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The Alfred Wegener Institute research ship Polarstern reached the North Pole on August 19, 2020, during the year-long MOSAiC expedition to study climate change in the Arctic.

For most of history, the North Pole was the stuff of legends and wild theories. Now people run a marathon there every April. Here are more unexpected facts about the top of the world.

Shoshi Parks
















"So that's why I twitch in my sleep!"

While the COVID-19 pandemic was a driving force behind some of Mental Floss's most popular stories of 2020, the historical precedent of the 1918 pandemic was clearly of interest, too.

mentalfloss .com
Octavia E. Butler autographs a copy of Fledgling at a book signing.

Born in Pasadena, California, on June 22, 1947, science fiction author Octavia E. Butler was one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century.

Kritika Agrawal