It’s officially summer, which means National Tattoo Day is here! Let’s celebrate this July 17 national day with some fun facts about tattoos!
You might be surprised to learn that tattooing has been around for thousands of years! The oldest known tattoos date back to 3300 B.C.E.
In 1991, a mummy named Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in the Ötztal Alps located on the border of Italy and Austria. He was found with 61 tattoos on his body.
Unlike modern tattoos which are made with ink and needles, these tattoos were created by cutting lines into the skin and filling them with charcoal. The tattoos consisted mostly of short, straight lines.
The basic designs of Ötzi’s tattoos left archeologists to assume that instead of being decorative, these tattoos might have instead been an early form of acupuncture.
National days of the year are a fun way to celebrate fascinating foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out this national days guide for more information about the history of national days and why we celebrate them.
Facts about tattoos for National Tattoo Day
Brush up on your knowledge of this July 17 national day with these facts about tattoos.
- A tattoo artist named Samuel O’Reilly patented the first electric tattoo machine on December 8, 1891.
- Mattel released a tattooed Barbie designed by Tokidoki in 2011. This Barbie doll was a limited edition doll (only 7,400 made) targeted at adult collectors.
- Tattooing became illegal in New York in 1961, when it was blamed for a hepatitis B outbreak. It wasn’t legal again until 1997 (36 years later).
- During the Holocaust, the forearms of Jewish prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp were forcibly tattooed with identification numbers.
- Some cultures consider tattoos sacred, like the Māori people (the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand).
- After having mastectomies, some women opt for mastectomy tattoos, which can range from decorative designs to cover scars, or tattoos to recreate the nipples and areolas.
- Some people choose to get tattoos to help with the grief of losing a loved one. An example of a tattoo like this would be getting a message written in the departed loved one’s handwriting.
How to celebrate National Tattoo Day
Would you like to celebrate National Tattoo Day in a special way? Try one of these ideas!
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If you’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo, today is a good day to get one! Or maybe you already have a tattoo that needs to be touched up. Either way, National Tattoo Day is a great day to visit the tattoo parlor.
Not sure sure you want to commit to getting a tattoo? You can try sporting some temporary tattoos. There are even websites that let you design your own temporary tattoos.
Take a trip to Italy to visit the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology (Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige) to see the preserved body of Ötzi the Iceman, the first person known to have tattoos.
If you love tattoos, use National Tattoo Day as the reason to pick up a coffee table book about tattoos. This way you can have tattoo art in your home as decor!
Tattoo facts on National Tattoo Day
Celebrate National Tattoo Day by learning more with these tattoo facts.
- If you are vegan, make sure to ask your tattoo artist about the ink they’re using. Most tattoo ink is not vegan.
- Jack Reynolds got his first tattoo at 104 years of age, making him the oldest person to get a first tattoo.
- Lucky Diamond Rich has held the title of “most tattooed person” since 2006. 100% of his body is covered in tattoos.
- Tattoos are meant to be permanent, but can be removed through various methods – lasers, dermabrasion, and surgery.
- Black is the easiest color of tattoo ink to remove. Lighter colors of tattoos like yellow are the hardest to remove.
- Cosmetic tattoos (also known as permanent makeup) have been gaining popularity in recent years.
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Celebrate National Tattoo Day this July 17th with some fun facts about tattoos on Always the Holidays!🖤 #TattooFacts #NationalTattooDay Share on XMore July 17 national days
Did you enjoy learning about National Tattoo Day? Well you’re in luck, July 17 is host to more than just one national day!
Here is a complete list of all the July 17 national days:
- National Tattoo Day
- National Peach Ice Cream Day
- National Yellow Pigs Day
- Wrong Way Corrigan Day
- World Emoji Day
- World Day for International Justice
More national days in July
There are close to 2000 national days in the year and over 150 of them are national days in July. We have a free July word search of national days, to help teach your kids about these special occasions in the month.
Is food your thing? Each day of the month has a food or drink associated with it, too. You’ll find all the July food holidays here.
There’s even monthly observances of July that are celebrated all month long!
Pin this post with facts about tattoos for National Tattoo Day for later
Would you like a reminder of this post for with tattoo facts for National Tattoo Day? Just pin this image to one of your trivia boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
You can also watch our video about the national days of July on YouTube.
About the author
Since graduating from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Jess has been living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She is a freelance writer, specializing in content related to fashion, food and drink and film industry topics. Find out more about Jess here.