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While some of the things we learn don't necessarily make us smarter, they can definitely arouse our desire to learn more. Or at least help us continue our stalling conversations. And Twitter account WTF Facts is dedicated to collecting and sharing these random tidbits of information. From celebrity lifestyle to international relations, the project covers a wide range of topics, which is probably the reason why its feed remains so fresh and interesting. Continue scrolling and check out some of the most popular tweets WTF Facts have ever released!

Knowing obscure facts isn't just fun. It's also good for our mental health. For example, experts say that playing trivia games can provide a dopamine rush much like gambling, but without the negative effects. 

Even if our trivia games differ, the benefits are there. Whether we're playing Trivial Pursuit at home or attending a pub trivia 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.”

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Kounios said the benefits can also be similar to those of playing a video game.

However, unlike gambling and even video games, Kounios said trivia is generally not a problematic habit.

“I don’t think there are any pitfalls,” he said. “Like anything else that’s fun, it takes up time.”

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A librarian from California, Sarah Kishler, loves trivia games and enjoys attending a monthly pub trivia night in which a team of librarians participates.

"Learning facts so that I can get better at trivia is definitely a passion of mine," she told Healthline. "Getting a question right is definitely very satisfying to me."

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Guido Pisano
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same in Italy... You're allowed to disobey an order that you think is illegal...

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Over the past decade or so, pub trivia nights that are popular in the United Kingdom appear to have grown in other parts of Europe and the United States.

Enthusiasts like Kishler enjoy getting to interact with people at these events, especially compared to electronic trivia games.

She has learned that doing well at these social trivia games gives her "a feeling of validation" and increases her self-esteem.

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River Webb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah Disney often adapts its stories to be appropriate for children, eventually leading everybody to only remember the Disney version and not the original

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"I love general knowledge, geography, literature, music, science trivia," Kishler explained. "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.

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“People really like to have some expertise on something and the brain is very good at focusing on things that you’re interested in,” Deborah Stokes, Ph.D., L.P.C., B.C.N., a psychologist in Virginia, who focuses on neurotherapy, told Healthline.

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River Webb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

she was an amazing woman, her death was such a tragedy

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Kathryn Baylis
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Desperately trying to keep her boys well grounded in real life, and avoid having them turn into snotty elitist little shits like some others in the aristocracy. I think it helped a lot, since the two of them seem to have a much better understanding of the lives of non-aristocrats than their elders. Especially Harry.

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Brandi VanSteenwyk
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And thus, 2 wonderfully different but equally amazing young men were able to carry on their mother's essence despite her absence.

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Teresa Groth
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a wonderful person She was and She was too good for that family of Royal’s!

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Missy Moo Moo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And Megan Markle has the area around her at Wimbledon cleared. Polar opposites

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Mz Phit
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd be wanting areas cleared if I was getting threatened everyday too. It's unfortunately a different world now, and people do horrible things in the name of hatred and ignorance. I don't blame her for wanting to be safe...especially after what happened to Diana

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TruestBlack
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She was awesome but they didn't stand in line and their body guards were with them the entire time as well as park security and handlers to keep press away from them

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Susan Green
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As usual, Uncle Trash is talking about things he has no clue about. Typical of him.

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Izzy_
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How amazing was she! I was very little when she pasases away.

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Lisa Chambers
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

mmm that last bit isnt true. There is no way our government nor the UK would have allowed them to stand in line at Disney World. They were definitely VIPS. And there is nothing wrong with that.

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backatya
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like it all except the revealing dresses. No need for the public to see what she's got only in private to the man she loves.

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Myxomatosis
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It seems that only Harry is the one who has carried on his mother's way of life and service.

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Ja R
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

she was actually a person with her own mind. as for royals her only reason for marriage was to bare an heir and spare

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Suzanne Haigh
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She never wore revealing outfits and always dressed as the occasion required, just like Kate, pity Megan could not manage this simple requirement of royalty.

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Caroline Driver
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She even went shopping in W H Smith's. Although most mums don't have bodyguards with them

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Cybele Spanjaard
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She had body guards everywhere to protect her and the her boys. They did have real time together unlike her husband and his inherited family protocols

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Rachel Lacow
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was visiting London as part of a college program the summer she died. I remember coming down to breakfast (I was staying at Roehampton College) and they told us she had died. London became wild - there were flowers EVERYWHERE. There were just too many people for me and everything was closed up ... so I got out of dodge and went to. Belgium for the weekend. But I really feel like I was there were history was made. It is a story I will never forget.

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Rachel Lacow
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No wonder Harry wanted to marry a woman with the same mindset as his mother.

