This kid is in for a bad time. / LWA/Stone/Getty Images (boy and pole); Justin Dodd/Mental Floss (question mark background) ...

In 1907, an American writer named George Schorb published Riddles and Drawing Room Magic, an illustrated compendium of jokes, puzzles, card games, parlor games, sleight-of-hand tricks, and ...

Before they were called “Mary Janes,” the strappy shoes were known as Buster Browns after the classic comic book character.

Anyone with a college degree knows that picking a major and sticking to it isn’t easy. The University of Tulsa states that roughly 80 percent of college students change their major at least once. If ...

If there’s one non-fiction genre that’s really having its moment right now, it’s true crime. The current cultural craze for the genre kicked off with the podcast Serial in 2014. And ever since Netflix ...

The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius once said, “be like the cliffs against which the waves break and break.” Here are the stories of eight nations who stood like cliffs against the might of Rome and ...

In April 2024, animal control officers in Watertown, Connecticut, discovered two black vultures in bad shape. The befuddled birds struggled to stand and seemed to waver in and of consciousness. At a ...

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

The Wizard of Oz captivated audiences upon its release in 1939. People fell for the film’s loveable characters, whimsical world, and iconic songs, making it a triumph in cinematic history. Fans can ...

In June 2005, an Australian woman landed at Melbourne Airport after a vacation in Singapore and was stopped by customs officials. The skirt she was wearing bulged oddly, and they could hear what was ...

Space exploration often invokes the idea of durable, cutting-edge materials that can withstand extreme environmental ...

Born Berta Hummel in 1909, Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel was both an artist and a nun from the Third Order of St. Francis.