Mental Floss
Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

A crowd of workers gathered at a May Day event in New York City, early 20th century.

May Day isn’t just for Maypole-dancing anymore. Here's how May 1 evolved from a pagan holiday to a communist day of remembrance.

Michele Debczak
There have been 23 Pope Johns, but only one Pope Francis.

For centuries, men assuming the top job in the Roman Catholic Church kept their birth names. That changed with Pope John II.

Paul Park
An aerial view of a sinkhole in Wales that appeared in December 2024.

Sinkholes have gulped down suburban homes, Corvettes, the White House lawn, a sizable chunk of Louisiana, and even people. How does the ground just open up like that?

Roma Panganiban
Just a proud pup and his stash of bones.

Dogs can tear up a lawn with an overwhelming desire to dig and bury things. Where does that impulse come from, and what do they think they’re accomplishing?

Jake Rossen
Not a dire wolf.

“It’s like if you took a chimpanzee and edited its genome to be a little taller and hairless, and then said you brought back Neanderthals,” one scientist said.

Jennifer Billock
Tomatoes can be either fruit or vegetable, depending on who you talk to.

One vendor’s dispute against a 19th-century import tariff led the U.S. Supreme Court to classify the tomato as a vegetable. But botanists disagree.

Jake Rossen
PREVNEXT