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Can you think of a better way to spice up a stalling conversation than artfully whipping out some surprising trivia? After all, random bits of knowledge catch you off guard and entertain you in the best possible way, so they are bound to leave you talking far into the night. Thankfully, heaps of golden nuggets floating online are just waiting to be uncovered, and the 'Not Common Facts' Instagram account is truly an excellent place to start.

Self-described as "The OG Fact page on Insta," it is dedicated purely to sharing lesser-known pieces of information about how intriguing our world really is. The project's creators can’t get enough of the compelling trivia they share on their social media feeds, and with a whopping 7.1 million curious readers, they’re clearly not alone.

Below, we’ve gathered the newest batch of the most unusual, weird, and riveting facts to get those brain cells buzzing. So continue scrolling and upvote your favorite ones! And if you’re interested in even more trivia goodness, check out Part 1 of this feature right over here.

Our time is precious, isn’t it? We don’t want to waste it by spending hours scrolling through the endless source of information that is the internet, aiming to find interesting pieces of trivia to have on hand at our next dinner party. What we do want is to spend this free time wisely, so carefully curated accounts like the 'Not Common Facts' are the perfect outlets to help our mission. This page on Instagram is like a breath of fresh air where people can find concise and easily digestible information that is also fun to read through.

But as much as it is delightful to discover lesser-known historical and scientific details about our world, acquiring new knowledge is much more than just pure entertainment. According to an article by Harvard Health Publishing, learning and mastering new activities trains our brains and gets our minds going. The researchers explained that our mental muscles can grow and learn as we get older, but they can only do that if we give them something to work with, like picking up a new hobby or performing a challenging activity.

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Mad Dragon
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He had Tritanopia, which made him unable to tell the difference between blue and green, purple and red, and yellow and pink.

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"Eventually, your cognitive skills will wane and thinking and memory will be more challenging, so you need to build up your reserve," Dr. John N. Morris, director of social and health policy research at the Institute for Aging Research, said. "Embracing a new activity that also forces you to think and learn and requires ongoing practice can be one of the best ways to keep the brain healthy."

The good news is that we can pick out any new activity we can think of, as long as it follows three important guidelines that would maximize brain training. The first one, Dr. Morris stated, is that it must be challenging. Although if you can’t think of something new that would pique your interest, you can spend time improving your existing skills. "You don't have the challenge of learning something new, but rather the challenge of increasing your skill set and knowledge," he added.

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Just Another Girl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because women are conditioned to be polite which men mistake as interest. When men are interested women think they’re just being polite. Can we all just start being honest and clear about how we feel about other people?

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Another thing to keep in mind is the complexity of the activity. Not only does it make us more excited to delve deeper into the subject, but it also accelerates problem-solving and critical thinking. And lastly, you need to practice it to make it permanent, just as with everything else in life. "You can't improve memory if you don't work at it. The more time you devote to engaging your brain, the more it benefits," Dr. Morris said. "It is the constant repetition of working to improve, and not the quest for mastery, that can have the greatest impact."

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Stephanie Did It
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I even hear the voices of the characters in books while I'm reading. I really love to read.

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Sydney-Kate
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I lost both of my best friends I’ve had in the past 3 years . I miss them so much sometimes

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MJ
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people are toxic. It takes a long time sometimes years to realize. Took me 20 years. My bf just had me around to make herself seem more attractive because I was not as attractive as her. Her attitude is unattractive.

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Anna Tribe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My best friend was having an affair with my husband. I've not trusted any friends that much ever again even though this was 20 years ago

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Got Myself 4 Pandas
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless you count my husband I don't have a best friend, I rarely see anyone outside my own family to be honest. It can be a bit lonely having no one to talk to, don't know why but I just don't seem the type of person who keeps friends long term, at least my husband and kids love me

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BadCat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I miss my best friend but knowing she has no interest pursuing a friendship with me anymore is disappointing. The last time she reached out turned out she was just wanting recruits for It Works MLM scheme.

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L hill
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Im in the 9 percent catagory. Im still best friends with my 8 year old nephew.

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Kathryn Baylis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Moving away, too busy, huge disagreement, etc. Maybe the two of you just grew apart. Hell, even marriages break up for that last one. We evolve from one decade to the next, so it would be pretty rare to stay friends with someone whose own evolution takes a vastly different direction. Though I do love hearing about lifelong friends who managed to stay friends from childhood.

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Auntriarch
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have 3 best friends from school still, half a century since we met. Two are an hour drive away, the other is 6 time zones, but she's coming over this summer

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Natalia A
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But surely she should have given you a chance to explain? I'm sorry you lost your friendship.

