Mental Floss

LISTS

A speech bubble with the word “homely” in it

Think twice before responding if someone calls you one of these words.

Go with 'goozlum' instead of 'gravy' this Thanksgiving.

Go with ‘goozlum’ instead of ‘gravy’ this Thanksgiving.

Gen Z is a lot more socially active than you may assume.

Spoiler alert: Many Gen Zers aren’t kids anymore.

Anne Frank Museum in New York

From coded confessions to bone-chilling firsthand accounts of battle, these diarists used private confession to illuminate history for generations to come.

An emperor penguin colony in Antarctica.

We take a look at a handful misconceptions about Antarctica, from its alleged populations of bears to its current ownership.

Charles Dickens

Many famous authors called unexpected animals their pets.

Turkmenistan’s Gateway to Hell crater

As bizarre as they seem, these natural phenomena across the world are explained by science.

Christmas tree traditions have evolved quite a bit over the centuries.

From ears of corn to live canaries, these old-school trimmings didn’t make the jump to modern times.

We have you covered.

Life is bursting with pairs of commonly confused things—we’ll teach you how to tell a bunch of them apart.

People riding bikes down the Pacific Coast Highway

Who says driving has to be boring? These seven drives will fully consume you as you’re heading to your destination.

Hannah Waddingham in ‘Ted Lasso’ season 2 on Apple TV.

You’ve seen the classic holiday movies multiple times. Now it’s time to check out these special TV episodes.

Thanksgiving '97. The day Barney was killed

From Felix the Cat catching fire to the Great Balloon Massacre of 1997, here are the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade's most infamous moments.

Stephen King

Many Stephen King books will take you a good week (or more) to get through—but not these. These are five great reads that you can get through in a weekend.

An assortment of sanitary products.

There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about menstruation. But it’s important to parse out what’s true and what’s a lie.

Winter storm in Erie, Pennsylvania

These 10 cities in the United States experience winter like no other.

Protesting is a powerful way to enact change.

History is full of important protests that legitimately effected change.

Does anyone actually even like Jell-O salad?

If the Thanksgiving side dish involved mixing mayo and cranberries with gelatin, it should stay in the past. The same goes for pork cake.

Stephen King

How many of these King adaptations have you seen before?

A Thanksgiving dinner table

The experience is more than just where you live, but there are certainly ways to reduce your stress over small space.

Don't fall for these common video game misconceptions.

Video games have been around for many decades—so it’s no surprise a number of myths and rumors have cropped up surrounding them.

A person during a snowstorm

Brave the cold this winter with these cheap hacks.

Autumn sunset over Central Park, New York City

The top three cities of the list might not surprise you.

We may never truly know what happened.

The fates of these sailors and ships remain lost to history.

Stuffed squash is filling and flavorful.

These vegetarian mains won’t make you miss the turkey (or Tofurky) this Thanksgiving.