Mental Floss

ALL STORIES





Grab your magnifying glass.

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

Ellen Gutoskey


There have been 23 Pope Johns, but only one Pope Francis.

For centuries, men assuming the top job in the Roman Catholic Church kept their birth names. That changed with Pope John II.

Paul Park


A coronal mass ejection from the sun

Get ready to feel small: The sun is 99.8 percent of the mass of the solar system. Here are more colossal facts about our star.

David W Brown


An aerial view of a sinkhole in Wales that appeared in December 2024.

Sinkholes have gulped down suburban homes, Corvettes, the White House lawn, a sizable chunk of Louisiana, and even people. How does the ground just open up like that?

Roma Panganiban






See if you can decipher this twisted tune.

Can you figure out what the song is, or which musical it came from?

mentalfloss .com


Fool’s Cap World Map of the World

Odd cartographic creations like ‘Fool’s Cap Map of the World,’ ‘Leo Belgicus,’ and ‘The Porcineograph’ make the classic Mercator Projection look outright dull.

Lorna Wallace




There's more than one way to stand out.

Looking for inspiration? Discover the rarest baby names in the United States according to Go Au Pair, from Arizona’s Noname to Maine’s Winner.

Rudie Obias


Bella Ramsey in ‘The Last of Us.’

HBO Max’s hit adaptation of the video game is back for its second season. Here‘s what you need to know, from who could have played Ellie and Joel to how the show brought the infected to life to what to expect in season 2. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Meredith Danko