Mental Floss

LISTS

Apple once tried to take a bite out of the video gaming market.

Plenty of consumer brands have abandoned their core market to try something new. Sometimes it works, and sometimes you wind up with Bic pantyhose.

Jake Rossen


Nothing to see here—just a baby in a cage hanging out a window, taking in the air!

A lot has changed between the 19th century and today, but one thing that hasn't is the plethora of available parenting advice—though the following tips would likely make today's parents scratch their chins.

Ellen Gutoskey










"The best movies begin with an / encounter and end with someone setting someone free."

Poems have helped to create some of the most poignant scenes in movies—think of W.H. Auden’s "Funeral Blues" in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral,' or Elizabeth Bishop’s "One Art" in 'In Her Shoes.' Movies, in turn, have inspired some spectacular poems.

Keith Johnston




Pictured: The 1980s.

In the 1980s, shopping malls across America hosted everything from video game demonstrations to fans screaming for Patrick Duffy.

Jake Rossen






Tom Hanks appears during the 2020 Carousel of Hope Ball benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.

You know that Tom Hanks is an Oscar-winning actor, and that he recently played Fred Rogers on the big screen. But did you know that he's actually related to Mr. Rogers? (And to Abraham Lincoln, too.)

Dana Rose Falcone


RuPaul hosts RuPaul's Drag Race.

From its humble beginnings on Logo TV to its current status as an awards show darling (19 Emmys and counting), 'RuPaul's Drag Race' has been on our TV screens for over a decade now.

Meg Fozzard