Death

The film star's death on June 29, 1967 led to lasting safety changes.

Burial and cremation aren't the only two options these days.

It all started when the 54-year-old returned home from a banquet and couldn't pee.

Defining it is more complicated than you think.

It wasn't battle that did him in.

Even if death, the Bard was eloquent.

Theresienstadt concentration camp was an oddity, even by Nazi standards.

Chemung County Historical Society, Elmira, NY

He saved lives on the Underground Railroad—then cared for the Confederate dead.

People that came before us are sometimes underfoot.

Strange as it sounds today, heart burial was once a common practice for European aristocrats.

Sezeryadigar/iStock via Getty Images Plus

New research shows that cutting back just isn't good enough.

When Hamilton met Aaron Burr in 1804, the scene would have been very familiar to a family tragedy in Hamilton's past.

Palette work from the collection of John Whitenight and Frederick LaValley

New exhibition explores a time when hair wasn't simply for heads.

The Birthday Effect is a statistical phenomenon that says the likelihood of one's death increases on or around their birthday.

The writer was found in great distress and wearing someone else's clothes. A few days later, he was dead.

Photo illustration by Lucy Quintanilla, Mental Floss. Saint Nicholas: HULTON ARCHIVE, GETTY IMAGES. Skulls, backgrounds: iStock

The Santa Claus of folklore doesn't have a skeleton. But his inspiration, Saint Nicholas, does, and people have been fighting over his bones since they were stolen nearly a millennium ago.

It's codenamed "London Bridge Is Down"

"The strangest tomb in America, if not in the world, is that which rest the remains of Lon Dorsa in Nevada, Mo. It is so constructed that the widow can look upon her deceased husband at will."

Villagers liked to make extra sure their deceased stayed that way.

Mental Floss talked to several to learn some little-known facts about the profession, from what happens behind the doors of the embalming room to the real reason you might want to think twice about that “protective” casket.