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Angi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've had a few best friends over the years. You grow you change and so do your friends. It's only really sad when it's fighting or worse that ends it.

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Martha Higgins
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I lost one of my two closest friends to MS and the other now has dementia. It's hard being the one left.

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Superninjatiger
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My best friend died 2016 but I still call her my best friend when I talk about her.

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Lady Cadaver
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This might seem strange to some people, but I believe that not everyone is meant to be a permanent fixture in your life. Some relationships with people run their course and then it is done. It doesnt have to be relationships that end badly. They can end positively and you will always look back fondly on your time together, but the relationship ran its course. This goes for any relationship/friendship etc.

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BarBeeGirl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had someone I called my best friend for 45 years. We don’t talk any more

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Mark Karol-Chik
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Boy does this ring true. The best friends I have are 1400 miles away. I often wonder if that has saved the friendships.

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Sally Barry
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's the same with family. All the good people blew town decades ago leading successful happy lives. All the losers (yes, that must include me) are still here. I was stuck propping them up with all their horrible behaviors and problems. We tend to think 'those who got away' live golden lives and would just be the very best people to live with - but if human nature is consistent, they would be losers, too (yes, yes, as I probably am).

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Sally Barry
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My 'best friend' in the 70's considered me a chaperone to go out clubbing with and designated driver. We went camping with her family, went on road trips. She met a man, got a new job, and that was that. I was dead and invisible to her forever after. and we worked together before, for years.

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Thomas Ewing
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The people I call best friends tend to fade away in spite of Facebook, etc. It's like I need a detective rather than a phone book.

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Dawnieangel76
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every best friend I had ditched me. So I guess I'M the problem.

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Irishwoman abroad
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I heard one time about research that showed most friendships last about 7 years on average, then gradually fade away. At the time, a former best friend had just left for the UK, and basically just didn't keep in touch, which really hurt. So I started thinking back, and even though I have lots of good friends, and am still in contact with my best friend of over 40 years, I think as we change, our BFF does too.

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Teri Miller
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Military family, moved a lot. It never occurred to me to get info. I sure do wonder how they are now that I'm almost 70.

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Coffee_nut45?
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I met my best friend in 1987 when we were in junior high we have been best friends ever since I have not seen her in person since spring of 1991 but thanks to the internet and technology we have been able to stay in touch with you with each other and now have coffee online video chat every morning

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Mz Phit
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Still close with my bestie from High School after close to 40 years and a few thousand miles between us!( plus the height difference- I'm barely over five feet and she's six feet, while slouching) Love you Elise!

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Valisbourne Spiritforge
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I lost my 2 best friends in the past few years. They started dating each other and just... stopped talking with my wife and I.

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Janet Graham
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just because you are best friends for a while doesn't mean that you will be for life! It isn't the same thing.

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Tams21
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think I read somewhere that people change their group of friends around every 10 years. It just about holds true with me.

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LynzCatastrophe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The one I had from elementary school and high school: we stopped talking after high school when he refused to acknowledge me in front of his girlfriend. We recently reconnected last year after not speaking for more than 15 years, we've grown up and and things are less petty now. I'm also friends with his girlfriend.... she can do better 😏 My best friend that i met ten years ago through my job: stopped speaking two years ago. She tried to talk to me last month after two years, admitted it was because she was drunk. She knows what she did.

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Amy Taylor
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My best friend from the time I was 17 (I'm 53 now) and I stopped talking to each other in our early 20's. We had a really dumb fight. When I was 38, she reached out to me on MySpace. We met up the next day, hugged and cried.. it was like we saw each other the day before. She came back into my life right before I got pregnant with my first child, and 9 months before my mother died. She's my ride or die sister now, and I will never, ever let her go again. I don't know what I would do without her.

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Ray McArdle
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never understood the concept of a "best friend." All my friends are just friends.

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Coffeefiend1
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When you're best friend lies to you, uses you and then throws you away as soon as they think you're dead. You never really get over that. Some betrayals just break people.

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notnow
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do not have women friends( I'm female) they are vicious, backstabbing horrors. I loved my best friend like a sister and told her things ( confessed) that I would never tell another soul. A male friend repeated it back to me. Never again. NEVER. I LOVED HER LIKE A SISTER.

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Two_rolling_black_eyes
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worry about the 9% who still are. I am not the same person now as I was when I was 2 years old. 9% of people are still BFF with someone they met before they had a fully developed personality or determined what is important to them.

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Roger Moreno
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m happy to report that to this day, my best friend from kindergarten and I are STILL friends, closer than ever, and I just hung out with him and his family a couple weekends ago. Friendships like these are treasures, never take them for granted. I love him like a brother. I’m almost 40, I’ve known him almost my entire life.

