Mental Floss

POP CULTURE

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More than 200 years after her death, English novelist Jane Austen continues to be celebrated for her sharp, biting prose on love's various entanglements.

Jake Rossen








Carl Lender - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

On August 1, 1942, Jerry Garcia was born in San Francisco, California—and would soon go on to change the history of music as we know it.

Jennifer M Wood
Warner Home Video

Though it was released on August 6, 1999, Brad Bird's feature directorial debut would have to wait until the next millennium to achieve its cult status as a modern animated classic.

Michele Debczak




BBC

Anyone who has ever read Jane Austen’s 'Pride and Prejudice' has surely conjured up their own idea of what Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy would look like in real life. But a couple of academics and one illustrator are here to dash your dreams.

Jennifer M Wood


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The popular board game, which has been a household staple for 70 years, was originally conceived in the polio wing of a hospital.

Jake Rossen








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Since rising to fame playing Stringer Bell in 'The Wire,' Idris Elba has cemented a solid place for himself as one of Hollywood's most in-demand—and bankable—actors.

Natalie Zamora


Discovery

Summer television changed forever in 1988, when Shark Week made its Discovery Channel debut. Now, we all strive to live every week like it’s Shark Week.

Jennifer M Wood
David Cairns/Express/Getty Images

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of our country's most stylish and elegant icons for decades, but she was no empty, aloof beauty.

Ethan Trex
Stellan Skarsgård's got nothing on the super-smart sharks in Deep Blue Sea (1999).

This so-bad-it's-good horror flick swam into theaters more than 20 years ago. Here are a few things you might not have known about it.

Erin McCarthy