ADVERTISEMENT

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.

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.

#4

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Flicker Report

Add photo comments
POST
Pyla
Community Member
4 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT

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.

#8

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Positive pathway Report

Add photo comments
POST
Dave Van Beurden
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT

"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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

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."

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.

ADVERTISEMENT
#13

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Space World Report

Add photo comments
POST
RoHa
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

WindySwede
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why? Well, sponsors is why.. 🤑 (but apparently porn is OK, though not p a w n)

Load More Replies...
Justin Tyme
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is a very misleading statement. People are "developing" all kinds of things that do not yet exist and might never exist.

ThatG
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except this does exist because it went into human trials last month.

Load More Replies...
Arabiata Arabiata
Community Member
3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What could that blurred word be? Perhaps a synonym for 'medicine'? We should educate censors to understand the nuances of the English language, particularly how context (the surrounding words or the entire sentence) determines the meaning of a specific word. Incidentally, this controversial term can be found in dictionaries as well. It should be removed from those sources too. BP censors are a**s-holes.

Kkg
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've heard about it 15 years ago already. Somehow it seems it's not that easy to actually put it to production

Jaaawn
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh no, I saw a naughty word. I'm gonna now head in search of them, commit a crime then unalive myself. Because that's how it works Bored Panda.

Jrog
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Multiple research teams are working since decades on stem-cell assisted tooth regeneration. There are dozens of papers from all over the world dating back to the early 2010s.

ShaZam
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

.. so my wisdom teeth I got pulled out will show up again when I only want another tooth to come back?

ZuriLovesYou
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great job with the censors. I can barely tell what the word says.

Wednesday
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...Or several thousand years ago. There was evidence discovered in south america that they used coral implants to replace rotted teeth.

EJN
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That would be great, but so far the Japanese dentists are not doing it.

Lesbitarian Lady
Community Member
Premium
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe it was called a drùg here due to not technically being a medicine until approved ?

Forrest McCanless
Community Member
3 weeks ago

This comment has been deleted.

Jocelyn Webster
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What if you removed yours at the age of 29, and did so for your health? This seems kinda silly.

Heather Menard
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But my teeth were pulled because I didn't have room for them all. I just got one pulled because I didn't want a root canal. If it could only grow one that would be great

Nimitz
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one's very interesting. For a while now they've been working on chemicals that would regrow the soft tissue kernel of the tooth, and there have also been chemicals that will regrow the hard enamel. This project, however, is combining treatments to allow people to fully regrow a living healthy tooth. It's a very promising development

deletemyaccount
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not exactly. its for children with a certain genetic disease. It isnt to regrow teeth in healthy adults. I read about it months ago but it has reached the human trial.

UncleJohn3000
Community Member
4 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I keep asking my dentist and he's totally psyched at the idea of regrowing teeth for people. The issue has been getting the pulp and nerve root to develop normally and remain stable. And I recently saw an article describing a lot of headway in that area.

Jules
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I shudder to think what methods they're employing to ''develop' that d**g...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#16

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Flicker Report

Add photo comments
POST
Alexia
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

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

"[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.

#17

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Epic Facts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#19

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Arun Kumar Report

Add photo comments
POST
HTakeover
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Arun Kumar Report

Add photo comments
POST
Bob Brooce
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

"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.

#21

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Strange Facts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Rebekah Fuentes
Community Member
4 weeks 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?!?!?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#22

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Strange Facts Report

#24

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Arun Kumar Report

Add photo comments
POST
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#25

Interesting-Unique-Facts

IQ- Logic- Puzzles Report

Add photo comments
POST
Jrog
Community Member
4 weeks 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/

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Discovery Science+ Report

Add photo comments
POST
May
Community Member
4 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#28

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Hub Report

Add photo comments
POST
LonelyLittleLeafSheep
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#33

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Arun Kumar Report

Add photo comments
POST
WindySwede
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#37

Interesting-Unique-Facts

World Facts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Farnzy
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#41

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Discovery Science+ Report

Add photo comments
POST
LonelyLittleLeafSheep
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#45

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Discovery Science+ Report

Add photo comments
POST
Tom Hardeveld
Community Member
4 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#46

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Facts Humor Report

Add photo comments
POST
N H
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#49

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Hub Report

Add photo comments
POST
Richard Graham
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
Continue reading with Bored Panda Premium
Unlimited content
Ad-free browsing
Dark mode
#55

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Hub Report

Add photo comments
POST
troufaki13
Community Member
4 weeks 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 😥

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#56

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Positive pathway Report

Add photo comments
POST
Colleen Glim
Community Member
4 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#60

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Positive pathway Report

Add photo comments
POST
arthbach
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#61

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Fission Report

Add photo comments
POST
Hodmi
Community Member
4 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#62

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Discovery Science+ Report

Add photo comments
POST
Jrog
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#69

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Strange Facts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Diolla
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#71

Interesting-Unique-Facts

World Facts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Rali Meyer
Community Member
4 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#73

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Facts Humor Report

Add photo comments
POST
QuantumCatnip
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#76

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Flicker Report

Add photo comments
POST
Becky Samuel
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#77

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Discovery Science+ Report

Add photo comments
POST
Jrog
Community Member
4 weeks 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..

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#78

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Rehena Yeasmin Report

Add photo comments
POST
Pyla
Community Member
4 weeks 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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#79

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Hub Report

Add photo comments
POST
Jay Alan
Community Member
3 weeks 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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#81

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Flicker Report

Add photo comments
POST
Bob Brooce
Community Member
4 weeks 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".

View more commentsArrow down menu
#82

Interesting-Unique-Facts

Fact Hub Report

Add photo comments
POST
LonelyLittleLeafSheep
Community Member
4 weeks 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! 🤬

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu