Mental Floss

From The Archive

You already knew that if you had to pick one action start to assassinate the Nazi high command, Tom Cruise is the easy choice. But you may not have know some of the amazing details about Valkyrie.

Sean Hutchinson
istock

Best friends can share anything with each other, even their biggest secrets. These seven pairings played it close to the vest for each other to win wars, rescue royalty, and revolutionize literature.

Editorial Staff


istock

Sometimes, through some quirk of etymology—and sometimes entirely by coincidence—first names like these find their way into the dictionary as words in their own right, and end up ultimately taking on whole new meanings in the language.

Paul Anthony Jones










iStock

“The implications [of this question] are… profound,” says entomologist Michael Raupp. “Reckless flying, passing out in frosty beer mugs, hitting on crane flies instead of mosquito babes. Frightening!” Still, no major studies have been conducted to determi

Mark Mancini




getty images

We all know that Nike is named after the Greek goddess of victory, and the origin of "Air Jordan" is hardly obscure, but where did some other famous shoes and brands get their names?

Ethan Trex