Mental Floss

From The Archive

IMPA Awards

Making and distributing a short film is relatively less expensive than making a feature film, and sometimes it’s a director’s ticket to stardom in Hollywood. Here are 19 short films that were expanded into full-length feature films.

Rudie Obias
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If, for whatever reason, you long to wed somebody who’s already departed for the great beyond, your local government might just be willing to oblige … depending on where you live, and if you meet certain criteria.

Mark Mancini
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Thanksgiving is here, which means unwanted questions from your relatives. But don't worry! When the conversation goes bad, just lob one of these facts out there.

Jason English








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These groups eschewed typical protests for something a little more creative.

DeAnna Kerley


Posters and prints just don’t do great works of art justice—especially these. Take a trip to the right museum’s gallery and have a one-on-one with these masterpieces, or wait for the right tour and jump at them.

Editorial Staff


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You’d think that if you lived on a small cul-de-sac with only four houses, it would be simple: The house numbers would simply be one, two, three and four. But Government is not about “simple.”

Kara Kovalchik








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GEICO’s delightful customer service would have been wildly popular in any era. Luckily these weird fads are all stuck in the past.

Editorial Staff




Amazon.com

Beyond Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain and even Alton Brown exists a culinary world limited only by human imagination and gag reflex. Here we explore some lesser known but very intriguing cookbooks.

Therese Oneill
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Some words can be pronounced with two different syllable structures. What’s more interesting than fighting about who’s right is understanding why these differences arise.

Arika Okrent