50 Random Facts About The World You Probably Didn’t Know, As Shared By This Wildly Popular Instagram Account
The Instagram account 'Factbytes' has earned itself 522,000 followers by sharing random trivia about the world. And while numbers alone aren't always indicative of quality content, you have to admit, such a high figure surely looks intriguing.
Why do so many people want to see this account's posts? Well, the main reason is probably diversity. From the Earth's geography to human behavior, 'Factbytes' touches on a wide variety of topics. So we decided to compile some of its most popular uploads and ask you if you think it's worth half a million fans.
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
According to Steven Wooding, who is a member of the Omni Calculator project and the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom, and the founder of the Weird Units Converter, there's something universally human about our fascination with trivia.
Speaking for Bored Panda's publication on 'WTF Facts', a similar internet project to 'Factbytes', Wooding said that people like to help others by sharing their knowledge; that's why society values intelligence so much. Essentially, these interactions boil down to delivery.
"It can be a negative behavior if someone uses their superior intelligence to belittle other people," he said.
"As with most things, we need to find a happy balance. Looking at the big picture, humans have had extraordinary success in evolutionary terms by sharing knowledge," he said that there's a correlation between the two.
I can't believe no one has said this yet, so, here I go...wait for it...yup!... it's... TA DA!...pigs! in! a! blanket!
We get a lot out of it. For example, experts say that playing trivia games can provide a dopamine rush much like gambling, but without the negative effects.
Whether we're playing Trivial Pursuit at home or attending a pub quiz night, the basic premise remains the same: we experience the thrill of providing correct answers to questions about lesser-known facts.
"You get a rush or a neuroreward 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.”
Don't they have different movies? Are the toilets available without buying a ticket? If not, what if someone has to go but doesn't have a Ticket? So many questions
Kounios said the benefits can also be compared to those of playing a video game.
"I don’t think there are any pitfalls," he said. "Like anything else that’s fun, it takes up time," he explained.
A librarian from California, Sarah Kishler, loves trivia games and enjoys attending a monthly pub trivia night in which a team of librarians participate.
"Learning facts so that I can get better at trivia is definitely a passion of mine," she also told Healthline. "Getting a question right is definitely very satisfying to me."
Over the past decade, pub trivia nights appear to have grown in popularity in parts of Europe and the United States.
Enthusiasts like Kishler enjoy getting to interact with people at these events.
She has learned that doing well at these social trivia games gives her a feeling of validation and increases her self-esteem.
This happend to an old guy who had a small kiosk. As children my friends, my brother and I would always go their with our pocket money to get candy after school. The shop was owned by him and his wife. They were a really sweet older couple who loved kids and were always fun and welcoming. They were married for ages before she passed away due to cancer. He managed the shop alone for maybe 4 to 6 weeks. It than closed down. My mom told me he didn't wanted to have the shop on his own. Several years later I found out that he died only a few weeks after her because of his broken heart. He missed her so much that being alive wasn't an option for his body. His house was empty for years before it got sold to another family. I still walk by the building the kiosk was in when I walk my dog. It's such a sad story but they'll stay a part of my childhood memory.
Technicality: Neither atheist nor agnostic are religions. Weed smoker too, though it it probably done religiously.
"I love general knowledge, geography, literature, music, science trivia," Kishler said. "I just love to accumulate knowledge. I like the exercise that it gives my brain and memory."
She doesn't think of herself as a competitive person but nevertheless enjoys getting a bit amped up at trivia games. If you do too, hopefully, 'Factbytes' will help you prepare for them!
Yep, last time someone put a bowl of food in front of me, I leaped straight to their lap and started purring.
Imagine surviving one of the greatest maritime disasters in history, coming back to your country (probably traumatised) and being fired because you didn't die?
Makes you wonder if the reaction would have been different if the survivor was a woman. Women and children first was the rule so they'd probably have been more forgiving right?
Load More Replies...
Masabumi Hosono was en employee of Japanese Ministry of Transport. He was sent to Russia in 1910 to study the state railway system there. His voyage home to Japan took him through England where he boarded the Titanic as a second class passenger. He was awakened by a ship steward but was not allowed to go onto the deck as they thought he was a third class passenger, which was messed up on multiple levels on the ship stewards' side. Once he was able to get on the deck, it was utter chaos and horror. He was contemplating his death while still looking for any chance of survival. He somehow made it onto a lifeboat. Aboard the Carpathia, he slept in the Smoke room. Unfortunately, he became a target of jokes by the seamen. Once home in Japan, he was hounded by the press and public as a coward and lost his job. This story has a happier ending, though. The Ministry of Transport soon reemployed him as he was too valuable. He worked for the Ministry until his death in 1939.
