Author: Jake Rossen

Escaping your parents’ home doesn’t seem to have quite the same urgency it once did. According to Time, recent Census data indicates that a substantial number of Millennials—typically considered to be those 18 to 34 years of age—are choosing to remain in their childhood residences, with one state in particular crowding out the rest.

The winner? New Jersey, which has just under 47 percent of that demographic living at home. Eastern state neighbors New York and Connecticut each have roughly 40 percent choosing to stay in the nest, a significant spike from the national average of around 33 percent. That’s up from 23 percent in 2000. (The state with the lowest percentage of Millennials rooming with their ‘rents? North Dakota, with just 14.1 percent.)

It can be difficult to extrapolate why some states have more clingy kids than others. The price of real estate might be one explanation (rent is much more expensive in New Jersey and New York than it is out West); the trend of Millennials getting married later in life might be another. Without the need for their own mortgage, utility bills, and consumer spending, it’s possible that the homebodies may even be contributing to an economic downturn.

Then again, who can resist free laundry? “There’s the comfort of someone to help you out at all times,” college student Irsia Khan told USAToday.com in June 2016. “Having your meals ready and your laundry done for you takes the load off on the rest of the things you go through in college.”

[h/t Time]

With over two billion copies of her books in print, British novelist Agatha Christie (1890-1976) has kept countless readers up into the early morning hours. Occasionally, the mystery surrounding her personal life—including a high-profile disappearance in the 1920s—has rivaled the best of her fiction. On what would have been her 126th birthday, let’s take a look at some of the verifiable details of the famed crime writer’s life and times.

1. HER MOTHER DIDN’T WANT HER TO LEARN TO READ.

Before becoming a bestselling novelist, Christie was in real danger of growing up an illiterate. Her mother was said to be against her daughter learning how to read until age eight (Christie taught herself), insisting on home schooling her and refusing to let her pursue any formal education until the age of 15, when her family dispatched her to a Paris finishing school.

2. HER FIRST NOVEL WAS WRITTEN ON A DARE.

After an adolescence spent reading books and writing stories, Christie’s sister, Madge, dared her sibling to attack a novel-length project. Christie accepted the challenge and penned The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a mystery featuring a soldier on sick leave who finds himself embroiled in a poisoning at a friend’s estate. The novel, which featured Hercule Poirot, was rejected by six publishers before being printed in 1920.

3. HERCULE POIROT WAS BASED ON A REAL PERSON.

The dapper Poirot, a mustachioed detective who took a gentleman’s approach to crime-solving, might be Christie’s best-known creation. Christie was said to have been inspired when she caught sight of a Belgian man deboarding a bus in the early 1910s. He was reportedly a bit odd-looking, with a curious facial hair style and a quizzical expression. His fictional counterpart’s debut in The Mysterious Affair at Styles would be the first of more than 40 appearances.

4. SHE ONCE DISAPPEARED FOR 10 DAYS.

In 1926, Christie—who was already garnering a large and loyal fan base—left her home in London without a trace. It could’ve been the beginning of one of her sordid stories, particularly since her husband, Archie, had recently disclosed he had fallen in love with another woman and wanted a divorce. A police manhunt ensued, although it was unnecessary: Christie had simply driven out of town to a spa, possibly to get her mind off her tumultuous home life. The author made no mention of it in her later autobiography; some speculated it was a publicity stunt, while others believed the family’s claim that she had experienced some kind of amnesic event.

5. SHE WASN’T BIG ON VIOLENCE.

While a murder is typically needed to set a murder mystery in motion, Christie’s preferred methodology for slaying her characters was poison: She had worked in a dispensary during war time and had an intimate knowledge of pharmaceuticals. Rarely did her protagonists carry a gun; her two most famous detectives, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, were virtual pacifists.

6. SHE HAD AN ALIAS.

Not all of Christie’s work had a mortality rate. Beginning in 1930 and continuing through 1956, she wrote six romance novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott. The pseudonym was a construct of her middle name, Mary, with Westmacott being the surname of her relatives.

