Mental Floss

RETRO

Wikipedia / The Internet Archive

Happy 30th birthday, 1984! If you're turning 30 this year, you're in good company—here are 30 things that share your birth year.

Chris Higgins, Adrienne Crezo
















BFI

In 1926, British-born filmmaker Claude Friese-Greene filmed the streets of London in breathtaking color. But only recently has the British Film Institute released an extract of their restoration of Friese-Greene's footage.

Bryan Dugan






Thinkstock

If you're turning 25 this year, good news—you can now rent a car in the US without paying a weird fee <i>and</i> you're as old as the California Raisins. Read on, before your quarter-life crisis hits.

Chris Higgins, Adrienne Crezo


In 1997, the idea that you could access email (specifically Hotmail) via a web browser was pretty revolutionary. "Even attachments show up!" exclaims the host in this charming segment of 'The Computer Chronicles.'

Chris Higgins
YouTube / Computer Chronicles

Our definition of portability has changed over the years, from 1975's IBM 5100 (what we used to call a "luggable" computer) all the way to today's ultrabooks, which are finally actually "notebook" sized -- and still have halfway decent battery life.

Chris Higgins