Mental Floss

LISTS

Cloaca just ... sounds better.

Sometimes the dreadful things we must suffer can seem a little less grim when they have the sweet ring, nay—the dulcet tones of euphonious polysyllabic Latin appellations.

Keith Johnston




Franz Drameh, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones, and John Boyega in Joe Cornish's Attack the Block (2011).

When 'Attack the Block' arrived in theaters in 2011, it recouped just half of its $11 million budget. The critics, however, were positive in their reviews, and the film became a cult classic.

Tony Dunnell




Yousuf Karsh, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 2.0

Although Winston Churchill is best known as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, Churchill had plenty of other accomplishments beyond his political and military endeavors.

Carla Delgado
A still from Ishirô Honda's King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963).

'Godzilla vs. Kong'—a new slugfest from Legendary Pictures—is set to be released on March 31, 2021. But it won't be the first time these monsters have faced off; they met once before in 1962’s 'King Kong vs. Godzilla.'

Mark Mancini
Brandon Kyle Goodman, Olivia Cooke, and Andrew Scott in Modern Love.

"Modern Love," The New York Times's long-running column detailing real-life love stories, is also a podcast and a critically acclaimed, star-filled TV series that is awaiting its second season.

Escher Walcott






Holding a bingo game without the correct permit in North Carolina could get you in trouble.

Have you handled fish in "suspicious circumstances," or kept your prescription medication in something other than its prescription bottle? Depending on where you are, you might have broken one of many strange laws on the books.

Jason Serafino


This magnificent Iron Age cauldron is just one of many amazing items found in a bog.

Bogs have an almost magical power to preserve organic material. From butter to bodies, here are 11 of the most amazing things archaeologists have recovered from bogs.

Patty Hamrick




Vintage illustration of Thomas Edison and the phonograph.

You may know that Thomas Edison was a prolific inventor who revolutionized the electric light bulb. But have you heard about his creepy talking dolls?

Mark Mancini


Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower photographed in 1957.

Ahhh, the marriage proposal. Never has a tradition been surrounded by so much anxiety, planning, and the potential to be embarrassing and, well, even downright cringe-worthy.

Erika Wolf


Jeff Golden, Getty Images

Drones, insects, and frozen pee are just a few of the identified objects that have been mistakenly reported as UFOs.

Michele Debczak
Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks find romance in the afterlife in Defending Your Life (1991).

While there are some people who dismiss the romantic comedy genre outright, we'd argue that almost everyone can find at least one rom-com that resonates with them. If you haven't met your rom-com match yet, read on for 20 of the best of them.

Matthew Jackson
The Backstreet Boys—Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson—photographed in 1995.

Although they’ve never been taken too seriously, boy bands have been a force ever since The Beatles took the stage on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' and the world witnessed female "hysteria" at its best.

Erika Wolf