WATCH: Useless facts you don’t need to know, but that’s actually really interesting

Have you ever found yourself at a dinner or a braai where you felt like you had to really dig deep to get the conversation flowing?

Awkward silences are not uncommon when friends get together to socialise, especially when new people join the group. When it’s only you and your friends it’s easy to fall into conversation about mutual people you know, but when new players enter the field, you will need to find a neutral conversation point.

And we all know; politics and religion are big no-no’s when it comes to casual chats.

So, what to talk about? There are various interesting topics you can touch on – everything from science to geography, celebrities, fashion and even sports, but you also run the risk on not knowing if your audience are interested in any of those topics, or even whether they’ll be able to provide any insights to keep the conversation going.

If there’s one thing you can count on to entertain anyone from a toddler to grandma, it’s discussing things that might seem obvious, but not everyone knew – like the fact that the colour orange was named after the fruit and that before Google’s search engine was named Google, it was known as backrub.

These facts are all pretty useless, but they are a sure-fire way to get everyone around the table involved in a conversation.

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Here’s some of the most ridiculous useless, but interesting facts to use at your next social gathering:

• American Actor Mark Wahlberg has a third nipple. He is best known for his roles in The Other Guys, Patriots Day and Deepwater Horizon amongst others.
• Buzz Ligh, tyear from Toy Story’s original name was ‘Lunar Larry’.
• On April 18, 1930, the BBC announced that there was no news and broadcasted Opera music instead.
• The game of Chinese checkers was not invented in China, but in Germany.
• Speed dating was invented by a Los Angeles rabbi in 1998.
• Someone who voices their opinion on something they know nothing about is called an ultracrepidarian.
• American singer Elle King, best known for her song Ex’s & Oh’s is the daughter of actor and stand-up comedian Rob Schneider who starred in comedies including The Hot Chick, The Animal, Grown Ups and Deuce Bigalow.
• The inventor of the frisbee, Walter Morisson was cremated and his ashes was used to make a frisbee.
• Before becoming one of the world’s most rappers, Kanye West was actually a telemarketer.
• Singer Dolly Parton once entered a Dolly Parton look-alike competition and lost.
• In ancient Rome, it was a custom for people to dip toast in their glass of wine to reduce it’s acidity.
• If you are afraid of vegetables, you have lachanophobia.

Watch the video below for more useful, but interesting facts:

*Compiled by Xanet Scheepers