7. SHE LOVED SURFING.

The image of Christie as a matronly author of mystery is the one most easily recognized by readers, but there was a time when Christie could be found catching waves. Along with her husband, Archie, Christie went on a traveling spree in 1922, starting in South Africa and winding up in Honolulu. At each step, the couple got progressively more capable riding surfboards; some historians believe they may have even been the first British surfers to learn how to ride standing up.

8. SHE DIDN’T LIKE TAKING AN AUTHOR’S PHOTO.

Although not explicitly camera-shy—Christie took frequent photos while traveling—she appeared to dislike having her photo appear on the dust jackets of her novels and once insisted they be issued without a likeness attached. It’s likely Christie preferred not to be recognized in public.

9. SHE TOOK AN OATH OF DETECTIVE WRITING.

Founded in 1928 by writer Anthony Berkeley, the London Detection Club, or Famous Detection Club, was a social assembly of the notable crime writers in England. Members “swore” (tongue mostly in cheek) to never keep vital clues from their readers and to never use entirely fictional poisons as a plot crutch. Christie was a member in good standing, and took on the role of honorary president in 1956 on one condition: She never wanted to give any speeches.

10. SHE TRIED HER BEST TO TAKE UP SMOKING.

While it would shortly gain a reputation for killing its devotees, smoking was once so revered that it seemed unusual not to take a puff. Shortly after the end of the first world war, Christie was quoted as saying she was disappointed she couldn’t seem to adopt the habit even though she had been trying.

11. SHE WROTE A PLAY THAT MAY NEVER STOP RUNNING.

The curtain was first raised on Mousetrap in London’s West End in 1952. More than 60 years later, it’s still being performed regularly and passed the 25,000 show mark in 2012. The play—about a group of people trapped in a snowbound cabin with a murderer among them—was originally a radio story, Three Blind Mice, that was written at the behest of Queen Mary in 1947. 

12. SHE LOVED ARCHAEOLOGY. 

After divorcing alleged cad Archie, Christie married archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930 and joined him for regular expeditions to Syria and Iraq. In 2015, HarperCollins published Come, Tell Me How You Live, the author’s long-forgotten 1946 memoir of her experiences traveling. Although she assisted her husband on digs, she never stopped working: Their preferred method of transport was frequently the Orient Express, a fact that likely inspired her Murder on the Orient Express. 

13. AT LEAST ONE “VICTIM” WAS INSPIRED BY A REAL-LIFE NUISANCE.

When Mallowan married Christie, he was assistant to renowned archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley. This fact upset Woolley’s wife, who refused to let Christie stay in a Mesopotamia digging camp; Mallowan was forced to take a train into Baghdad every night to see her. Christie soon wrote Murder in Mesopotamia: The victim was the wife of an archaeology field director who was bludgeoned with an antique mace. Christie dedicated the book to the Woolleys, who never joined Mallowan on an expedition again.

14. YOU CAN RENT HER OLD HOME.

If you feel like inhabiting the same real estate as Christie is a bucket-list travel opportunity, her former home in Devonshire, England is available for rent. The centuries-old home was Christie’s summer getaway in the 1950s; portions of it are rented out to individuals or groups for $500 a night. Some furniture and a piano that once belonged to the author remain in residence. 

15. HERCULE POIROT GOT A NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY WHEN HE “DIED.”

Like Arthur Conan Doyle before her, Christie eventually grew tired of her trademark character and set about having Hercule Poirot perish in the 1975 novel Curtain. The reaction to his demise was so fierce that The New York Times published a front-page “obituary” for the character on August 6. Christie died the following year.

The next time you’re bouncing around a Manhattan nightclub and feeling no pain, you might want to stop and consider that as far as the city is concerned, dancing is a privilege and not a right.

In a scenario straight out of Footloose, there’s a tricky law on the books that requires any business serving food or drinks to acquire what’s known as a Cabaret License in order to allow customers to dance. The mandate stems from a 1926 policy introduced by then-mayor Jimmy Walker to help curb what some residents believed to be “altogether too much running wild” in the Jazz Age clubs of the era (it’s also possible that the law was meant to prevent interracial coupling). City officials have regularly enforced the law in the proceeding century, with some clubs even cutting off music—or switching to country—when inspectors arrive unannounced.

