Interesting facts about tattoos

June 30, 2009 | In: Art facts

The word tattoo is derived from the polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something
and the tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’.

The earliest known tatoos were f Egyptian and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B.C .

According to the American Society of Dermatological Surgery, they stated in 2005, that of all the people they treat with laser and light therapy, only only 6% are getting a tattoo removed. (link)

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

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 remain untattooed are the skin between his toes and the insides of his ears. (link)

Winston Churchill’s mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, had a snake tattooed on her wrist.

In 1991, a 5,000 year-old frozen man was discovered and scientists found a total of 57 different tattoos on his well preserved body.

In prison, where tattooing machines are banned, inmates have been known to make their own makeshift tattooing machines using guitar strings and the motor from a tape deck.