Whether people are setting up Trivial Pursuit at home or attending a pub trivia night, the basic premise remains the same: they're enjoying the thrill of providing correct answers to questions about lesser-known facts.
"You get a rush or a neuro-reward signal or a dopamine burst from winning," John Kounios, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of the doctoral program in applied cognitive and brain sciences at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, told Healthline. "I think whenever you’re challenged with a trivia question and you happen to know it, you get a rush. It's sort of like gambling."
Only it doesn't really have any downsides.
To prepare you for these battles (or at least to make your Friday more interesting), Bored Panda snuck inside the 'Today I Learned' (TIL) subreddit and hand-picked some of the most interesting tidbits of information that people have shared there.
Oh, and if you want more, fire up our earlier TIL lists here, here, and here.
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TIL a woman quit her job to search for her border collie who escaped from a hotel room during a thunderstorm while on vacation in Kalispell, Montana. After 57 days of searching and posting hundreds of flyers around town, she finally found ‘Katie’ who was starving, but otherwise OK.
TIL an Austrian man left $2.4 million to the French village that hid him from the Nazis
TIL there is a group of wolves in British Columbia known as "sea wolves" and 90% of their food comes from the sea. They have distinct DNA that sets them apart from interior wolves and they're entirely dedicated to the sea swimming several miles everyday in search of food.
TIL of Vince Coleman, a train dispatcher who sacrificed his life to save hundreds, warning of a massive boat explosion nearby. The message: "Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye, boys."
TIL That elephants stay cancer free as they have 20 copies of a key tumor-fighting gene; humans have just one.
TIL In 2012 a British man named Wesley Carrington bought a metal detector and within 20 minutes found gold from the Roman Age worth £100,000.
TIL that Apples are not ‘true to seed’, so the seeds from any particular variety apple will not grow to be the same variety as the apple tree they came from. E.g. If you planted seeds of Granny Smith it likely will produce a wide variety of different and unknown apple tree types.
People still tripping about GMO foods. Learn the very basics of genetics and you will know what our agrarian ancestors have known for thousands of years. Yes modifying genetics of plants and hybridizing for positive traits is not only desirable, it's how we've managed to feed the world effectively.
TIL that in 2006, a couple lost for three nights in the San Jacinto Mountains of CA were rescued because they were able to light a signal fire from matches they found in the abandoned camp of a lost hiker who vanished exactly One year before their incident.
Three of anything is the universal emergency signal. You can make three big circles in snow to alert a plane, three fires is obviously best. Or spell out SOS in a field anyway you can, with branches, with scraped lines in dirt, whatever.
TIL that the details of the Manhattan Project were so secret that many workers had no idea why they did their jobs. A laundrywoman had a dedicated duty to "hold up an instrument and listen for a clicking noise" without knowing why. It was a Geiger counter testing the radiation levels of uniforms.
TIL when Steve Buscemi was 4-years-old he was hit by a bus and managed to survive with a fractured skull. He received a $6,000 settlement from the city that was to be collected from a trust fund when he turned 18. When Buscemi turned 18, he used part of the money to pay for full-time acting classes.
He was also an NYC firefighter from 1980 to 1984 and later volunteered during the 9/11 attacks.
TIL: Cats rival dogs on many tests of social smarts, but very few scientists have the patience to try and study them
TIL that in his acceptance speech for the 1976 Best Album Grammy, Paul Simon jokingly thanked Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year. Stevie Wonder had won Best Album in the previous two years and would go on to win again in 1977 for Songs in the Key of Life.
TIL that in 1982, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat, and she ended up having an operation to remove it. Being a keen fisher, she calmly joked when it was done: "The salmon have got their own back".
TIL A bank robber in France made a fictitious, coded document which he claimed as evidence during his trial. While the judge was distracted by the document, Albert Spaggiari jumped out of a window, landing safely on a parked car and escaped on a waiting motorcycle. He was never seen again.
Ruined, Albert Spaggiari died, 12 years after his escape, from a throat cancer.
TIL that Albert I of Belgium is called the "Knight King" because he personally led his army in combat for all of WWI; also his wife, Elizabeth of Bavaria, served as a nurse in front-line field hospitals.
TIL President Lincoln’s blockade of Confederate cotton caused famine in English mill towns. Suffering Manchester workers nevertheless sent a letter of support to Lincoln and he responded with thanks and a gift of food. A statue of Lincoln in Manchester displays excerpts from both letters.
I've been past that statue many times. I was very surprised when I first saw it. But it's on a nice quiet side street.
TIL we use 100% of our brain. It is a myth we only use a small portion of our brain, and no scientific evidence supports such a hypothesis as a valid theory.
TIL that the world record for the most passengers on an aircraft was set during Israel's evacuation of Jews from Ethiopia in 1991, when a single 747 carried at least 1,088 people, including two babies who were born on the flight.