Several proprietors have attempted to challenge the law over the years, calling it archaic. In 2014, bar owner and attorney Andrew Muchmore filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming that the restriction was outdated and obtaining the license was a laborious process. To approve an application, the city’s Department of Consumer affairs has to verify a venue has security cameras; owners have to attend regular board conferences. The cost of the license can range from $300 to $1000, depending on the area’s capacity and, for some unfathomable reason, whether it’s an even or odd year.

Muchmore’s suit is still ongoing in federal court. Some feel it will be an uphill battle due to allegations the city uses the law as a tool to help shut down problematic night spots. For now, Muchmore says his tavern avoids booking musical acts that “would tend to elicit dancing.”

Nostalgic for the Cold War? Prefer to live in a world without the polio vaccine? You can come close. The professionals at Virginia Cook Realtors in Dallas have recently listed a model house originally built in 1954 that hasn’t appeared to age a day.

Constructed as part of a post-war development project with streets named after Disney characters, the house, situated at 11016 Pinocchio Drive, was featured in a series of home tours and parades given by the Dallas Chapter of the National Association of Home Builders in the mid-1950s. Potential homebuyers could walk through and decide if they wanted to build something similar in an area nearby.  

“No cheap builder-grade granite here,” reads the listing, which touts original kitchen cabinetry and vaulted ceilings. Current owner Carlos Cardoza purchased the home in 1994 and proceeded to scrap anything anachronistic, including the red exterior. He’s moving to Florida, so the house can be yours for $665,000. (Furniture not included.) To arrange for a viewing, make a left on Snow White Lane or check out more images below.  

All images courtesy Virginia Cook Realtors.

[h/t Curbed]

It’s never advisable to play word games while inebriated, but if you do, you might as well stick to a theme. Bananagrams, the portable word game that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, recently released a Bananagrams Beer as a licensed tie-in product.

Weird? A little. But And it has a lot to do with their geography.

According to Bananagrams CEO Rena Nathanson, the company was presented with an adult beverage opportunity as a result of being near the Rhode Island-based Narragansett Beer, which has been issuing a series of tie-in brews under their “Hi Neighbor!” label. It’s not kid-friendly, but Nanthanson told Licensing.biz that the board and analog game category is increasingly driving business from adult players at board game cafes and pubs.

“Indeed, the very notion of ‘family’ is such an evolving thing, taking on so many guises in the modern world,” Nathanson said. “While children remain at the heart of what we do, we recognize that ‘family’ for many is their extended friendship networks which may include no children at all, and that what we once saw as traditional ‘family time’ now often takes the form of get-togethers with friends at home or in restaurants and pubs.”

The 16-ounce oversized can of brew is a German variation with wheat malt and, according to Narragansett, “notes” of banana. You can find it in six-packs in and around New England, Florida, and as far as Tennessee.

[h/t Licensing.biz]

The stranger couldn’t help herself. Attending the funeral of an Iraq war veteran at Arlington National Cemetery in 2006, she leaned over and gently kissed the forehead of the fallen soldier’s widow and mother.

For the woman who sensed palpable grief, it was a natural thing to do. But as an Arlington Lady, an official representative of four United States military arms dispatched to military funerals, it was a breach of policy. After the service, she was reprimanded by her supervisor. The Arlington Ladies have a very specific role. They are not there to grieve or console, but to make certain no soldier is ever buried alone.

Hoyt Vandenberg, Chief of Staff for the United States Air Force, was driving to his office in the Pentagon in 1948 when he noticed a funeral being conducted at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery. There was no sea of crisp uniforms or sobbing family members. Aside from the chaplain and the Honor Guard, there was no one there at all.

Vandenberg didn’t like it. Soldiers, he felt, deserved the presence of at least one civilian to bear witness to their burial. His wife, Gladys, agreed. She set about recruiting friends and wives of the enlisted to begin attending Air Force funerals, even though many of the deceased were complete strangers. They called themselves the Officers Wives Club and acted as both military representatives and as proxies for family members who might not be able to afford to travel to Arlington for services.

By 1973, the Army had formed its own version. In 1985, the Navy followed suit. And in 2006, the Coast Guard organized a group of their own. (The Marines send a Commandant representative to funerals.) Collectively, the roughly 150 women are known as the Arlington Ladies.

