From The Archive

A Short History of Long-Haired Music: Gregorian Chant

If you missed last week's installment, check out A Short History of Long-Haired Music archives here. Was there music before Bach? Ummm, of course there was. Composers just didn't put their names on their compositions before, say the Renaissance—the bigg

Upon Further Review: A Brief History of Instant Replay

© Ron Sachs/CNP/Corbis Instant replay in sports has sparked about as much controversy as it has eliminated since the feature was introduced more than 50 years ago, but it's hard to imagine watching games today without it. Here's a look back at the men be

101 Amazing Facts

11 Things You Might Not Know About 'The Little Mermaid'

22 Awesome and Inspiring Bill Murray Quotes

12 Secrets of Your Company's IT People

Pistol Shrimp Pack Some Serious Heat

When I’m not blogging for mental_floss, I can usually be found wearing bright orangerubber pants and gutting, cutting and selling fish at my local Whole Foods (and winning awards for it). Sometimes, my two worlds collide and I find some fascinating stuff

10 Amazing Costumes for Halloween

Every year, I am impressed not only by the dedication and technical skill some people put into their Halloween costumes, but also the cleverness and ingenuity employed to come up with some of these! 1. Happy Mutant Three-armed

12 Pun Costumes for Halloween

15 Oscar-Nominated Actors Who Started Out on Soap Operas

12 Snappy Facts About Kit Kat

The Quick 10: The Almost-Titles of 10 More Books

There are so many books that have been retitled (usually with much better names), I couldn’t just stop at the 10-10-10 list. Here are 10 more books who were almost called something else - you have to wonder if a different title might have changed their l

10 Awkward Speeches, Interviews and Rants

Pass the mic and prepare for the worst. Here we have 10 awkward speeches, broken interviews, and impromptu rants by celebrities and public officials. 1. In this 1992 Hangin' With MTV interview with Faith No More, vocalist Mike Patton is too busy picking

6 of the Worst Car Accidents in Recent U.S. History

I suffer from dystychiphobia, the fear of accidents. It's pretty intense. FIve years ago, while staying in Arizona one Spring, I witnessed a horrifying accident that to this day keeps me up at night. Still, I can't help reading and being slightly obsessed

10 Famous Found Films

We just looked at 10 famous films that might be lost forever. But there's hope! Here are 10 famous films that were missing before magically turning up. 1. The first version of John

The Early Game Show Appearances of 10 Future Stars

1. Mel Harris In 1979 future thirtysomething star Mary Ellen Harris (her real name, as we found out) competed on the $20,000 Pyramid. She gave her occupation as a “professional dog trainer,” a resume bullet point that seems to be missing from all her offi

Postmaster general boring? Try telling Aaron V. Brown that!

10 Postmasters General Who Weren't Boring

If pressed, most people probably couldn't remember the name of any of the United States' Postmasters General (yes, we're going with "Postmasters General").

10 of the Best Parents in Fiction

It’s a lot more difficult than you might think to find good parents in fiction: Perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of fiction deals either with the lack of a parent—being a cardinal rule of children’s fiction to ditch the parents—or a parent’s complete unsuita

The Early (Not-So-Literary) Jobs of 10 Great Authors

It’s not unusual for professors and journalists to end up as influential writers—just look at Toni Morrison, Ezra Pound, and John Updike. But sometimes our wordslinging heroes take a longer, less direct route to greatness. Oftentimes, those experiences wi

From Nudity to NKOTB: 10 Interesting Theme Cruises

Theme cruises, by their very nature, appeal to a specific subset of the population. To everyone else, they may seem like a colossal waste of money and time. What began as a means for cruise lines to attract a few extra customers during the non-peak cruisi

The Quick 10: The 10 Best Halloween Candies

Do you guys think it’s wrong to dress my four-month-old up and go trick-or-treating this year? Even if she has a really sweet costume? (We’re thinking about dressing her up as Uncle Fester to take advantage of her semi-bald state.) Alas, we’ll probably

In the Beginning: The Origins of 9 Cat Breeds

We’ve covered the origins of various dog breeds before, so it’s about time we gave cat lovers some info, too. Let’s take a look at how several of your favorite breeds grew to prominence. 1.

A Short History of Long-Haired Music: Introduction

There’s a wonderful scene in the classic mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, where mockumentarian, Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner), is interviewing Spinal Tap songwriter, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), seated at a piano. Nigel is explaining his fascination wi

10 Embarrassing Phone Number Typos

???1. Ochocinco meant well by printing a request for donations to a charity called Feed the Children on his new cereal, but people calling to hand over some money actually may have been “donating” to an organization of the not-so-charitable kind: a phone

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