Mental Floss

NEWS













Chad was a popular Gen X name.

The generation born between 1965 and 1980 loves nostalgia, has a ton of student debt, and hates cooking.

Jake Rossen, Bethel Afful, Jon Mayer, Justin Dodd




What happened in these deaths is far from clear.

Explorers who vanished off the face of the earth. Conquerors, composers, and scientists who expired from strange illnesses. People tantalizingly close to power who wound up dead. When it comes to these deaths, we might never know what really happened.

Lorna Wallace, mentalfloss .com








Black sunglasses not required.

From funeral homes only using hearses to transport bodies to having to wear black to a memorial service, we’re laying some common myths about funerals to rest in the latest episode of ‘Misconceptions.’

mentalfloss .com
“The Plague Hospital,” a painting by Francisco Goya.

The Black Death—the world's second bubonic plague pandemic—decimated the populations of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe in the 14th century. But there was a silver lining.

Claire Cock-Starkey