TIL the Dr. Heimlich fought against the Red Cross for 20 years over the practice of giving "5 back slaps" being a better alternative to the Heimlich Maneuver.
I was in lifeguard training, and we were taught the 5 back slap move, which seems to be better for choking on liquids (eg. some water in the lungs), and in helping babies and toddlers. Heimlich maneuver is painful, but is great when an adult is choking on hard items (eg. pieces of food).
TIL Otis Redding's widow, Zelma Redding, wrote a letter to Michael Bolton saying his cover of "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" was her favorite. She remarked that it brought tears to her eyes as it reminded her so much of her husband. Bolton had the letter framed and it hangs on his office wall.
I genuinely don't think I've ever heard a cover of it. Gonna have to check that out!
TIL that after the Black Plague, depopulation in Europe caused a shortage of laborers, who then were able to demand higher wages for work. Some estimates state that the typical worker's wages had increased by 50 percent
TIL According to the convention of Geneva an ejected pilot in the air is not a combatant and therefore attacking him is a war crime.
TIL about "lonely negatives". These are words with common prefixes or suffixes such as "dis-", "in-", "un-", "-less" but they don't have positive counterparts such as the words "disgust", "disappoint", "reckless" - they don't have "gust", "appoint", or "reckful" as their opposites.
TIL the last French soldier to die in WW1 was killed 15 minutes before the ceasefire. He was delivering a message to his unit that soup would be served for lunch.
TIL that in USA, parents are 12.7% less likely to be happy than childless people.
The common denominator is that other people that you share a house with are hell on earth.
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Single childless women in the USA are the happiest and healthiest throughout their lives. Speaks volumes. Married men w a family are the happiest and we wonder why marriage and kids are pushed on women relentlessly in a patriarchal society and yet men are told to have their cake and eat it too
Honestly, it seems to me that while a wife will usually add to a straight man's well being... a husband detracts from a straight woman's well-being. All the polls bear this out. Think about that, straight men.
Load More Replies... “How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child.”
"... with an uncleanth room." (Shakespeare forgot to add it...)
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It's almost as if the USA has looked at life and tried its very hardest to make living conditions and society as unbearable as possible for the majority. Financial insecurity in the 'richest ' country in the world - 25% of Americans report that they are unable to pay medical bills, shocking. Women are forced back into work after mere hours of maternity leave. Suburbs are designed such that there is little sense of community, and transport is almost entirely by car - no room for any socialising there.
This is interesting! My biggest joy in my life is my children... they're my favorite people ever!
No one said that's not true as well but decades of studying this show women as a whole are more content healthier have way less anxiety and depression feel secure in themselves less eating disorders more content in their careers and live longer etc when they are childless and single.
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Never married, never had human kids, and I have zero regrets regarding either of these.
Single people don't have to stress about what may be happening when their child is out of sight, or if their cough means covid-19 or something else deadly. Nor are singletons subjected to judgemental people giving "helpful child-rearing advice" & calling CPS (or?) for imagined problems. And being terrified that anything you say or do could cause the child a lifelong problem that you never even considered possible. Among other things. So, yeah, this makes sense now that you mention it.
I never worried about cps being called on me. And single people especially women are bombarded w people giving advice on when they should get married and have kids. Men are happier being married bc they are taken care of. Women that are free to do as they please wo being tied down is freeing and I can see why they'd be much happier wo others to take care of every single day and worry about bc they are the only caretaker.
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Happiness is subjective. Is a small baby or child hard, time consuming, and frustrating? Absolutely! As the child grows will there be huge ups and downs? Absolutely. Being childless for one might be their happiest and being with child for another might be theirs, it's all subjective. I know people who shouldn't have had kids and I have met people when I volunteer at va's and care centers who at the end of their lives regret not having kids. It's all subjective.
Happiness can be measured though. There have been people studying this for decades and there have been studies over and over w the same outcome
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Probably thinking about all the extra medical bills they have in front of them.
Probably thinking of all the extra medical bills they'll have to face.
Well I have kids and can never get a moment of peace. So take that however you want. I got interrupted twice typing this.
Happy and joy are totally differnt. Children bring you Joy. Eating chipsand chocolate will make me happy - but it will not lead to joy. Eating well and working out doesnt, in the moment, make me happy, but in the end it will bring me joy. Having Kids has been one of the hardest things i have done. cleaning poop doesnt make me happy, but the coloured drawings in my office and the snuggles and play times and watching them learn and grow brings me so much joy its inexpressible
But this has nothing to do with women that are childless and single. It's been studied for decades that they enjoy life more are more content are more accepting of their body image don't feel as tired have less depression and anxiety don't have as many eating disorders feeling of independence and taking care of only themselves must be so freeing and less worrisome. I didn't have a child until I was 30 and reading my old journals I see the stark difference of how I felt then and how I felt after being tethered to a child and husband yes it was my choice and I don't regret it but I do see the difference in me as a person. Women are also healthier when they are childless and single so the diet and exercise thing would be double for them.
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All of us are less likely to be happy than our golden retriever. Its easier to be happy when you don't hold yourself responsible for someone else's bliss. This is another example of addition by subtraction. A dad isn't as happy worrying about his kids but the happiness of the world in general grows because his concern results in new members learning how to get nearer to nirvana. 40 years later, his kids are less happy worrying about his failing health but he ends up happier because they learned to care for him and they act on it.
But men are happier and live longer when they are married w families it's just women that aren't. Women being free from societal norms and people constantly dictating what they can and can't do is happiness personified. They're healthier too live longer as well. Are more content in their careers have way less anxiety and depression sleep better eat better take care of their mental health have more friends travel more way less stress for men it's the complete opposite.
Load More Replies... Healthier way less anxiety or depression enjoy their careers take less risks have a higher income sex is more fulfilling live longer less disease. Over decades this has been studied married women w children at the age of 40 are the most displeased w their lives compared to childless single women at 40 they are the most pleased w how their lives are. It's the exact opposite for men. Of course this isnt a blanket statement for all men and all women there are exceptions but as a whole this has been what's observed over decades and measured. That's why marriage and kids shouldnt be a metric of success shoved on women it should be shoved on men instead
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TIL that the North America — and the USA in particular, has the world's most extreme weather, averaging more than 10,000 severe thunderstorm events per year, with more than 1,000 tornadoes.
TIL the U.S. military has used superstition and pretended to be vampires and ghosts to scare enemies away. They dispersed scary horoscopes in Germany, staged vampire attacks in the Philippines, and in Vietnam blasted ghost tapes which consisted of spooky music and eerie voices. Only vampires worked.
not surprised the vampire attack worked in the philippines, we filipinos tend to believe in supernatural and superstitious solely to our culture.
TIL there were no tomatoes, potatoes, blueberries, peanuts, corn, beans, chocolate, vanilla, or tobacco in the old world until about the year 1500, as they are native to the Americas. This was part of the Columbian Exchange which also included many other plants, animals, fungi and diseases.
Tomatos were also used as decorative plants in some European countries at first rather than as food sources.
TIL in WWII, Germany carried out only one land operation in north America, the installation of a secret weather station in Newfoundland. They scattered American cigarette packets and planted a sign saying "Canadian Meteor Service" in case anyone found it, and the site wasn't rediscovered until 1977.
Not true, in 1943 the Germans landed teams of over 50 commandos, all Germans who spoke perfect English to sabatoge. One member who was US born, had a change of heart and ratted out the rest, who were rounded up. But for 2 months the Germans had a full blown commando team on US soil
TIL Hitler planned to replace Berlin with a megacity, Germania, to showcase Nazi power. The plan was a metropolis of madness, with wide thoroughfares only for military parades, car and foot traffic directed to underground tunnels, and no traffic lights anywhere.
Thank God this was thwarted, and we have rational cities instead, like Las Vegas and Dubai
Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Thank you, thank you. I was going to go back to the top to see if it was explained!!!!!!
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A very interesting article, to me at least. When the information is accurate, as it seems to be this time, it is great reading for trivia buffs like me. Thanks, BP.
BP didn't write it. They copy and pasted the posts off a Reddit thread where users there post stuff. BP don't do original content, they rip everyone else's off.
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Being an indigenous woman of the USA, I wonder why every one claims to have native heritage and gives respect...yet we are still hurt and killed and degraded, and my sisters are the most vanished people with no task force or police solving their murders. Native Indians are still hated, murdered and still considered expendable pieces of s**t.
Apparently, a German sociologist established a correlation between a nation's tendency to overestimate itself and the income disparity between that nation' poorest and its richest. Enter USA!!!!
TIL our national (The Netherlands) lottery is 50 years older than the USA is 🤯
Thank you, thank you. I was going to go back to the top to see if it was explained!!!!!!
Load More Replies... A very interesting article, to me at least. When the information is accurate, as it seems to be this time, it is great reading for trivia buffs like me. Thanks, BP.
BP didn't write it. They copy and pasted the posts off a Reddit thread where users there post stuff. BP don't do original content, they rip everyone else's off.
Load More Replies... Being an indigenous woman of the USA, I wonder why every one claims to have native heritage and gives respect...yet we are still hurt and killed and degraded, and my sisters are the most vanished people with no task force or police solving their murders. Native Indians are still hated, murdered and still considered expendable pieces of s**t.
Apparently, a German sociologist established a correlation between a nation's tendency to overestimate itself and the income disparity between that nation' poorest and its richest. Enter USA!!!!
TIL our national (The Netherlands) lottery is 50 years older than the USA is 🤯
