Mental Floss

WORDS

Wildfires have reached historic proportions this year.

The August Complex fire ravaging California is being called a "gigafire," and it's every bit as imposing and destructive as the name implies.

Jake Rossen








Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

The name "Jim Crow" appears throughout many U.S. history books, but he was a caricature—not a real person.

Michele Debczak


The last lines from The Great Gatsby are also on F. Scott Fitzgerald's gravestone.

Celebrate National Book Lovers Day with the last lines from ‘The Great Gatsby,’ ‘Little Women,’ and 17 other classic novels.

Ellen Gutoskey








3 p.m. is basically noon for people who wake up at 12 p.m.

We don’t know exactly when or why noon began to refer to 12 p.m., but it could have something to do with hungry monks.

Ellen Gutoskey