Tattoo fun facts - Interesting info about tattoos

Tattoo fun facts - Interesting info about tattoos

Tattooing has been used as a way of smuggling secret messages across enemy lines in times of war.

The world's most tattooed person is Tom Leppard from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, who has 99.9 per cent of his body covered with a leopard-skin design. Guinness World Records states that the only parts of Tom's body that are not tattooed are the skin between his toes and the insides of his ears.

King Harold II of England had a number of tattoos. After his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, his tattoos were used to identify his body.

The tattooing machine is based on the design of the doorbell.

It became fashionable in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for aristocrats, including women, to be tattooed. At the time, tattooing was very expensive and people paid large sums for their designs. Later, as the costs were reduced, tattooing was adopted by the lower classes and the practice fell out of favour with the social elite.

As of 2006 36% of people from the age of 18 to 29 had at least one tattoo.

In 2002 a poll was conducted that 1 out of 8 people have at least one tattoo. However, with the increasing number of young people out there getting tattoos, its sure to have gone up since then.

In some U.S. states, a person can become a tattoo artist by taking a course and being certified by the Alliance of Professional Tattooists.

In 13th century China, tattooing was used to brand criminals.

The oldest tattooed body known is a Bronze Age man over 5,000 years old, discovered in a glacier in the mountains near Austria.

The most common body area for tattooing is the upper or lower arm.

Since there is no inspection or regulation of tattoo pigment manufactured in the United States, a tattooist may inject pigment mixtures of unknown safety into the skin.

A tattooed mummy of an Iron Age warrior chief, found near the Russian/Chinese border was decorated with interlocking designs representing fantastic beasts.

Maori women of New Zealand tattoo their faces to hide the lines of aging.

In 18th century Japan, laborers used tattoos to imitate clothing because they were ashamed to expose their naked torsos when working in hot weather.