Mental Floss

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The lore behind America's favorite ballpark snack is pretty fascinating.

Discover the curious origins of America’s favorite ballpark snack and why it’s called a “hot dog” to begin with. (Spoiler: It doesn’t involve any literal dog meat.)

Lauren Dana


Most Pride celebrations in the U.S. occur in June.

Since 1970, the LGBTQ community has marked June as Pride Month, in part to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a watershed moment in LGBTQ history when patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back against a police raid.

Skylar Baker-Jordan








The dish really doesn't have anything to do with primates.

Monkey bread—a sticky pull-apart pastry that’s typically made from canned biscuit dough—is a sugary, cinnamony treat that has nothing to do with primates.

Sam Hindman




Hey, little guy.

From the long legs of the jerboa to basically everything about the duck-billed platypus, evolution has taken some weird turns.

Bethel Afful








Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

Ellen Gutoskey
This scene probably wouldn’t be enough to claim ownership of the moon in space court.

The question of who has a claim to the moon and its resources is less a speculative fiction subject and more one for lawyers. Specifically, space lawyers.

Jake Rossen