Mental Floss

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From smart speakers to fitness trackers, give mom the splurge gifts she really wants this year.

Stressed about what to give to mom this year? From fitness trackers to DNA testing kits, the best gifts for moms run the gamut, but they can help make her holiday season even more meaningful.

Hannah McDonald


Where the ‘nog’ came from is a bit of a mystery.

The ‘egg’ part of ‘eggnog’ is obvious. The ‘nog’ is a little more mysterious—possibly involving noggins and/or grog.

Ellen Gutoskey






Charles Dickens.

Dickens’s unprecedented celebrity made him the most popular novelist of his century—but the author of Great Expectations, Bleak House, A Christmas Carol, and dozens of other works was more than just a writer.

Sean Hutchinson








There’s hope for your New Year’s resolution past January.

We celebrate the same holidays every year, but how much do we actually know about these annual traditions? And how much of what we think we know is actually true?

Bethel Afful