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Franklin Pierce was, by all measures, set up for a life of military and political success, the height of which he achieved when he took the oath of the nation's highest office on March 4, 1853. Here's what you should know about "Fainting Frank."
'On the Road,' Jack Kerouac’s stream-of-consciousness travelogue, charts the adventures of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as they road trip across the United States. Here’s what you should know.
No Mental Floss celebration—and no celebration of Mental Floss—would be complete without dropping a few fascinating facts and tidbits of trivia.
The heads on this list—whether human or animal, ancient artifact or geological feature—have actually changed the course of history, some in surprising ways that impact us every day.
Physical education in centuries past was sadistic, sexist, and just plain bizarre. Be grateful you never had to experience these P.E. nightmares.
Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks ... or did she? Let's separate the fact from the fiction of Lizzie's legend.
Profound quotes about books and reading from the likes of Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, George R.R. Martin, Salman Rushdie, and more of your favorite authors.
Thanks to developments in science and technology, you can't add jobs like slubber doffers and night soil men to your resume these days.
What exactly is the Witness Protection Program, and how does it work? Here's what you need to know about the secretive program.
The solar system: It’s big, it’s heliocentric, and it’s got space junk to spare. Here are 24 out-of-this-world facts about the corner of space that’s home to Earth.
Some of history's most unusual heists involve high-profile art, food, bugs and bee hives, bizarre disguises, and, yes, money, jewels, and gold.
The Lykov family left Russian society under persecution in the 1930s and remained hidden until 1978.
You can express a lot with a fan.
What's the correct way to describe a group of your favorite animal? A "bunch of worms" may sound like a lazy descriptor, but it's correct.
James K. Polk may have served just one term, but he was one of history’s most consequential U.S. presidents. Polish up on Young Hickory, America's 11th Commander in Chief.
The controversial founder of Planned Parenthood led an interesting life.
In the 1950s, Isaac Asimov wrote a series of six science fiction novels for children using the pseudonym Paul French.
Number 38 once locked himself out of the White House.
These adorable aquatic mammals are clever, chatty, and oddly aromatic.
These adorable aquatic mammals are clever, chatty, and oddly aromatic.
Twenty-ninth president Warren G. Harding had a code name for his genitals—and a big family secret that was revealed nearly a century after his death.
They're some of the most jumpy creatures on the African savanna (in more ways than one).
Among the American Revolution's many heroes, Crispus Attucks is immortalized as the "first to defy, the first to die."
Our nation's third president bribed a reporter and kept a pet mockingbird. For more on Jefferson’s life, accomplishments, and controversies, take a look at this assembly of 25 facts.