sass|
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