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Mental Floss
The English Channel (La Manche) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Britain from France. The actual channel is the length of the entire southern coast of England, and contains many inhabited islands. When people attempt new ways of crossing t
Miss Cellania|
I was in New York this weekend to visit my brother-in-law, check out a Yankees game and drop in on Mangesh and Jason at the Brooklyn HQ. I feel like I'm being rude if I dedicate a post to Wrigley and not Yankee Stadium, so I thought I'd give you a little
Stacy Conradt|
Negative campaigning in the United States can be traced back to lifelong friends, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
the mag|
Golf's Ryder Cup takes over Louisville's Valhalla Golf Club this weekend as Europe and the United States vie for world supremacy in the sport. The biennial event is a big date on golf's calendar, but what are the origins and history of this heated tradit
Ethan Trex|
by Ian Lender More than a century ago, Christian fundamentalists invented cereal to promote a healthy lifestyle free of sin. Little did they know, their creation would eventually be used to promote everything from radio and cartoons to Mr. T and tooth de
the mag|
Simple, block-shaped toys have been around for hundreds of years, but it took a 20th-century Danish genius to invent the interlocking pieces we know today as LEGO bricks.
In the Beginning|
Democratic prankster Dick Tuck began tormenting Richard Nixon in California in 1950, after he became a mole in Nixon’s successful Senate campaign. When Nixon unsuccessfully sought the presidency 10 years later, his opponent, John F. Kennedy, hired Tuck to
the mag|
An October surprise is any bit of news that breaks right before an election that has the capability to help determine the outcome of the race.
Ethan Trex|
In December 1977, President Jimmy Carter planned a trip to Poland, a country whose masses were, at the time, still fiercely huddled behind the Iron
the mag|
My old man was a snorer. His snoring was like the plot of a good action movie, with plenty of rising action. About 15 minutes after he'd fall asleep, it would sound like there was a heard of buffalo racing bulldozers and juggling chainsaws in my parents'
Matt Soniak|
"I was taking a drink just now at Andy Parle's, when I overheard an individual denouncing you in the vilest manner. He said you loafed on your friends, borrowed money and never returned it, owed bills in every quarter of the city, and were the biggest bea
Diana Wolf|
The truth is, it's basically a crapshoot. Some Olympic parks become ruins, while others are reborn. Perhaps the most depressing example of the former is Athens, the birthplace of the Olympics. Of the 22 venues built for the 2004 games, only the badminton
Matt Soniak|
What started out as a successful sitcom about a struggling blue-collar Midwestern family eventually turned into a platform for its namesake's (often) bizarre and radical viewpoints.
Kara Kovalchik|
Regular Floss readers know that scientists around the world study some pretty silly things. A few weeks ago, I wanted to know why spaghetti doesn't break in half. A simple Google search gave me an in-depth study of the phenomena by two physicists and plen
Matt Soniak|
When it comes to being mammal, dolphins fit the bill in all respects. They give birth to live young and nurse them. They're warm-blooded. They have lungs and breathe air.
Matt Soniak|
Get your country out of my Happy Meal!
Sydney Beveridge|
Since its debut in 1975, SNL has had its ups and downs, most of which were always attributed to the cast du jour (and sometimes the writers). However, even when the show was at its peak both cast- and writer-wise, some shows bombed like Boy George at a tr
Kara Kovalchik|
I, like a lot of you, grew up on Sesame Street and the Muppets. But do you ever stop to wonder where they came from? Some of the characters we know and love today were recycled from other T.V. shows and commercials Jim Henson worked on and others were i
Stacy Conradt|
Remember when your mother used to scold you for opening your mouth to the deadly sky as it was pouring? "It's acid rain," she'd say. Envisioning raindrops burning through my gums, jaw, and skin, I always followed my mother's advice. But the last I ever he
Diana Wolf|
Summer is here, which means it's time to start playing outside as much as possible. Are you tired of all the old summer standby sports, though? Sure, baseball and volleyball are fun, but sometimes you want something just a little, well, weirder. This s
Ethan Trex|
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