Mental Floss

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With the 'Crash Bandicoot' series celebrating its 25th anniversary this September, we're looking back at some of the series's unused ideas and early marketing efforts.

Paul Cecchini


A 2018 Kidz Bop performance in New York City.

Unfortunately, there’s no official Kidz Bop version of “WAP.” But there’s no shortage of other comical covers to amuse yourself with.

Ellen Gutoskey
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Not everyone is buried six feet under the verdant grass of a cemetery. Some choose to spend eternity at the bottom of the ocean or the top of a high rise.

Allison C Meier
TV ads love to pit products against one another.

In the 1970s and 1980s, television was full of commercials featuring unsuspecting consumers discovering their preferred brand of peanut butter or coffee was hot garbage.

Jake Rossen
The Appalachian Mountains have a long, fascinating history.

The Appalachian Mountains occupy a towering spot in North American cultural identity, thanks in part to the Appalachian Trail. The rugged peaks have been influencing the continent for a lot longer than we’ve been around to appreciate them.

Zoë Randolph


An illustration of an eel circa 1889.

Some eels are big, some are small, and more than a few come with nightmarish jaws. Naturalists have been probing the creatures' mysterious habits for millennia. Here's what you need to know.

Mark Mancini




bell hooks speaking in 2009.

Gloria Jean Watkins, who was better known by her pen name bell hooks, is widely considered as one of the most influential intellectuals and writers of the late-20th century.

Kritika Agrawal


U.S. soldiers in an M24 Chaffee light tank driving through Bologna, Italy, in 1945.

Did kamikaze pilots really volunteer? Did the U.S. really declare war against the Axis powers directly after Pearl Harbor? We're debunking some of the most common misconceptions about World War II.

Jake Rossen
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From his start in 'Roots' to his decades-long role hosting Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton has spent years inspiring and educating legions of fans of all ages.

Lana Schwartz
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Despite its reputation as a learned language of science, religion, and philosophy, ancient Latin was in fact a rough-and-ready language full of strikingly frank insults designed to cut to the bone.

Keith Johnston