Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

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While they might seem trivial to some degree in today’s world of technological check-ins, the numbers aren’t entirely random, and they aren’t meaningless. In fact, you can presume a lot about a flight just by its number.

Will McGough
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Possibly the only thing worse than morning breath is the alarm clock itself, but no amount of brushing, flossing, or stinging mouthwash rinsing the night before seem capable of saving you from the stinking scourge. What gives?

Roma Panganiban








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One of America's most intriguing cold cases heated up this week when a tip from a retired mobster sent FBI and Michigan law enforcement officials wielding shovels and bulldozers to a suburban Detroit field in search of the decades-old remains of former Te

Jessica Bloustein Marshall
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When I saw the Caribbean Sea in person for the first time, my eyes metaphorically popped out of my head. As a kid who grew up in South Jersey, I was used to the dirty, almost brown, kinda-sorta blue color of the coastal Atlantic Ocean. But this was differ

Will McGough


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Encores have become concert standard issue. Artists pencil in a big hit or two at the back end of their set list, walk off stage, wait for fans to shout for the encore, act surprised, play aforementioned hit songs in all their encore glory, rinse, repeat.

Erik van Rheenen


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Unfortunately, the first athlete to playfully slap a teammate on the butt didn’t record his reasoning for history, but it’s become common practice among professionals and amateurs alike, and many have their own take on it.

Matt Soniak




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Despite the fact that this particular facial hair style had been around since at least 100 BC (one of the earliest known depictions is a mosaic of Alexander the Great), sideburns were named after a specific man in the late 19th century.

Daven Hiskey


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Oklahoma City holds the dubious distinction of being the unofficial Tornado Capital of the United States. The U.S. city and its suburbs have endured more tornados than any other city—100 since 1890, as far back as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ

Jessica Bloustein Marshall


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Reader Bruce wrote in to ask, “When there is a heavy rain, worms climb out on the pavement, only to die when the rain stops. Why do worms commit suicide?”

Matt Soniak




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Luckily for us, our bodies have procedures to counter the sun our bodies absorb.

Matt Soniak
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After making the butler the culprit in her book, Rinehart would later be almost killed by one of her own servants who wanted to be promoted to her butler.

Matt Soniak