Mental Floss

MYTHS

Walkabout Films via Flickr // CC BY-ND 2.0

After testing evidence collected from the Tibetan Plateau and from museum collections, they found the biological root of the Yeti legends to be local bears.

Tales of headless horseman predate The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

From myths to literature to giant squid, here's how some of our favorite eerie creatures and legends got their start.

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Spilling pepper, complimenting a baby, and cutting your fingernails after dark are just a few of the things that will earn you bad luck around the world.

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Just because the creatures are mythical doesn't mean there aren't hunting regulations.

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Trackers are looking for “information leading to ... a bona fide Bigfoot."

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In many cases, you can predict the color of an egg based not on the hen's feather coloring, but by their earlobe coloring.

Luke Spencer

Crocker Land was all but a phantom—one that famed explorer Robert E. Peary had invented out of the thin Arctic air.

A photograph of Portland, Oregon's Mill Ends Park—the world's smallest park.

“Ireland” may be the most popular answer given when someone is asked about where leprechauns supposedly roam, but Portland, Oregon has its very own population of little green-clad Irishmen, too.

Original Art by Zardulu

The remains are commonly believed to be elaborate pieces of faux-taxidermy created for entertainment purposes at Edo Period carnivals called Misemonos.

Wikipedia // CC BY-SA 2.0

"My life contains freedom, adventure, unpredictability, and the chance of one of the world’s greatest discoveries."

Santa with a NORAD escort.

On December 24, 1955, the red telephone at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center started to ring. When they picked up the phone, a little girl asked an unexpected question: “Are you really Santa Claus?”

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Sasquatch might want to steer clear of Texas.

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Presented by Travel Channel.

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Presented by Travel Channel.

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How you define the Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, and Bigfoot has less to do with the creatures themselves than their country of origin.

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The next time you go to squash a bug, perhaps it's worth pausing to consider if its very presence is trying to tell you something.

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Presented by Adam Ruins Everything.

Lucas Cranach the Elder via Wikimedia // Public Domain

Their huge size evokes ideas of superhuman strength, yet in many legends the giant is in fact a tragic character.

Illustration by Chloe Effron

From benevolent to malevolent, many cultures have their own versions of mermaids.

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

The footprints remain unexplained to this day.

"Welcome to Denver!" – Blucifer.

From biological warfare to underground bunkers to "Blucifer" the horse, Denver's airport has generated a lot of mysterious buzz.

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Sometimes a song is just a song.

On this week's episode of 'Misconceptions,' Elliott debunks some commonly-held notions about the Greek and Roman gods.

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Including stories like “The Ungrateful Children and the Old Father Who Went to School Again.”