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Thanks so very much to everyone who contributed name suggestions for our new column. We're going to test out a few different names this week, starting today with WanderLinks. I think it nicely conveys the fun, loose vibe we’ll try to serve up to help you
In advance of Saturday's Kentucky Derby, here's our three-minute guide to the most exciting two minutes in
All right, this whole Afternoon-Links-naming rigamarole has run its course. I promise we'll settle on something this weekend. In the meantime, let me know how you think the first few days have gone. * Profiling Starts with the Pants As this humorous piece
The 1940s Produced the Greatest Generation - Of Squirrel Outfitters - the World Has Ever Seen This gallery depicting Mrs. Mark Bullis and her snazzily-dressed squirrel, Tommy Tucker, is pretty awesome. * E-Books Are Cool and All, But Can You Make a Super
Trent Richardson with the BCS trophy. © Tyler Kaufman/Icon SMI/Corbis Carleton Tinker, the father of Alabama long snapper Carson Tinker, accidentally shattered the Crimson Tide’s 2012 BCS championship trophy last month. Tinker can take comfort in the fac
© Bettmann/CORBIS Groucho Marx is unmatched in wit and humor. But one of his most poignant moments wasn’t remotely funny, nor was it caught on camera like so many of his one-liners and zingers. During the summer of 1958, Groucho and his You Bet Your Li
The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was officially incorporated in New York on this date in 1912. According to company legend, Carl Laemmle named his company Universal after seeing “Universal Pipe Fittings” written on a passing delivery wagon. To co
The Los Angeles Riots began on April 29, 1992, after officers in the Rodney King case were acquitted of almost all charges. Here is an excerpt from The Mental Floss History of the United States about the riots and the events leading up to the
Introduction of non-native species to a new environment is often done completely by accident. Anywhere people travel, something unseen can be traveling along, too. Planes, ships, and other methods of distant travel have taken critters to places they don't
If you had a home computer in the 1980s, you probably played at least one adventure game from Sierra On-Line. Here’s a brief history of the company - and the games - that helped define a generation of computer geeks. Hi-Res Adventures In 1979, Roberta
© Mahmoudreza Kalari/Sygma/Corbis The Iranian Hostage Crisis, in which Iranian student revolutionaries held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, was an unprecedented act of state-sanctioned terrorism and a profound humiliation for the United States. In man
© David Bergman/Corbis If book smarts translated to field sense, NFL coaches would be desperately recruiting mathletes. But a soaring SAT score is the last thing you need to excel on the gridiron. According to Jonah Lehrer, author of the 2009 bestseller
A few years ago, I wrote about some interesting rock formations in the post Nature's Stone Giants. Then there was a followup: Rocks that Rock: 8 Stone Giant Sites. As usual, commenters had more suggestions for wonderful rock formations worth checking out.
The other day we set up a mental_floss Instagram account, then went to the grocery store and took some pictures. (We also needed food.) Here are some fun facts about the products we
On April 20, 1992, a veritable “Who’s Who” (and, in a few cases, “Who’s That?”) played before 72,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium to celebrate the life of Freddie Mercury and to raise funds for The Mercury Phoenix Trust, an AIDS charity organization t
The evil exterminating machines from the Doctor Who universe are extremely versatile. The simple yet very recognizable shape of a dalek lends itself to insertion into other, non-Doctor worlds. And that is just what artists all over are doing! 1. Sailor
© Bettmann/CORBIS “We will not appear unless Negroes are allowed to sit anywhere,” The Beatles said in a press statement on September 6, 1964. Halfway through a 23-city U.S. tour, the group was looking ahead to their date at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonvill
Want to contribute to a worthy cause and get your favorite celebrity to do something awesome and/or ridiculous? That’s the idea behind Charity Bribes. Anyone can post something awesome or bizarre for a specific celebrity to do. These ideas go on a maste
Lemonade stand image via Shutterstock For generations, entrepreneurial kids have set up card tables in front yards to sell ice cold drinks to passers-by. But sometimes the law catches up with these renegade youngsters. 1. 1983 – Belleair, Florida Like
From 1757 to 1775, Ben Franklin lived in an elegant four-story Georgian house at No. 36 Craven Street in London during his time as an ambassador for the American colonies. In late 1998, a group calling itself Friends of Benjamin Franklin House began to co
Many years ago, my mother got a fortune cookie that said, "You got the wrong cookie!" That particular message has cropped a couple of times since then. Americans crack open so many fortune cookies that it keeps the industry busy coming up with sayings, pi
If pancake syrup, batteries and crescent rolls can have corporate mascots, why shouldn’t urinalysis and Manograms? That’s what these 11 health-related causes figured when they created their very specific spokesthings. 1. Petey P.
St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., provided mental health care services to members of the U.S. armed forces and District residents when it opened as the Government Hospital for the Insane in 1855. Founded by social reformer and mental health adv
Fans of movies, books and even animated mice have translated their love for specific brands of pop culture into cults, organizations and federally recognized religious groups, with varying degrees of seriousness and success.