1. You can tattoo your eyeballs
Eyeball tattooing is permanent colouring of the white of the eye (called the sclera). It is performed by injecting ink with a needle underneath the top layer of the eye onto the sclera, in several locations, from where the ink then slowly spreads to cover the sclera. It is permanent and non-reversible.
2. The oldest evidence for tattoos dates back more than 5000 years ago.
The practice of tattooing human skin dates back well over 5,000 years, according to researchers, who say the remains of Otzi, the Neolithic iceman found in 1991 on a mountain between Austria and Italy, bore 57 markings, including a cross on the back of the left knee.
3. The oldest person to get a first tattoo was 104.
A great-granddad from Derbyshire is set to become the oldest person in the world to get a tattoo to celebrate his 104th birthday. Chesterfield resident Jack Reynolds appeared on Good Morning Britain, with host Susanna Reid describing him as her “all-time favourite guest”.
4. Romans used tattoos as a punishment.
In most of the ancient Greco-Roman world, tattoos were seen as a mark of punishment and shame. The Greeks, who, according to the historian Herodotus, learned the idea of penal tattoos from the Persians in the sixth century B.C., tattooed criminals, slaves who tried to escape, and enemies they vanquished in battle.
5. The most tattooed man in the world has over 200% ink coverage.
Overall, Lucky has spent more than 1,000 hours having his body modified by tattoo artists, leaving no area uncovered. He now supports over 200 per cent coverage from tattoos, including his eyelids, between his toes, his gums, and even his genitals.
6. Tattoo needles can vibrate up to 3000 times a minute.
A tattoo machine consists of a small handheld machine, needle, and tube. This machine in then connected to a power unit that provides pressure to move the needles. The needles may be of different sizes and shapes and are bundled together on a needle bar in different patterns depending on the requirements of the artwork. The unit is attached to a power supply that is activated by depressing a foot pedal on the floor beside the workstation. When the pedal is depressed the tattoo needle bar moves up and down very quickly like the needle on a tiny sewing machine. It penetrates the skin to inject the dye 3,000 times per minute.
7. To mix tattoo color in certain cultures, urine was occasionally used.
Urine was occasionally mixed with coal dust to create tattoo ink because it was thought to have antiseptic characteristics. Thankfully, the tattoo ink we commonly use consists of pigments combined with a carrier, with additional add ins ranging from Listerine, to Kettle One vodka, to help assist with sterilisation.
8. Tattoo ink is inserted into the second layer of skin.
Modern tattooing machines insert tiny needles into the second layer of the skin, the dermis, at a frequency of of 50 to 3,000 times per minute. This layer is composed of things such as collagen fibers, glands, blood vessels and nerves.
9. The philosopher Confucius was against the practice of tattooing because he propagated that the human body is a gift.
The philosopher Confucius was against tattoos because he propagated that the human body is a gift. However, China’s stone sculptures depict men with tattoos on their faces as early as the 3rd century BC.
10. During the 18th-20th century, English and Russian royalty sported tattoos.
When his sons, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of York (later King George V) visited Japan in 1882 they both had dragons tattooed on their arms. Among the Russian royal family, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Nicholas II all bore tattoos.
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