Article created by: Vėja Elkimavičiūtė

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.

Read More: 45 Hard-To-Believe Facts That Make People Reevaluate Their View Of The World

#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.

Image credits: week7

#2

The tongue of a blue whale weighs the same as a fully grown African Elephant

Image credits: KevinT1701

#3

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.

Image credits: FunnyComedian8290

#4

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.

Image credits: Mixxleplix

#5

Bald eagles are not actually bald. Balde is old english for white

Image credits: whodunnitno

#6

Playing Tetris up to 6 hours after a trauma can help against PTSD

Image credits: Alf973

#7

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.