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World Insights: 44 Little-Known Facts That Reframe Everyday Knowledge
While social interaction has proven to be a major factor in improving cognitive health, other components of trivia, such as learning new facts and recalling older information, can also be significant, says Professor Scott Brown from the University of Newcastle.
"Practicing pub trivia helps maintain our cognitive reserve, which is especially important as we age because it can provide a buffer against cognitive decline and other forms of dementia. It's the 'use it or lose it' notion, where if we keep doing these activities to work our cognitive muscles, it keeps them from atrophying early," he explains.
Professor Brown adds that the rewards of getting questions right, or even better, winning, can boost your mental health, and the dopamine rush can be both rewarding and motivating to learn more.
So let's dive straight in! Reddit user Own_Championship7862 made a post on the platform, asking everyone, "What's an unusual fact that most people don't know?" Since the replies have been pouring in, we decided to compile some of the most surprising ones and help you expand your knowledge.
Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.
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#1
Wearing white wedding dresses only came into fashion after Queen Victoria started the trend. White isn’t meant to have any other meaning or represent purity as many people think. Before this trend most brides just wore their best dress of any colour as it was expensive to buy a dress just for the occasion.
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#2
Pink used to be a masculine color. During the height of the British Empire, the soldiers in the far reaches of the world donned their red coats in battle and patrol. The newer recruits would look especially sharp with a bold red color. The rugged war-heroes though? Their coats were faded and worn into more of a pink color. If you saw a guy wearing a pink coat, odds are they have stories to tell with a thousand yard stare. This became a desirable thing to show off your experience and grit. Hence pink was associated with combat prowess and ruggedness, and became a masculine color during that time.
#4
I have recently learned that Lobsters don't display senescence which is the deterioration of the body as it ages. Their bodies are continuously growing and their exoskeletons get heavier and heavier, hence when they molt into a new exoskeleton it takes more and more energy to take off the old one. Eventually they die because one day they just go, "Yeeeeeaaaah sooo like this exoskeleton is too heavy so imma just go meet Lobster God and head out from the mortal world." Now a thought... If a group of people helped a lobster shed it's exo- skeleton... And if said lobster kept growing... Technically, a giant lobster could be brought into existence should the lobster not die from old age.
#5
Each time I read a question like this I am reminded of this, If you made 10,000 dollars everyday since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in August 2, 1776, you still wouldn’t wouldn’t have 1 billion dollars. And it is just mind boggling!!
#6
The Korean people have an enzyme that makes us have dry ear wax and a propensity to lack body odor. For the first 20 years of my life I had no idea why my earwax was flaky when everyone else's was more like a jam or paste and why I didn't have to wear deodorant. I'm not saying that Koreans are immune from body odor but it is much less prevalent and requires much more disregard for hygiene.
#8
When basketball was first invented, at every game, they would have a man who would go up a ladder to retrieve the ball after every basket. It took them around 20 years to figure out maybe it would be a good idea to cut the bottom of the basket out to make retrieving the ball a lot easier. 20 years!!!
#10
I love when this question comes up because I get to talk about the thunder clappers. When the Lewis and Clark expedition were exploring the west of North America, their diet of dried meat left them constipated. They were all taking these pills called thunder clappers to make themselves s**t. The active ingredient in thunder clappers is mercury, and historians can track the expedition because they left increased deposits of mercury in the soil.
#11
The male giraffe will continuously headbutt the female in the bladder until she urinates. The male then tastes the pee and that helps it determine whether the female is ovulating. If she is, it’s business time.
#12
For every single human being on Earth, there are 2.5 MILLION ants. Yes, this means that there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on this planet. If the ants decide to take over, are you strong enough to handle the 2.5 million that you'll be responsible for killing? If you've got kids, you might have to [end] more because a 2 year old isn't going to accomplish a god [darn] thing if millions of ants are marching towards them
#16
A day on Venus (one complete rotation around its axis) is longer than a year (a complete revolution around the sun) on Venus.
#18
Iron is the most stable atom in the universe. When fusion in the sun's core 'burns', it fuses *up* the period table until it reaches iron. From that point, fusion really isn't generating any more energy and the core collapses. From the other side of things, all elements heavier than iron eventually fission down to iron (though i grant you, it may take a *very* long time, even at cosmological timescales). Atoms are perceived to be everlasting and timeless. That's technically not *really* the case over the very long term except for iron. This is why, if I ever get married I'm going to request an iron wedding band. If I want a timeless representation of my love I can think of nothing better, than something that will last, (even if only elementally) to the heat death of the universe.
#20
A man named Wilmer McLean owned a farm in Manassas, Virginia USA where the very first battle of the US Civil War was fought. After the battle he's like "I'm outta here" and bought a farm way out in the country at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia...where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant in McLeans living room four years later
#21
McDonald's engineered bubblegum flavoured broccoli in an attempt to get kids to eat more vegetables. They still didn't want to eat it.
#25
The raw image we see with our eyes is actually upside down. Our brains subconsciously flip it back to the correct way.
#26
Marriage between pirates were common and where the term Matey comes from. the French word for Matey is “Matelot” or “Matelotage” which was an agreement between two pirates to share their income and even inherit the other’s property in case of death
#27
Medical students commonly learn how to administer pelvic exams by practicing on unconscious patients, often without first obtaining explicit consent from patients to do so. While 21 states currently have laws that require teaching hospitals to obtain consent from patients to participate in this educational experience.
#28
A quarter of the population of Iceland is part Native American because when Lief Ericsson landed in Newfoundland, he brought one Native American woman back with him.
#29
The Atari 2600's release date and the last execution by guillotine happened less than 24 hours apart
#34
Male rhesus macaques will pay to see pictures of female monkey butts. Payment is in the form of trading their juice rewards
#39
A species of frog, the African clawed frog, was the most reliable pregnancy test for a few decades before at-home tests were widely affordable and accessible
#40
A bone “break” is the same as a “fracture.” Fracture is just the medical term. It does not have any correlation with the severity
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