Mental Floss

THE '80S

Ahhh—smells like the '80s!

In the early 1980s, psychologist William Cain asked a bunch of people to sniff lighter fluid—for science. Working with students at Yale University, Cain and his cohorts took 80 common scents and asked participants if they could identify them.

Jake Rossen
Shout! Factory

Two years after 'Dirty Dancing' and one year before 'Ghost,' Patrick Swayze played a bouncer with a Ph.D in philosophy in 1989’s 'Road House.'

Roger Cormier


Original production cel from Rikki-Tikki-Tavi on its key matching background.

When Chuck Jones decided to make the short film “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” he faced a challenge: How could he imbue the cobra-killing mongoose with a sense of personality, all without taking away from the fact that it was an animal?

Erin McCarthy






ISTOCK

Most debates about pop music may be entirely subjective, but Matthias Mauch, an engineer at Queen Mary University of London, decided to take a more scientific approach to the subject.

Caitlin Schneider
Warner Bros. Entertainment

Thirty years ago, millions of children (and more than a few adults) became obsessed with 'ThunderCats,' that quintessential ‘80s cartoon about a race of sword-wielding cat people who arrive on Third Earth to protect its inhabitants from the evil Mumm-Ra.

Jake Rossen




George Michael, Bono, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Howard Jones, Bob Geldof and other musicians gather on stage for the finale of the Live Aid concert at London's Wembley Stadium on July 13, 1985.

While 1984 was iconic, 1985 was an even bigger year for pop culture: New Coke, 'Back to the Future,' WrestleMania, Live Aid, Calvin & Hobbes, the first .com domain ... it all happened.

Chris Higgins




It is true that some of these things can still be found, either old and faded on eBay or earnestly reproduced on specialty sites like The Vermont Country Store. But these products and deserve more; they have timeless appeal that would suit our 21st centur

Therese Oneill






Michael J. Fox stars as Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985).

'Back to the Future' may be a classic movie today, but the script was originally rejected more than 40 times. Here are some other things you might not know about Marty, Doc, and Doc's pet chimpanzee

Jason English


YouTube

Plenty of grown-up former Nickelodeon viewers remember the network as the home of such programs as Clarissa Explains It All, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Rugrats, and SpongeBob SquarePants, the channel has a rich history of interesting programming that

Kate Erbland
Erin McCarthy

While most people associate the concept of trading cards with sports and their most famous players—even non-baseball fans are dimly aware of the value of a “mint” card of a legendary slugger—the cardboard treatment isn’t just reserved for major league end

Kate Erbland
Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as Crockett and Tubbs in the TV detective series Miami Vice, circa 1988.

On September 28, 1984, 'Miami Vice' made its premiere on NBC, and a new kind of cop show was born. The series also kickstarted the careers of dozens of soon-to-be stars.

Jennifer M Wood