mental floss presents Condensed Knowledge

This compendium of factoids is a fun read but probably not something you'd read all at once. It's kind of like a bathroom reader (not that I'm doing that). And in fact, I did read this in several chunks over a span of months. Topics include art, history, science (biology, chemistry, physics, etc), pop culture, religion, economics, philosophy, and so forth. And it's written in a cheeky manner with all sorts of fun sidebars. I learned a lot! I remember some! Here's one thing sort of apropos from the religion section I picked up: Did you know there was a legend about a Persian god named Mithra that predates Jesus by centuries. Well, legend has it that Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25 and was visited by sheperds and magi. He had 12 disciples, healed the sick, and cast out devils. He rose again around the vernal equinox (March 21) and ascended into heaven. Sounds somewhat familiar, no?