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Ruth Fichter
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Harry seems to be following in her footsteps. William, not as much, but then, he's stuck being a future king. Bummer!

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Steve in Denver
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is such a great photo. I hope her sons can repair their rift. Life is so incredibly short.

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JD Lee
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Parents today could learn from this: you might think your child is special, but the rest of us just see an entitled brat. Good on her!

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lara
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, Harry has certainly failed to live up to his mother's standards.

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Dave Chapman
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wouldn't say that, he did 2 tours of Active duty in Afghanistan and is now standing by the woman he loves and supporting her completely, giving up his Royal title(s) to do so! I'd say he's being a Man of Morals.

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Tony Debski
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolutely!!! a wonderful, thoughtful and sadly-missed Woman!

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Azure Adams
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And that is why she is a class act. And her sons didn't turn out like ass butts like their father, uncles, and aunt

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BabaBizzle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

08/31/97 was the worst day losing this pure beautiful soul. She deserved better than the way that horrible cheating husband and his family treated her.

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Leo Domitrix
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It was the ultimate FU to the Royal "Firm", as well as a gift to her sons to remind them they were *just kids like other kids*!

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Ms.GB
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She's always been such an exemplary example of a human being. Someone who knows what's really important.

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Samantha PandaNotBored
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh at what this pic doesn’t show, is a Scotland Yard special officer at the back of this boat .

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Samantha PandaNotBored
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3 years ago

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If you believe that , you’ll believe anything. She was irresponsible, she also had many more affairs than Charles ever did.

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Niall Mac Iomera
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3 years ago

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So she's being praised for doing something literally everyone does?

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Dizzy Falcon
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pretty much, yea. She had access to many nice amenities, such as skipping lines. She did not follow them.

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According to Stokes, learning large bodies of knowledge can often start with trivia. And people who are interested in trivia can be brainy, have a high IQ, and be smart on a lot of levels.

However, Kounios said that people aren’t necessarily better at trivia games just because they’re more educated.

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Láďa Durchánek
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can barely draw a stick figure and if instructions have more than one step it is safer to write them down.

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"Some people soak up facts,” Kounios added. "Plenty of people with a lot more education may not remember what they had for breakfast yesterday morning."

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"In typical people, my observation, not backed up by any research, is that their interest in trivia is confined to topics that they are generally interested in. So if a person is very interested in history, then they may either seek out history trivia, or they might just naturally pick it up in the course of learning about nontrivial aspects of history."

Stokes pointed out that trying to retain information about things we're interested in can be like a good exercise for the frontal cortex as the brain ages.

"That’s the first thing to go with injury or with age if we don’t use it," she said.

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Of course, it's completely understandable if the pandemic has drained your brain of the desire to learn and flooded it with boredom and tiredness instead. In an earlier Bored Panda interview, Lenore Skenazy, the president of Let Grow and the founder of the Free-Range-Kids movement, said that before we can become curious again, we have to do the hard part: get off the couch. Force yourself out the door. Why? Because beyond your four walls, things are never exactly the same. Weather, animals, people, sounds, smells, clouds—they’re all swirling about."

Lenore continued: "Ask yourself to start noticing new things. I did that this morning with a friend. We took a walk around our neighborhood and started looking for interesting details in the homes and buildings we passed. It went from a walk down streets we’d seen a million times to a sort of treasure hunt. And the big thing we were really hunting for? Curiosity! When you’re curious you’re alive again—noticing, thinking, making connections. You can’t do that if there’s no new information coming in. So your first step is to force yourself out of a rut by leaving the house (harder during the pandemic, but not impossible)."

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Michelle M
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here's another fact. Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth were born in the same year.

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Bill
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except 21 payouts and Non Disclosure agreements. No innocent person would pay out that many times

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QuokkaVibes
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As an Italian (but this is my personal belief, everyone is entitled to it's own) this is exactly something Mafia would do. It's something I know occurs in Italy on a daily basis. You see a quite common modus operandi is mobster would do something nice for the community or for specific people, so that the community in the area feels dependable. One well known method of recruiting in the mafia is: you have a problem, we send to you someone you know (and you don't know he works for us). Maybe a friend of a friend. He'll fix your problem for you. After time is passed this person asks for a little innocent thing like let's say "I'm sick can you bring this box to this adress? I can't move". After that he asks for more pressuring you on the favor he did awhile back and tells you that box you delivered was full of drugs/handguns so you're an accomplice. And that's it you're in a system you can't escape without hurting family and friends.

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Mary Rose Kent
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I assume that this photo is all of the lazy culprits and, of course, the one who actually did the deed

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Note: this post originally had 122 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.

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