Mental Floss Presents Know It All by Pearson, Will -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Contents Introduction 10 CHEAT SHEETS FOR IMPRESSING A DIPLOMAT, PRESIDENT, OR POPE

Five Presidential Fashion Flubs Five Modern Independence Movements And Three Other Presidential Secrets Left Off the White House Tour Three Offbeat Military Units Eight Flag Facts For the Next State Dinner You Host The 10 Greatest Campaign Slogans in Presidential History Five Historical Bans on Smoking Five Secrets of the Vatican Exposed Four of the Largest, Oddest, and Most Useless State Projects in the World Seven Shameless Abuses of Diplomatic Immunity

10 LISTS THAT SHOULD COME WITH A LAB COAT

Eight Questions You Probably Need Answered Immediately Five Units of Measurement Weirder than the Metric System Eight Everyday Items Brought to You by NASA (and Why Tang Isn’t One of Them) … and One Pop Culture Killer The Chemicals That Will Power the Future Five Weather Events Worth Chatting About Four Aphrodisiacs from Around the World Five Facts for the Lunar Enthusiast Five Nobel Prize Stories Ripped from the Tabloids Five Ways Museums Detect Forgeries

10 LISTS YOU CAN SHARE WITH YOUR KIDS (OR YOUR INNER CHILD)

Five Fail-Safe Rituals For Protecting Your Newborn Five Times Crayola Fired Its Crayons How Seven Classic Toys Were Invented Four Kids’ Toys That Have Gone to War for America Four Comic Superheroes Who Made a Real-World Difference The Stories Behind Nine Muppet Favorites Bumpy, Hickey, Chesty, and Seven Other Rejected Dwarf Names Six Laws of Cartoon Physics Seven Reasons Mr. Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever Seven Things Disney Parks Have Banned

10 LISTS TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD AT THE E.R.

Three Defunct Diseases You Definitely Don’t Have Five Things You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Your Body Touch Your Glabella! Seven Body Parts You Can’t Name The Missing Body Parts of Seven Famous People Seven Little-Known Toe Facts Five Mind-Boggling Psychiatric Treatments Six Deaths that Were Greatly Exaggerated The Curious Deaths of 10 Interesting People Five Things Your Body Can Do after You Die Four Famous Grave Robberies

10 SPORTS LISTS FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN’T DUNK

10 FOOD LISTS TO MAKE YOUR MOUTH WATER

The World’s Eight Messiest Food Festivals Four Foods People Actually Die For Eight Foods That (Thankfully) Flopped The Birthplaces of Seven Great American Foods Six Tasty Foods Named after People Three Real People in Your Pantry … and Two that Aren’t The Origins of Five Condiments Essential Talking Points for the Banana Enthusiast The Stories Behind Seven Cocktails Three Drinking Stories That Put Yours to Shame

10 LISTS THAT MEAN BUSINESS

Six Jobs You Didn’t Hear About on Career Day 10 Abbreviated Company Names Explained Five Wildly Successful People Who Survived Bankruptcy The Origins of Six Hi-Tech Names Six Ad Campaigns Gone Terribly Wrong 10 Arguments Against Paying Your Taxes (That Won’t Work) Seven Things Walmart Has Banned Five Beloved Traditions Invented to Make You Buy Stuff Five Coins That Aren’t Boring Strange Early Jobs of 13 Famous People

10 POP CULTURE LISTS TO BREAK OUT ON THE RED CARPET

What Seven of Your Favorite Movies Were Almost Called Four Actors Who Changed History The Origins of 10 Celebrity Stage Names Eight Celebs and their Incredibly Odd Phobias Four TV Shows That Changed History 10 TV Shows Scrapped after Just One Episode Five Famous Actors and the Roles They Turned Down Eight Celebrity Inventors Who Hold Patents Three Oddball Lawsuits Plucked from Pop Culture The World’s a Trophy Case Where Five Oscar Winners Keep the Little Guy

10 LISTS FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN’T WRITE GOOD

Six Works of Literature That Were Really Hard to Write What 10 Fictional Characters Were Almost Called What Eight Classic Books Were Almost Called Eight Latin Phrases You Pretend to Understand Six Words Invented by Authors The Little-Known Stories of Five Famous Authors Five Famous Phrases People Own The Nautical Roots of Six Common Phrases Nine Things Mark Twain Didn’t Say (And Nine He Did) 10 “Q” Words That Aren’t “Q-U” Words

10 ANIMAL LISTS THAT DON’T BITE

Seven Clever Critters That Are Great with Tools Three Super-Animals Keeping an Eye on Terror Five Technologies Lifted from the Animal Kingdom Three Incredible Explanations on How Your Dog Works Five Creatures People Didn’t Think Existed Four Horrifying Parasites to Keep You Awake at Night Eight Facts for the Turkey Enthusiast 10 Words for Animal Packs Weirder than a “Murder” of Crows Eight Animals Named after Celebrities Seven Animal Phrase Origins

10 LISTS TO READ BEFORE NAMING YOUR CHILD, COMPANY, OR ALTER-EGO

Six Baby Names You Probably Shouldn’t Give Your Kid How Seven American Cities Got Their Names 10 Common Words that Used to be Trademarked 14 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Didn’t Know Four Irritatingly Inaccurate Names How Six Colors Got Their Names Five Awful Eponyms (and the People Who Can’t Live Them Down) Seven Companies and Products That Had to Change Their Names Five Curious Personal Name Changes Five Products Named after Real People

10 LISTS OF LEMONS

The Five Most Annoying People in History Five Odd Things Customs Has Seized Six Unit Conversion Disasters Four Massive Screwups in Paleontology Three Artistic Rivalries That Turned Ugly Four Infamous Quarantines Five Articles of Clothing That Caused Riots Six Dangerous Works of Art Eight Fake Archaeological Finds Four Consumer Revolutions That Didn’t Deliver

10 LISTS OF LEMONADE

Four Brilliant Scientific Screwups 10 Weirdest Pieces of Unclaimed Baggage Five Great Escapes Not Involving Steve McQueen (and One Involving a Bear) Four People Who Found a Fortune Four Lost Treasures Just Waiting to Be Found Five Famous Stutterers 10 Trademarked Colors Six Creative Uses for Poop The Unlikely Inspiration for Five Brilliant Inventions Five Doomsdays We’ve Already Survived

10 LISTS THAT DIDN’T FIT NICELY INTO ANY OTHER CHAPTER

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