Jocelyn Sears

Joined: Apr 9, 2015

Jocelyn Sears is former a staff researcher for Mental Floss, a poet, and a dog enthusiast. She is strongly in favor of the Oxford comma.

You never know what treasures you’ll find.

20 Amazingly Valuable Thrift Store Finds

The combat veteran is the first Asian American woman from Illinois ever elected to Congress.

17 Things You Might Not Know About Tammy Duckworth

13 Fascinating Facts About Kamala Harris

Why Does Santa Claus Come Down the Chimney?

5 Very Early Stories About American Women and Voting

During colonial times and in the earliest days of the U.S., a small number of women managed to vote despite circumstances stacked against them.

9 Facts About Jeannette Rankin, the First Woman Elected to Congress

“I felt the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war, she should say it.”

9 Facts About Frances Perkins, the First Female Cabinet Member

As Labor Secretary, she tried to save Jews fleeing the Nazi regime.

13 Questionable Weight-Loss Products From History

Some of the methods proposed for “reducing” were downright bizarre—and even dangerous.

9 Facts About Pioneering Lawyer and Activist Belva Lockwood

She was the first female presidential candidate to receive votes.

7 Facts About Bertha Knight Landes, First Female Mayor of a Major American City

Landes thought women were better-suited than men to be mayor, and Seattle agreed, at least for a while.

9 Facts about Bibb County, Alabama

5. Officials have forbidden the sale of alcohol there for over a century.

Senator Hillary Clinton (left) and other women senators in 2000.

Why Women Couldn’t Wear Pants on the Senate Floor Until 1993

Two political pioneers staged a "Pantsuit Revolution." But it probably should've been easier than it was.

9 Facts You Should Know About Maggie Hassan

Advocating for a son with cerebral palsy helped propel her into government work.

9 Things You Might Not Know About Catherine Cortez Masto

As a tourism official, her father green-lighted the Las Vegas slogan “What happens here stays here.”

Finishing the Negative via Google Books // Public Domain

How Photo Retouching Worked Before Photoshop

Photographers and cultural critics have long debated the ethics of retouching—even when it took place directly on the negative in the 19th century.

The Second Largest Religion in Each State

While the United States population has become less religious in recent years, the overwhelming majority of Americans still identify as Protestant or Catholic.