Next time you bring back a library book a few days past its due date, know that your fine could have been a lot worse.

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From arts and education to coups and annexations, there’s no doubt that Catherine the Great did more than history gives her credit for.
Is it coleslaw or cold slaw? Deep-seated or deep-seeded? There are right answers, but the wrong ones seem kind of right, too.
From acrophobia (the fear of heights) to zuigerphobia (the fear of vacuum cleaners), there are plenty of things to be scared of—rationally or otherwise.
You can save big money during Prime Day 2023, but you have to know where to look.
Insects can interrupt a nice day outdoors by using your legs as a buffet table. Here's how to quell the itching.
These YouTube tutorials will give you all the basics to learn something fun (like training your cat to give high fives or calligraphy) or practical (like CPR).
Bret Easton Ellis’s debut 1985 novel “Less Than Zero” was quickly adapted for the big screen, but here are some fun facts you probably didn’t know about the book (and the Brat Pack-led drama).
You couldn't hit the snooze button on these wake-up calls.
Your parents were probably laughing at Eddie Murphy, Mel Brooks, or the guys from Monty Python.
Sometimes words move up in the world. Their meanings change with time, becoming more positive—a process linguists call amelioration.
Jimmy Buffett—yeah, the “Margaritaville” guy—is one of just a few authors to have books that topped both the fiction and non-fiction ‘New York Times’ bestsellers lists. Other authors that have that distinction include Hemingway and Steinbeck.
Poignant, funny, sad, weird, or mean—last words can make quite the impact as we shuffle off the stage of life. Here are 65 notable examples.
Bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was once thrown in a military prison for running away to pose in a competition.
Opossums have a bad reputation, but they’re smarter and more beneficial to people than other woodland denizens. Discover more about these unique marsupials here.
He’s best remembered for saying “Give me liberty or give me death,” but did Henry actually utter those words?
People have come up with a range of ingenious, harebrained, and sometimes grim but often remarkable ways to stay cool during a summer scorcher.
Famed choreographer Willi Ninja's pioneering dance moves and gender-fluid style had a lasting influence on music and fashion, which still persists to this day.
'The Canterbury Tales' author Geoffrey Chaucer's work spanned poetry and prose and ranged from the humorous to the scientific—but there's so much more to know about the "father of English poetry."
We asked Myron Mixon—a.k.a. the winningest man in barbeque—for some tips to help you nail it this barbecue season.
Her tricky smile and timeless allure have inspired academic study and artistic emulation for more than five centuries. But the story of this perplexing portrait of 'Mona Lisa' is even richer than it looks.
Most of us never find ourselves in a battle for our lives. That makes these incredible survival stories all the more memorable.