Participation is usually by invitation only, with the group largely made up of ex-military members or their spouses 40 years and older. If a woman is invited to join, she is first instructed to sit at funerals as an apprentice, observing the customs of the role depending on which branch of service she’s been assigned.

Naval Ladies are given a sheet that details the deceased’s biography, rank, service awards, and passing. They’re allowed to briefly introduce themselves to family prior to services; after the widow or other attendee is given the folded American flag, the Arlington representative approaches the bereaved to offer condolences and two cards—one from her, and one from the Chief of Staff. When they’re finished, they walk backwards; turning their back on the flag is prohibited.

Their duties don’t end there. If a family member is unable to attend, a Lady will write a letter offering details of the service—what was said, what the weather was like, and what she felt during the proceedings. They’ll also extend an opportunity to tend to the deceased’s grave by placing flowers on it on anniversaries or holidays.

If family members are present, the Lady is a welcome sight: although they have a dress code (no slacks or loud colors), they help ease the tension of a highly structured military funeral. If no members are present, then the Lady acts as a surrogate witness to a soldier being laid to rest.

The Ladies are expected to maintain their composure, however difficult it may be. The organization’s chair, Margaret Mensch, told The Washington Post in 2007 that she tries her best not to tear up, even when it’s a former Honor Guard escort of hers that was being buried. “You are still,” she said. “You just don’t cry. When I got there, I thought, ‘Just concentrate on that leaf on that tree over there.’ A military funeral is very dignified. Very precise. It may sound cold, but that’s the beauty of it.”

A mourner typically volunteers one day a month. With more than 30 funerals at Arlington a day, she might attend up to six during a single shift. Doreen Huylebroeck, whose late husband was a chief petty officer, has attended more than 500 since beginning work in 2009.

Getting an Arlington Lady to discuss her duties on the record can be daunting. Most are averse to publicity, wary that someone might think of them as self-congratulatory. A portion of the Army’s contingent, however, had to endure some recognition in 2015, when Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno held a reception to acknowledge the Ladies for their selfless service.

“There’s no more important time than when a family is going through the incredible grief of loss … that they understand the Army is there for them and you all make that a little easier by what you do,” he told the women. “By letting them know that we do care about them, so for me this is very important for us to have you here to thank you for helping our soldiers, past and present, as they continue to serve through difficult times.”

The Ladies were cordial, but the session was brief. Seven funerals were still scheduled for that day.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone users who plan on traveling in the near future may have trouble communicating. In a rare move, the Federal Aviation Administration is advising passengers not to turn on or charge the company’s new Note 7 smartphone after reports of the device catching fire made the media rounds last week, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The agency is even wary about travelers keeping the Note 7 in a checked bag due to the potential for the phone to spontaneously self-immolate. The FAA’s announcement comes on the heels of three Australian airlines—Qantas, Jetstar, and Virgin Australia—banning use of the phone during flights.

Excitement for the release of the Note 7 in August was dampened after a Florida man reported the phone exploded in his Jeep, setting the vehicle ablaze. “Not the barbeque I wanted on my day off,” he posted on Facebook. Samsung has since issued a recall of the phones and has offered exchanges to customers.

[h/t Condé Nast Traveler]

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

Committing to the care of a pet over its lifetime has substantial emotional rewards. Unfortunately, it can also carry the occasional financial penalty. Depending on the diagnosis, some individuals can spend upwards of $30,000 out of pocket on medical care for a four-legged loved one. In fact, Fortune reports that pet owners in the U.S. are expected to shell out a total of $15.9 billion this year on veterinary care, according to the American Pet Product Association.

Despite rising veterinary costs, less than 1 percent of the nation’s 174 million dogs and cats are covered by some kind of pet health insurance. If you’re on the fence about signing up, here are a few things you should know.

Health insurance for pets generally mirrors the same policies as bipedal human coverage. There’s typically a deductible, co-pays, and a monthly premium that can be as little as $25, with the cost increasing for more comprehensive plans. (The higher the premium, the more the insurance is likely to pay out, with some options covering up to 100 percent of incurred expenses.)

