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Whether it happens around the office coffee machine, the BBQ party's grill, or at the bar, running out of things to say is a real possibility when you're having small talk. And depending on the level of your social anxiety, the uncomfortable silence that follows can be pretty deafening. So in order not to end up in such a situation, let's take a look at the Facebook group 'Unique Facts.' From intricate personal stories to fascinating trivia about the animal kingdom, and beyond, these posts will definitely give you some random ideas on how to save your next failing conversation.

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    The popularity of this group, together with the Instagram account 'Facts', Facebook page 'Now You Know' and countless others illustrate that people still love trivia.

    And while nobody can claim to have invented "knowing random stuff for fun," the trend gained a lot of ground in the '70s.

    The original Jeopardy! daytime game show premiered in 1964 and the nighttime syndicated version started airing in 1974, around the time pub trivia began to take off. While these events probably evolved organically, the first formalized version came about in 1976, when Sharon Burns and Tom Porter peddled quizzes to pubs in southern England.

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    Pyla
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There is a really good 2014 99% Invisible podcast about this. …. It happened in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle

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    At first, the plan was to just give bars a way to get people in on slow nights, but the concept became a huge hit. In the US, groups like Pub Trivia USA and America’s Pub Quiz organize city- and state-wide competitions, often with serious cash prizes.

    “We don’t want people to walk into a bar and feel like they can't contribute for a round,” Cullen Shaw, co-founder of the NYC Trivia League, told GQ about what makes for a good trivia night.

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    Dave Van Beurden
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    1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Is not so much for liberating the country (US and Polish troops also played a big part in that) but for keeping the royal family safe during their exile. And temporarily changing part of a hospital Dutch soil so that the princesses were born in the Netherlands.

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    "If there’s a really difficult 17th-century poetry question, maybe there’s one person in the bar that knows that, but a sports question comes up after that and they let someone else answer. That's what’s fun about team trivia," Shaw explained.

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    Then again, you don't even need to be on a team to participate—or even leave your home. Hundreds of thousands of people log on to various apps to play every day.

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    WindySwede
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Cool! Yet another reason why not to keep them as pets?

    Noel Bovae
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes! Keeping birds in cages is beyond cruel, no matter how "well" they're taken care of. It's like a prisoner being given treats and toys. That's great, but they're STILL a prisoner.

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    The Shark
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Whales and dolphins do this as well. Humans notoriously underestimate animal sentience.

    Bob Brooce
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some people wonder what's in a name. In this case it's a sound that's unique to each parrot. The adult parrots use a sound to call their offspring, and as they grow older the offspring mimic and make slight changes tot he sound, thus creating their own "name".

    ShaZam
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So, here are my kids ... tweet ... tweet tweeeeet ... and tweeeeet

    Khavrinen
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Here's a SciShow video about animals who use names: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=betl7h_9CNw

    Anja Schmidt
    Community Member
    1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Birdslife is so warmhearted and cute. But one must be sure to treat them as real family members and never let them stay alone for a long time cause they really need intense socializing ...

    Debby Keir
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Doris, put that frog down now - you don't know where he's been.

    Robert Beveridge
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had to read that three times to understand they weren't also naming sticks.

    Liz Butt
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm wondering who would be able to interpret parrot speak to be able to ascertain that bit of information.

    Nic Soderman
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not only wild ones. Mine has named me "C--ksu--er a---ole ba--tard son of a f---ing sh--head". Makes getting a new passport a nightmare.

    Shirley Heyn
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Maybe not just "wild" ones, just that "the pets" never see their offspring again after they are sold . . .?

    Leonel Roque
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The first time I read this I thought it said they make sticks also.

    Jaya
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There are multiple animal species that use names, super interesting.

    Ubiquitous
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ngl, was wondering why they would name their sticks for a moment there

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    The draw toward trivia seems to be rooted in our natural curiosity and desire for challenge. "We are a competitive people," said Shaw. "We like games; in general, humankind has gravitated toward them."

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    People also enjoy alcohol and socializing, so a combination of all three—plus the bragging rights that come with answering a tough question that nobody else did—creates an activity with lasting appeal.

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    RoHa
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Imagine what my life would have been like if BP had censored the word 'd**g' effectively in the above image. I could have been someone.. I could have made positive change in the world.. I could have lived with purpose. Sadly, my young mind was corrupted in an instant and I am now spiralling into darkness. My once promising mind is corrupted and I shall only know torment until my blackened heart rests at the end of what will surely be a cursed life. Why, BP? WHY? Tell your children what has happened here today, lest they sink into the same deep, dark cavern of woe.

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    Alexia
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I have A neg. I signed up to donate blood some years ago and I've been donating regularly. It seems to be a rare type (at least in my area), because I am sometimes contacted by someone from the donation center and asked if I could come on day X for an urgent blood request. It's cool to know you're really helping someone. Someday you might be the one in need of blood.

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    Plus, playing trivia games also gives your brain a workout, as it requires you to recall facts, make connections, and think critically under pressure.

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    "[Trivia questions] can engage your brain and reward/dopamine responses," said Alan D. Castel, Ph.D., a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of California.

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    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What is the difference between a rabbit lifting weights and a rabbit with a carrot in its ear? Ones a fit bunny, the other is a bit funny.