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Grace Noyes
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've had my two best friends for 30 years. I feel very fortunate to have them in my life.

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K Miller
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm not friends with anyone I went to school with anymore. I've stayed friends with my 'bestie' though we don't see each other a whole lot even before the pandemic. I think a huge part of this (at least for me) is making friends you go to school with and/or work with and then you move on, lives diverge, you don't have a lot in common anymore so you kind of drift apart. That said, I think a mark of true friendship is being able to go long periods without seeing or speaking and being able to pick right back up where you left off. People change and so do their priorities, like getting married and having kids.

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We previously had a chat with Barbara Oakley, Ph.D., a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester and author of Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything, who agreed with Morris’ line of thinking.

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"New knowledge serves as a sort of mental trellis that allows new neurons to survive, thrive, and grow," she told Bored Panda. When we’re not engaged in learning, these "new neurons, instead of nestling into your neural lattice, will wither and die. And you can find yourself becoming less flexible in your thinking as you increasingly rely on older neurons," the professor added. 

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Anxiousguest
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Happens to me often. That's so very irritating ,and exhausting. It usually happens, if I'm stressed, or sick.

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When you wish to become better at educating yourself, setting a goal is of the utmost importance. After all, when you have your eyes on the prize, it encourages you to keep going and helps a lot with the whole process. "You might set a goal of reading 20 pages a day of a book, which can amount to 15 books or more each year," Oakley suggested. "And there are wonderful online courses on learning!" 

The professor herself teaches courses online like Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects. According to her, online learning is great since we can access these lessons from any corner of the world, and they can add a lot to our educational journey. "You’ll see that many of these online courses are divided into 'chunks' of material that you can reasonably cover each week," Oakley told us. "And you’ll get weekly reminder emails to help keep you on track." 

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Jihana
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Goes along with the one that men overestimate a womans interest in them.

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Oakley pointed out that virtually any kind of new learning helps keep our brains fresh, as long as it is challenging and complicated enough to increase our intelligence. "Whether it’s a new language, bringing back your rusty math skills, improving your ability to code, or taking up a new sport," the professor provided a few examples. And if you’re not sure where to start, picking up a book and reading a certain number of pages is a great way to feed your curiosity.

"If you want to make your new learning 'stick' even better — and reduce mental fog — add some exercise to your life," Oakley continued. "Exercise helps produce a chemical, BDNF, that serves as a sort of fertilizer for newer and stronger neural connections in the brain. In other words, BDNF helps you focus and remember better!"

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N G
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

goats are actually good singers. In 2008 a goat named billy won "Britain got talent"

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When asked whether the internet is a good tool for learning new facts and building up our knowledge, she told us that it gives us incredible opportunities to learn from some of the best teachers in the world. "Athlete Julius Yego, for example, couldn’t find top javelin throwing coaches in his native Kenya and couldn’t afford to travel overseas to train," Oakley said. "So he started watching YouTube videos." Surprisingly, by watching tutorials online and practicing on his own, "he became the world champion in the javelin!"

Also, if you want to become better at remembering the things you recently learned, the professor explained that the best way "is to use what psychologists call 'retrieval practice.'" She noted that this simply means retrieving information from your brain. "That is, checking to see if you’ve got that information stored inside you." 

For example, try using flashcards or take a few practice tests. "Or simply look away from a page or webpage (like this one!) and see if you can retrieve (that is, remember) the key ideas. Like Julius Yego, through learning, retrieving, and practicing, you too can become a world champion — or at least the best person you can be," Oakley concluded.

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James016
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How was he allowed to register a car in someone else's name? Are there no validation/security checks?

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Nathaniel
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

500 years from now, confused scientists will open up these freezers and try to revive the Findus Crispy Pancake that has been stored with the bodies.

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Mtownmick
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I doubt this is true and it is just a coincidence. Sigh, internet.

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Joe Reaves
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OK this is really deceptive. "The false ad lawsuit all started in 2013 by a US consumer, Benjamin Careathers, who believed the company's slogan "Red Bull gives you wings" is dishonest. He argued the slogan clearly doesn't mean the drink will give you wings but it is generally understood the drink should give a higher energy boost than an average cup of coffee. But when Careathers found Red Bull had less caffeine than a cup of coffee, he felt there were grounds for a lawsuit. According to the Red Bull website, One 250ml (8.4 oz) can of Red Bull Energy Drink contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, which is about 80mg." He argued the slogan clearly doesn't mean the drink will give you wings but it is generally understood the drink should give a higher energy boost than an average cup of coffee."

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