Mental Floss

In-N-Out employees are fed up with the secret menu.

FOOD

In-N-Out Workers Reveal Which ‘Secret Menu’ Items Are Fake

OLYMPICS

How Is the Olympic Flame Lit—and How Does It Stay Lit?

ARCHITECTURE

15 Monumental Facts About the Eiffel Tower

OLYMPICS

Why Won’t Team USA Dip the Flag at the Olympics Opening Ceremonies?

An ouroboros on a grave marker in West Highgate Cemetery, London.

HISTORY

Ouroboros: The Origins and Meaning of the Snake Eating its Tail

Simone Biles has five gymnastics skills named for her.

OLYMPICS

11 Female Gymnasts With Skills Named After Them

It's one way to get a party started.

BIG QUESTIONS

Why Do Grooms Break a Glass at Jewish Weddings?

Just a few punctuation marks that don’t get nearly enough usage.

LISTS

13 Little-Known Punctuation Marks We Should Be Using

LANGUAGE

1

5 of the World’s Most Interesting Directional Systems

2

Why Do We Call the 2000s “the Aughts”?

3

Boston Slang: 25 Wicked Good Terms You Should Know

4

Why Do We Say “Crickets” When It’s Silent?

5

18 Spanish Insults and Curses You Should Know

HISTORY

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Rosemary Fowler (seated) receives her doctorate from Sir Paul Nurse, chancellor of the University of Bristol, at a ceremony at Darwin College, Cambridge, UK.

A 98-Year-Old Physicist Finally Got Her Ph.D., 75 Years After Her Major Discovery

Veeps with jobs: John C. Breckinridge (left), John Nance Gardner (center), and Schuyler Colfax (right)

How 8 Vice Presidents Made a Living After Leaving Office

Impress your crafty friends by actually knowing how their sewing equipment works.

What's the Purpose of the Little Strawberry Attached to Pincushions?

Olympic gold medals are the zenith of athletic achievement.

The 20 Countries With the Most Olympic Gold Medals

OLYMPICS

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Bring back tug of war!

10 Sports Cut From The Olympics

Jesse Owens (right) starting the 100-meter sprint at the 1936 Olympic Games—which he would go on to win.

Watch Jesse Owens Win Four Golds at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany

Robert Redford in ‘Downhill Racer.’

10 Great Olympics Movies

Vanderlei Lima getting attacked by Neil Horan at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

10 Scandals That Rocked the Summer Olympics

FEATURES

The Pattersons left everything behind in 1957.

The El Paso Enigma: The Disappearance of William and Margaret Patterson

The Man Who Saved the Skyscraper

Rest in penis.

There’s the Rub: How One Murder Victim’s Risqué Grave Became a French Fertility Icon

BIG QUESTIONS

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General Tso's chicken

Who Was General Tso, and What Does He Have to Do with Chicken?

This American icon has become a rare sight.

Why Are Convertible Cars Disappearing From American Roads?

He's spreading one helluva message, alright.

Why Do Dogs Lift Their Leg to Pee?

Everyone here is someone's late someone.

Why Does ‘Late’ Mean “Dead”?