Mental Floss

ALL STORIES









Their pasts were shrouded in mystery.

History is loaded with people who have disappeared without a trace; rarer are the ones who seem to have emerged from nowhere.

Meg Van Huygen
The Neopets website.

You might think of Neopets as nothing more than an internet-based Tamagotchi—but they helped pave the way for Web 2.0.

Jake Rossen


Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Wollstonecraft broke new ground in the battle for women’s rights with the publication of 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'—but there's far more to her legacy than just one book.

Jane Alexander






It had a little something to do with syphilis.

For nearly two centuries, powdered wigs—called perukes—were all the rage. The chic hairpiece would have never become popular, however, if it hadn't been for a venereal disease, a pair of self-conscious kings, and poor hair hygiene.

Lucas Reilly