Mental Floss

LISTS

Love your liver.

Not only is the liver your largest internal organ; it is in charge of hundreds of bodily processes ranging from fighting infection to manufacturing proteins and hormones to helping your blood clot.

Jordan Rosenfeld
Airfares are often cheaper on the holiday itself.

While we can’t promise that your journey to grandma’s house this year will be enjoyable, we know of a few travel tips to make it less stressful.

Emily Petsko






Free-range chickens.

Bird flu is one of the reasons egg prices have skyrocketed. Here’s what else you should know about the current outbreak of the H5N1 virus among U.S. poultry and dairy cows.

Nick Keppler


The Parthenon sits atop Athens’s Acropolis.

The ancient Acropolis has loomed over the Greek city of Athens for more than 3000 years as a defensive citadel, temple complex, weather station, and even a site of resistance against the Nazis.

Allison C Meier
Happy 25th birthday to the below things.

Here are 25 of the best things the year 2000 gave us, from the birth of iconic franchises to scientific advancements that we may take for granted.

Sam Hindman
Tim Allen in 'The Santa Clause'

From deleted subplots to a very different original opening to a Santa suit so bad it almost made Tim Allen start a fight, here are 14 facts about the making of 'The Santa Clause.'

Matthew Jackson








‘The Polar Express’

Based on the classic 1985 children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, the movie follows a young Santa Claus skeptic on a magical train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

Michele Debczak








Max Schreck stars in the original ‘Nosferatu’ (1922).

The 1922 German silent film shamelessly plagiarized Bram Stoker’s novel ‘Dracula.’ But if ‘Nosferatu’ had never been made, the vampire genre so embedded in pop culture might never have taken off.

Mark Mancini
The Treasury at Petra in Jordan.

Carved from rock in modern-day Jordan, Petra prospered for centuries under Nabataean and Roman rule. This dazzling settlement is now one of the region’s greatest attractions.

Benjamin Lampkin