Mental Floss

WORDS

The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda) by Luis Meléndez, circa 1772

In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were as many words for lunch as there were varieties of it. Below is a lexicon of some of these splendid words.

Keith Johnston








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