Mental Floss

TRAVEL



iStock.com/Thomas Schnitzler

Visitors to Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon in Iceland nearly doubled after Justin Bieber shot a music video there—but is the pop star really to blame for the site's closure?

Michele Debczak




Kisses and graffiti left at Oscar Wilde's tomb in Paris

Whether it's leaving playing cards or bullets, or drinking a cognac toast, there are a variety of traditional ways to pay tribute at famous tombs.

Bess Lovejoy


Maksym Kozlenko, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

American products are available around the world—but they're not always called by the name they've been given in the U.S. Here are 12 American goods with different international names.

Rudie Obias








Kameleon007/iStock via Getty Images

Each year, more than 1 million people descend on New Orleans for Mardi Gras, an organized parade of debauchery and alcohol-induced torpor where plastic beads are tossed as a kind of currency.

Jake Rossen








iStock.com/SumikoPhoto

Whether you’ve made the trek yourself or seen it on a postcard, the Grand Canyon is one of the most instantly recognizable sights in the United States. But how well do you really know the Colorado River’s most famous handiwork?

M. Arbeiter
iStock/Sean Pavone

Although the towering tribute to President George Washington is an icon of the Washington, D.C. skyline, there might be a few things you don't know about the Washington Monument's history.

M. Arbeiter