Mental Floss

TOYS

You probably had dozens of them in a shoebox. They were strange and awesome and … pink. But just what were those M.U.S.C.L.E. figures anyway? Let’s take a look. The

Rob Lammle


istock.com/setsukon

Picture an atom. Now picture that atom getting excited. Maybe its birthday is coming up. Anyway, when an atom or a molecule gets excited, its electrons' energy levels go up. When the electrons fall back down to their normal state, they release energy in t

Matt Soniak


If you’re a member of my generation or the one that raised it, your house was probably full of all sorts of glow-in-the-dark stuff in the 80s and 90s. Yo-yo's, stickers, action figures, clothing, you name it. As a kid, I thought it was just short of magic

Matt Soniak




English actress Jenny Hanley shows off her Frisbee skills in 1971.

On January 23, 1957, the Wham-O toy company began producing their first Frisbees. But the flying plaything's history goes back even 20 years earlier, to a couple of bored teenagers.

Stacy Conradt

The inventor of Silly Putty probably didn’t find the substance that silly. Not only did he not make any money off of it, he doesn’t even get a clean claim at the invention: at least two men have insisted it was his happy accident that resulted in the toy.

Stacy Conradt


Arto Alanenpää, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

Ever wonder how Lincoln Logs or Sea Monkeys found their way into 20th-century toy stores? Here are the little-known origins of 10 classic toys.

Stacy Conradt


Didgeman, Pixabay

You wouldn't think something as small and mundane as a stamp would be much cause for controversy, but over the years, there are quite a few stamps that have upset more than just collectors.

Stacy Conradt