He would have lost his job if he died so there is loss-loss situation for this guy(except he survived something terrible)
It's as though they didn't think Survivor's Guilt/PTSD was enough for the poor chap.
Given the system of family honor that existed in Japan at the time, I believe (and correct me if I am wrong) he would have been expected to stay and help as many other people survive as possible, at the cost of his life. His survival suggested that he did so at the cost that someone else who could have survived died in his place
To be fair, a number of people would have to die so someone else could survive. The number of available lifeboats was apalling. I know what you mean, though. Also, a survivor wrote a book recounting the disaster and what he observed. The writer mistook this man for another Asian man who supposedly pushed people aside to get on a lifeboat.
Load More Replies...
A friend of my maternal's cousin whose lived in Japan and said to me that to have survivors in thinks like these is not honourable, thus like when is,s killed the Japanese journalist, they would not ask for a ransom or something. Deep in my heart I wish this kind of think is not a ultutal practice at all in any part of the world.
pretty sure that history can be summarised as: Thag hit Grug with club. Grug hit Thag with club.
Some of these are certainly not facts. I don't mind an opinion until someone believes theirs are fact.
My man, on our first date told me, that all his knowledge about women is from this book 😅 and he gave me this one. I laughed hard 😂 We are together for 15 years already 😁
A) not a fact, B) not necessarily true. She may be complaining, she may be looking for advice. How could you generalise something so vague and vast?
It's making me crazy how many of these are really opinions AND how many of them are specifically focused on women
Load More Replies... Wow these aren't really facts, mostly opinions or uncited psychological claims. ugh.
A look of them are questionable facts. Any sources to back them up?
This has got to be one of the worst articles I've ever read on this site. Most of these 'facts' are opinions with no actual evidence and some are actually worryingly encouraging toxic and abusive relationships. Talk about scraping the barrell BP.
That's exactly what I was thinking... an annoying mix of facts and random opinions is bad enough but what's really concerning is that some of them encourage abusive relationships. Edit: Also a lot of toxic positivity, and advice without context (such as "not giving up"), which can be harmful too.
Load More Replies... 
I stopped reading about a quarter way in, most of these are not facts
This seriously reads like cut'n'paste from a click-bait ad -- was there even an attempt at fact checking? There have been other recent "Featured" posts that made me wonder if BP editors were caught snoozing, but this is the first that made me question if they're employed at all.
I'm fairly new to BP and have been a big fan so far, but this list of "facts" has me questioning my future here
Well, this list was mostly garbage, and the layout of the "facts" is really really awful... All those highlights on black background...
"Facts" that were apparently written by a nearly illiterate Martian.
FACT! My eyes are f****d from reading all the weird random colours on a black background! Please don't do that.
It's making me crazy how many of these are really opinions AND how many of them are specifically focused on women
Load More Replies... Wow these aren't really facts, mostly opinions or uncited psychological claims. ugh.
A look of them are questionable facts. Any sources to back them up?
This has got to be one of the worst articles I've ever read on this site. Most of these 'facts' are opinions with no actual evidence and some are actually worryingly encouraging toxic and abusive relationships. Talk about scraping the barrell BP.
That's exactly what I was thinking... an annoying mix of facts and random opinions is bad enough but what's really concerning is that some of them encourage abusive relationships. Edit: Also a lot of toxic positivity, and advice without context (such as "not giving up"), which can be harmful too.
Load More Replies... I stopped reading about a quarter way in, most of these are not facts
This seriously reads like cut'n'paste from a click-bait ad -- was there even an attempt at fact checking? There have been other recent "Featured" posts that made me wonder if BP editors were caught snoozing, but this is the first that made me question if they're employed at all.
I'm fairly new to BP and have been a big fan so far, but this list of "facts" has me questioning my future here
Well, this list was mostly garbage, and the layout of the "facts" is really really awful... All those highlights on black background...
"Facts" that were apparently written by a nearly illiterate Martian.
FACT! My eyes are f****d from reading all the weird random colours on a black background! Please don't do that.