For a relatively healthy animal, it’s likely that the premiums will outpace any needed veterinary care. But if your pet should be struck with any number of complicated issues—cancer, heart trouble, accidents, or long-term monitoring—the bills can quickly add up into the thousands. Even a moderate policy would help offset some of those costs.

Naturally, insurance companies aren’t in the habit of being generous, which is why reading the fine print is crucial. Some policies won’t cover certain breeds due to chronic health issues or pre-existing conditions like hip dysplasia; others may insist on the insured paying the veterinarian and then waiting for reimbursement.

If you can afford a surprise bill, you may have trouble justifying the expense. But if a lump sum would be hard to come by, you might be best off having some form of coverage. In either case, preventative medicine is a must: Routine health care like brushing a pet’s teeth or making sure they’re spayed or neutered can help offset future complications. (Tooth plaque can lead to lung issues; spaying can reduce the incidence of tumors.) It’s also a good idea to watch your pet’s weight. The thinner they are, the fatter your wallet is likely to be.

[h/t Fortune]

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

Some of the 20^th century’s most enduring board games—Candy Land and Operation among them—have come from the minds of independent inventors. But thanks to today’s legally insulated corporate environments, it can be hard (or impossible) to submit ideas without an agent.

Hasbro believes it has an answer. Now through October 23, the company will be accepting entries for its Fall 2016 Gaming Challenge, a crowd-sourced search for the next big idea in analog tabletop gaming.

If you think your game has potential, you can submit the premise directly to Hasbro via the NextGreatGameChallenge portal. Hasbro employees and game experts will review entries for playability and creativity, with five finalists getting an opportunity to have a Hasbro-backed campaign appear on the fundraising site Indiegogo. The grand prize winner will receive $25,000 and the potential (though not a promise) for the game to hit retail shelves. Shark Tank’s Daymond John will be part of the finalists’ judging panel.

For impenetrable legal reasons, the contest is open to anyone in the U.S. and Canada except citizens of Quebec. Last year’s winner, Irresponsibility: The Mr. Toast Card Game, is set to go on sale exclusively at Target later in the year.

Although Sherlock Holmes ranks as one of the most frequently adapted fictional characters of all time, the producers of BBC’s Emmy-nominated Sherlock have managed to make the detective seem as fresh as when his print adventures first began appearing in 1887. While you wait for the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring fourth season to premiere in early 2017, check out some facts about the production, an unlikely Watson, and why the original pilot episode never made it on the air.

1. A SHERLOCK LANDMARK HELPED MAKE THE SHOW HAPPEN.

For years, writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss took a train to and from Cardiff while working on Doctor Who, and discussed various projects they were interested in doing; one that kept coming up repeatedly was a modern-day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. This reportedly went on for some time, with neither man making any particular effort to get it off the ground, until Moffat’s wife, Sue, decided to invite both men for lunch. Her selection: the Criterion, a watering hole and eatery in London’s Piccadilly Circus. It’s the same place where the fictional John Watson, Holmes’s best friend, first hears of the famed detective. The two got the hint and began working on the series.

2. THE ORIGINAL PILOT NEVER AIRED.

When Moffat and Gatiss conceived of a modern-day take on Holmes for the BBC in 2008, the expectation was that their hour-long adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet would lead to a series. When they finished filming, however, those chances seemed slim: The pilot was more of a stodgy production than the cinematic, inventive style Gatiss and Moffat were hoping for. The BBC agreed to reshoot it with new director Paul McGuigan adding touches like having text messages appear onscreen. The less-polished prototype is available on the DVD release.

3. IT WAS INTENDED TO BE AN HOUR-LONG SERIES.

Although the original pilot was 60 minutes, the reshot episode was 90 minutes, leading Gatiss and Moffat to believe the best format for the show would be as a small season of movie-length episodes. The pair initially intended all episodes to run an hour, with more of them—up to six—per season. “That [pilot] was going to be the format of the series,” Gatiss said in 2014. “I think if we’d done that everything would be very different. We would do one where it was mostly Doctor Watson, or [landlady] Mrs. Hudson investigates or something like that.”

