(Un)Common Knowledge

Have you ever wondered who invented the first pair of shoes? Or where your smallest bone is? And whether Atlantis really is a lost city? There's a ton of weird history, fascinating science, and crazy coincidences that make up our collective human experience—that's why we've launched our newest community, FYI, for all the trivia buffs and documentary junkies out there. For this Challenge, to kick off our newest community, we want you to go on a fact-finding journey and share your discoveries with us!

Maybe you have a tiny factoid about a popular brand. Maybe it's a little unknown piece of history that flips your perspective upside-down. No matter what types of facts compel you, we want you to share your most fascinating of fun facts—the one you keep in your back pocket to pull out when you want to impress friends, or a brand new one you've just learned. We cant wait to see what you find!

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until March 23, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.