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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.

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

I remember this being a 'brave' thing to do at the time.

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

Yes, she helped a lot of people understand that there was nothing to fear.

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

I loved Diana so much, the night she died I fell asleep early. My husband saw it on the news but he wouldn't wake me up. Because he knew how upset I would be. I know it seems silly now, but I really loved her.

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

Such a simple act, but still so impactful. Compassion is a beautiful thing.

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

Oh.... And the royals were SOOOOOO very unhappy with her choices. As if this was the least of their complaints about such a wonderful lady.

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

Considering how much of a proponent the royal family is of eugenics..... that’s not surprising they had a fit about this

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

I remember how shocking this was at the time. Most discussion and news articles made you terrified of interacting with someone with HIV. It changed peoples view and made people more open to learn more.

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

People suggested quarantining HIV patients on islands, business men stopped eating downtown because they were afraid they'd get AIDS from the waiters.

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

Some said it was for her PR, but she genuinely went to these wards in a time when we knew way less about HIV than we do about Covid.

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

I mean, it kinda was. She wanted the whole world to see her touching an AIDS patient. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew how to play the game and turn it in her favor. I personally (and I know many who agree) feel she was in some way like “welp, I got media up my butt all the time anyway, at least let me give them something interesting to talk about and hopefully it’ll change peoples minds about HIV/AIDS patients” 🤷🏻‍♀️ With all the fear surrounding the disease, no way would she have done this JUST to win points for herself. This was such a huge thing to do back then.

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

This was SUCH a big thing then, it was the start of overcoming some of the stigma (some)

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

The fact that she was mourned and remembered is not because she was a celebrity or even a royal who married a prince. It was/is because she had a big heart.

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

And she certainly shared it around. Around men other than her husband, mostly.

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

I miss her. She was a stunningly beautiful woman both physically and spiritually.

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

She was definitely the people's princess. She was a beautiful woman.

Collette Francis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wish she was alive still, what a wonderful place the world would be now. Some would say an angel was recalled to heaven

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

such a wonderful lady. and a tragedy too. the whole royal family is a bit corrupt but even with the controversy, i think megan and harry are going in the right direction!

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

What else would such a kind and compassionate person do? She will always be missed.

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

It can be spread through casual contact. Casual contact does not always result in transmission, in fact it's unlikely to spread through casual contact, but it is possible.

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

Yes, while Ronnie the Beloved Reagan ignored saying "HIV" or "AIDS" for almost his entire administration.

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

She did more for the royal family than any other member. If was alive still many things would have changed for the best for others too.

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

She died way too young. She gave a lot and had lots more to give. I suspect she's in Animal Heaven where the nicest people go.

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

There were many royal-class people who would not touch her after that. She sacrificed so mch to follow her heart.

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

Princess Di ❤️ I was 16 and had just put the two kids I was babysitting down for bed when this news broke.

Niall Mac Iomera
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

It's so stupid that people need a celebrity to do / say something before they accept it.

Pamela24
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not that stupid. People need others to look up to, celebrities are (for better and worse) here for it. Nothing better than if they use that power to do some good like in this situation.

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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.

“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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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."

"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."

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

Tupac is also the only rapper who can wear a sweater vest knitted by his grandma and still maintain his tough image.

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

If asked...that would be amazing. If spontaneous and unprovoked, that would be annoying as hell.

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

That's not that unusual. You already have to be mega wealthy to be president, and presidents have every conceivable opportunity to make however much money they want after their term. In comparison, the salary is a pittance.

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

There are several rumours regarding how many languages she can speak, and it was actually confirmed that she can speak all 5 languages, but she's only fluent in spanish, english and portuguese.

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

One of my favourite places on earth. Been so many times but always feels like my first, there's just so much to see and do.

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

I just imagine being one of his teammates... might as well just sit and play in the grass looking for bugs or something

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

I am not surprised, there’s a whole book dedicated to her isn’t there?

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Monty Is Fiennes
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just one point who is judging his technique, coz I imagine that it would be a difficult job to tell him he wasn't good enough...

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

Not necessarily dildos. They are more likely fertility statues, like the venuses.

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

Except he never did... https://checkyourfact.com/2019/10/24/fact-check-bill-gates-microsoft-lazy-person-hard-job-easy-way/

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

But... people still haven't learned how to properly drive their cars...

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

The websites Cracked and Redditt said it was 10k per month on similar posts

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

Per capita. Due to the small population, every theft is counted x100.

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

I've watched it! Not the scariest in my opinion, but I watch a lot of horror movies 😅

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

Good, no 4-year old should die. Also all these stories of Hitler being saved from one death or another, are there ever any sources that they happened?

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