Mental Floss

NEWS

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

In 1971, the legendary director was 24 years old and looking to break out with his first movie gig. He eventually found it in an issue of 'Playboy.'

iStock

If you're timid about diving onto a psychiatrist's couch, remember: It could be worse. Like getting-a-hole-drilled-into-your-skull worse.

iStock

Hearing is all about perception.

Evening Standard/Getty Images

Though there are still plenty of questions that need answering.

Morfeus Arkitekter. Photo: Silja Lena Løken / Statens vegvesen

This remote roadside toilet puts all other rest stops to shame.

iStock

In short: yes and no.

iStock

Before the 20th century, concert musicians might tune their instruments to wildly different pitches, depending on where they were playing.

iStock

We all have to go sometime. Hopefully, it won't be while choking to death at a cockroach-eating contest.

iStock

Don't let food gone bad ruin your summer.

Guillermo Kahlo, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Frida Kahlo’s life and work were defined by pain and perseverance. Read on for facts about the accident that changed her life, her famous romances, her exotic pets, and more.

A spider exhibiting ballooning behavior.

It could explain how spiders can take to the skies even on windless days.

Ronald Reagan And Mikhail Gorbachev Meet In Iceland

With its Blue Lagoon thermal spa and unrivaled views of the Northern Lights, Iceland is one of the world's top tourist destinations, drawing over 2 million visitors last year alone.

Edward Brophy, Josephine Joseph, and Matt McHugh in Tod Browning's Freaks (1932).

Tod Browning's sideshow spectacle is considered a classic, or at least a cult favorite, today—but its original reception wasn't quite so welcoming.

iStock

You may not be able to spend it, but that ripped bill isn't worthless.

Getty Images

To Louis Armstrong's millions of fans, every note the legendary musician let loose made the world feel a bit more wonderful.

iStock

Where dogs are treated like royalty.

Fox Photos/Getty Images

Adolf Hitler was not a fan of theirs.

iStock

The household product that can banish unsightly stains is sitting right in your kitchen.

Public Domain, Flickr

One technological breakthrough left the common pencil in the dust.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

While it was author J.K. Rowling who ultimately suggested the alternative title, she still regrets the decision.

YouTube

He wrote a <em>Three Stooges</em> script before they got famous.

iStock

Put your Willy Wonka skills to the test.

Nathan’s Famous is a staple of Coney Island.

Nathan's hot dogs are as American as, well, Nathan's hot dog eating contest.

Illustration by Mental Floss. Images: iStock

It's very different from dizziness.