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    HTakeover
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They're an offshoot of the Chinese Red Delicious; like the majority of apples are cultivated to be this way, not natural. The growing conditions are very specific so incredibly hard to duplicate hence why you don't see others trying to grow them. You can, however, get the Arkansas Black Apple, which is very similar in appearance though tart rather than sweet. Also cultivated of course.

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    Bob Brooce
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Calling it a diamond mine is a bit like calling a mountain stream a gold mine just because panning for gold can actually produce a modest amount of gold. The place is Crater of Diamonds State Park, and park statistics say that about 1 of every 200 visitors finds a diamond. A few very valuable diamonds have been found, but the park says that most aren't even appraised. I'm sure it can be fun, but it would be a mistake t think there's a good financial reason for a visit.

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    "Some research has shown that people are in fact willing to gamble, and even subject themselves to electric shocks to satisfy their curiosity for trivial knowledge that carries no apparent value, and may share neural mechanisms with that of hunger for food—showing the almost primal power of curiosity," Castel added.

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    Rebekah Fuentes
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I know in my brain it's an octopus, however, doesn't that look like my man's carrying a 8 armed Alien through the water?!?!?

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    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    People who work with pineapples, cutting them up for processing etc, lose their fingerprints, the acids in the pineapples eat the ridges away.

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    Jrog
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Neither her or Stephen Hawking never had a twitter account. The rest is also partially inaccurate https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sabrina-pasterski-physics-girl/

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    May
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Copying my comment from below. I watched several architect videos stating that such buildings were absolutely unsustainable and an absurdity (issues with constantly having to care for the trees, inc roots growing, flats being infested with bugs (inc mosquitoes) to the point where inhabitants don't open their windows) massive use of water etc. Several people in the comments who lived in such buildings seemed to validate these points...If you have some further feedback i'm interested

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    LonelyLittleLeafSheep
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or maybe just plant a tree? In the US, these tanks would be vandalized and broken in no time at all.

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    WindySwede
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Really cool to eat a lemon afterwards, but the sweet-taste is little bit different than ordinary sugar.

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    #37

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    Farnzy
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wrong. We all know the strongest material known to humans is that one strand of spider web you walk into when you least expect it.

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    LonelyLittleLeafSheep
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No, thank you. My dreams are really weird, usually involve strange architecture and not enough bathrooms, and watching them once in my sleep is quite enough.

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    Tom Hardeveld
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    1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    and thousands of square miles of rainforest are destroyed to make place for sugarcane plantations (one article said 16.3 thousand km2) So it is very bad for the environment

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    N H
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is misleading. They land in the water, they just don't go to solid ground very often.

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    Richard Graham
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    SUBARU is Japanese for a cluster of six stars, which the Greeks called the Pleiades – part of the Taurus constellation.

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    #55

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    troufaki13
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    In Greece a 44yo woman started a wildfire because she wanted to see the firefighters in action 😥

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    Colleen Glim
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Good news! We won the war with no casualties! Also, this is Kevin. We adopted him. He’s now a new citizen

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    arthbach
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    However, there is one bridge that crosses the Negro River, the Amazon's main tributary.The bridge, 'Ponte Rio Negro' connects Manaus and Iranduba.

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    Hodmi
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    To be technically correct (the best kind of correct), Sol is a G-type main-sequence star (G2V) - also known as a yellow dwarf, though its light is actually white. It appears white on earth - otherwise everything would be yellow tinted. It only appears yellow when the light has to go through a lot of atmosphere, such as at at sun rise/set

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    Jrog
    Community Member
    1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Most of Europe is like that. We are actually perplexed on how easy it is to get a license in the US, and how little training you have for driving a multi-ton killing machine. American drivers are also charged premium insurance prices when renting cars in some EU countries because they have a higher accident rate.

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    Diolla
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm Dutch but I don't know these walls they are talking about. Actually our country is only 300km or so from North to south. Maybe they mean the combined length of all our waterworks, including dykes, dams and the like. We do have lots of dykes. At the coastline it's mostly dunes though.

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    #71

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    Rali Meyer
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    China's 70.2GW of new construction ("of coal power plants) getting underway in 2023 represents 19-times more than the rest of the world's 3.7GW

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    QuantumCatnip
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Okay but Rolls Royce are RARELY used as a daily use vehicle whereas Toyotas are. If you don't use a thing every single day, it will almost always last way longer than the thing that you do use every day.

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    Becky Samuel
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    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Multiplied by the hundreds of millions of tons of apples produced in a single year equals not that uncommon actually.

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    Jrog
    Community Member
    1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's so flexible that in the early days glass panes detached and fell down the street below. The topmost floors are barely usable because it sways too much from wind, and in winter large ice slabs have fallen on cars..

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    #78

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    Pyla
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It’s not about climate change. It was initially started as a clock to see how close we are total nuclear annihilation…….with North Korea sending troops to Ukraine, that got closer.

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    Jay Alan
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My favorite thing about this thread is everyone coming together to fact check BP hahaha

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    Bob Brooce
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Fake news that (big surprise) started with a single tweet from an account that seems to only do parody. The guy does look an awful lot like the actual soccer player, but that seems to be the only accurate part of the "story".

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    LonelyLittleLeafSheep
    Community Member
    1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is absolutely horrible! As if it wasn't bad enough that they continue to kill animals for their ridiculous medicines (rhino horn instead of boner pills), now they're going to decimate snake populations to make some ridiculous booze! 🤬

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