Mental Floss

LISTS



Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah in The Mummy (1999).

Since 1932, 'The Mummy' has been one of Universal Studios’s most successful and enduring franchises—and the 1999 version starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz was no exception.

Todd Gilchrist


The Imperial Caucasus Egg, 1893.

Fabergé eggs have long been symbols of craftsmanship, prestige, and ultimately tragedy. They tell a story of the wealth, power, and decadence that would seal the fate of the Romanovs.

Paris Franz




Dolly Parton will always love you, but she doesn't love you love you.

Love songs are like Rorschach tests—or, to put it more romantically, puffy clouds. We hear in them what we want, and that leaves lots of room for misinterpretation.

Kenneth Partridge




Getty Images

Even the most cinematically inclined of us may not have heard of the debut films of some of today’s most well-known directors.

Kathleen Elise




ThinkStock

The Coliseum of ancient Rome may have been the single most barbaric sporting venue in human history—in fact, some showdowns there were so ferocious that historians still talk about them today.

Mark Mancini


ThinkStock

You don’t have to watch The Walking Dead to catch some brain-eating action. In yet another example of the truth being stranger than fiction, it turns out that the animal kingdom has produced some consummate noggin-nibblers… including a few that might surp

Mark Mancini




ThinkStock

On October 15, Haribo owner Hans Riegel of Bonn, Germany, passed away at age 90, leaving behind a candy-coated, fruity-flavored empire of gold-bears, frogs, rattle snakes, assorted fruits, and soda bottles.

Jessica Bloustein Marshall


Operators at the switchboard of the Magneto Exchange of the National Telephone Company.

Thanks to developments in science and technology, you can't add jobs like slubber doffers and night soil men to your resume these days.

Meredith Danko