Mental Floss

GOVERNMENT

Westsylvania is just one state that never made the cut.

The road to our 50 states is littered with wannabe territories that couldn't wait to be admitted to the union, but never quite got there. Here are 12 states that could have been.

M Asher Cantrell
One of many protests against the Vietnam War in the late 1960s.

The deeply unpopular war led to the biggest and most consequential protest movement in U.S. history. Here are the key events and reactions.

Tim Brinkhof








U.S. troops in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was a highly controversial conflict. We break down some of the most common questions about the war, from why the U.S. entered the conflict to who ultimately won.

Colin Scanlon




Senator Joseph McCarthy (center) and Roy Cohn (right) during the Army-McCarthy Hearings in June 1954.

McCarthyism advertised itself as a response to national security threats created by the Cold War, including Soviet espionage. But the movement was bigger than Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Tim Brinkhof




The ACLU regularly argues cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The group was founded during World War I to defend Americans’ First Amendment freedoms. Over the years, that mission has taken some unexpected turns.

Shaunacy Ferro


A mass of shipping containers at the port of Shenzen, China.

Tariffs are a means for one country to wrangle better trade terms with another country and to protect domestic manufacturing. Unfortunately, they don’t always deliver.

Tim Brinkhof


A person holds an American flag during a naturalization ceremony on the ship ‘Wavertree’ in New York City. The 20 candidates were from 17 countries and 5 of the candidates were current or former members of the U.S. military.

Could you pass the civics portion of the U.S. citizenship test? Applicants must answer six of 10 questions correctly—and it’s harder than it sounds.

Jason English