Mental Floss

NEWS









The menu is a restaurant staple nowadays, but they haven't always been a part of dining out. From the Song dynasty in China to the first inns and taverns of France, the path toward the humble menu is a long and winding journey.

Michele Debczak














Clockwise from left: Kazuo Ishiguro, Toni Morrison, Gabriel García Márquez, and Nadine Gordimer.

The Swedish Academy has been awarding Nobel Prizes in Literature since 1901; here are a few laureates whose books you might want to consider picking up.

Erin McCarthy


Cleopatra in a 1930s illustration

The queen has achieved legendary status more than two millennia after her death—which, contrary to rumor, may not have been caused by the bite of an asp.

Stacy Conradt