4. MATT SMITH AUDITIONED FOR WATSON.

While Benedict Cumberbatch was the first and only choice for Holmes, Matt Smith was among a number of actors considered for his counterpart, John Watson.The role eventually went to Martin Freeman (The Office, Fargo) because Moffat believed his chemistry with Cumberbatch was the best. Smith wound up auditioning for Doctor Who just a week later, and became the Eleventh Doctor.

5. HARRISON FORD GEEKED OUT OVER IT.

The quality of the series has not been lost on audiences, critics, or Harrison Ford: When the actor appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Cumberbatch in 2013, he told the actor the show was “amazing.” Ford’s wife, Calista Flockhart, told the Radio Times that she and Ford “can’t stop watching” the show. The family’s BBC gateway drug was apparently Agatha Christie’s Poirot, a long-running adaptation of the author’s elegant detective.

6. IT’S LED TO A RISE IN BOOK SALES.

The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle must have been pleased to note that the 2010 debut of Sherlock on BBC One correlated with a sharp uptick in sales of the author’s printed works. According to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks media sales, copies of Doyle’s titles moved roughly 57,000 copies in 2009. The year after, it was 88,000—with sales the week after the show premiered doubling from the week prior.

7. FANS HAVE CHANGED HOW THE SHOW IS PRODUCED.

When word gets out that Sherlock is filming exterior shots in Cardiff, fans gather using a Twitter hashtag (#Setlock) to watch—sometimes up to 300 at a time, all positioned behind barricades. Martin Freeman has described the experience as something “I don’t love,” since the crowd is effectively an uninvited audience. (They once broke into applause when he opened a bag of crisps.) Because of the distraction, Gatiss has noted that the show now arranges for fewer scenes set outside. “Large dialogue scenes outside are quite tough,” he said in 2014, adding that the actors had trouble concentrating.

8. PBS CUT A BIG CHUNK OUT OF EPISODES.

If your only exposure to the second season of Sherlock was on PBS in America, you’ve missed nearly a half-hour of the show. In 2012, executive producer Sue Vertue told the Independent that eight minutes from each of the three episodes had been snipped in order to make room for sponsor spots in the United States.  

9. THERE’S A MANGA ADAPTATION.

An adaptation of an adaptation, in 2012 Japan’s Young Ace magazine depicted the first episode of Sherlock in the country’s distinctive sequential art style. U.S. publisher Titan Comics recently compiled the four issues into an English-language trade paperback edition after several unofficial fan translations demonstrated a considerable demand for the work to be reprinted. Titan also publishes books in which Holmes fights aliens and vampires.

10. YOU ARE UNLIKELY TO EVER SEE A CROSSOVER WITH DOCTOR WHO.

Two of the BBC’s biggest successes are both filmed in Cardiff and both have the same showrunner; television crossovers have happened with less. Despite that, Steven Moffat—who oversees both shows—says the odds of the time-hopping Doctor crossing paths with Holmes are slim to none. In addition to the Sherlock cast being disinterested, Moffat told a Royal Television Society audience in 2014 the fact that Holmes has been presented as a fictional character in Doctor Who presents a difficult hurdle to overcome. “[The Doctor] has even dressed up as [Holmes],” the writer said.

11. THERE MIGHT BE A SHERLOCK THEME PARK ATTRACTION COMING.

Not many fictional detectives get their own theme park; Holmes might be a rare exception. The BBC is reportedly considering an amusement park based on their properties, including Sherlock and Doctor Who, for Kent, England, in 2020. The addition is expected to join a planned London Paramount Entertainment Resort that will also feature a water park.

12. THE SHOW MIGHT RUN FOREVER.

Sherlock has produced just 10 episodes in nearly eight years, a far cry from the 180-odd episodes a network series would have amassed in that time. But the erratic shooting schedule that sometimes frustrates fans might eventually work to the audience’s benefit. Because the series doesn’t shoot continuously, Moffat sees no reason the production can’t keep resuming indefinitely. “It’s an occasional treat when you get three movies,” he said in mid-2016. “That’s why I think it’s unlikely that we’ve completely finished it. There would be nothing strange in stopping for a while. It could go on forever, coming back now and again.”