Interesting Facts

British broadcaster Channel 4 have allegedly paid Holocaust denier David Irving thousands of pounds for a lock of Adolf Hitler’s hair. (The bosses of Channel 4 paid for the snipping so they can have DNA tests carried out on it for a new show - Dead Famous DNA. The hair was supposedly collected by Hitler’s barber using sticky tape on the sole of his shoe. I've heard of diamonds on the sole of your shoes, but never sellotape.)

Researchers at Proctor and Gamble have discovered that water piping made of copper, may be the cause of bad hair days. (Washing your hair with water containing the metal can lead to split ends and unmanageable hair. The metal gradually builds up in in the outer layers of the hair, helping to speed up damage caused by sunlight, causing split ends, fly-away strands and less shine. The effect is even more pronounced in those who use hair dye. The research, published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, says that treating hair with chemicals more commonly used in washing powder, known as chelants, could reduce the action of the copper. I really can't imagine washing my hair in Daz, so maybe the answer is to wash your hair less, and let it grow naturally grey.)

L-Cysteine is an amino acid used to prolong shelf-life in commercially produced bread. (It can be found in duck and chicken feathers and cow horns, but most of the L-Cysteine used in food production comes from human hair. Most of the hair used to make L-Cysteine comes from China, where it's gathered from barbershops and hair salons. You can avoid L-Cysteine baking your own bread, as it is not an additive in flour, but if you find the idea of eating other people's hair, steer clear of fast food places such as McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and Burger King, who allegedly use L-Cysteine as an additive too.) Source

You can fit over 3,200 22nm transistors across the diameter of an average human hair. (I haven't tried it, but Intel told me, so it must be true.)

Cutting your hair does not make it grow faster. (It's one of those old wives tales.  Hair only seems to grow faster if you have it cut short, because any growth is simply more noticeable when your hair is short than when it is long. In addition, when your hair is short it tends to look healthier and fuller and it doesn't break as much as long hair. That said, I prefer keeping my hair shoulder length, because it means I don't have to go to the hairdressers as often when it is longer.) Discuss going to the hairdressers here.

According to a recent study carried out at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, has concluded that our hair can't turn white overnight. (The study, called "Sudden Whitening Of The Hair: An Historical Fiction?" concluded that people's hair, does not all of a sudden turn white. It just doesn't. Hair whitening – "canities" in medical lingo – takes longer than days or even weeks. So all those stories of Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Sir Thomas More of England turning whitehaired the night before being beheaded are just historical urban myths. Or maybe the study just didn't scare any of its subjects sufficiently.)

If a woman spends 15 minutes a day on hair and makeup (a pretty conservative estimate) it will cost her 3,900 minutes a year, or almost two working weeks. (So, why do women go through this routine, day in / day out? Well according to research by makeup manufacturer Procter & Gamble— professional women who wear makeup are perceived as more likeable, trustworthy and competent. Doh! That's what I've been doing wrong all these years, I just needed a bit of slap and I'd have been CEO of Post Office Services by now!)

According to a report in the International Business Times , Cryos International , the largest sperm bank in the world, has closed its door to redheads. (The sperm bank has reached its capacity of 70 liters of sperm, with 600 redheaded donors on its waiting list. Seemingly most of the demand for redheaded babies comes from Ireland, but there is more demand from men who are tall, with brown eyes and dark hair. Gosh, haven't people got fussy over the years?)

There is a rare medical condition called Hair Brushing Syndrome. (The syndrome means that sufferers have to avoid static electricity, which can shut down their brain. As a result people with this condition cannot wear polyester, or play with balloons or, of course, brush their hair - hence the name. I guess they have to avoid going shopping in department stores too. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm always getting little shocks when I take the escalator or grab hold of a handrail, and sometimes I even pass the shock on to innocent passers-by.) Source

If you're strapped for cash you can sell your hair in Spain for between 50 and 150 euros (75 and 220 dollars). (The price you get depends on the length and the weight, but generally it should be more than 40 centimetres (16 inches) long and have never been dyed. They probably wouldn't pay much for my grey locks though.)

Hair grows at a rate of about 1 centimetre a month. (But it can only grow so long, and that is down to the individual and their age. Typically, waist-length hair is 80-90 cm long, and will have taken about seven years to grow, but as you grow older the growth period of hair drops to about three years, so your hair will only grow to about shoulder length before it falls out or is brushed out. I never realised hair was so fussy!)

The average human head has roughly 100,000 hair follicles. (I really don't recommend that you attempt to test this particular fact.)

According to Redhedd.com, the first online dating service exclusively for people with ginger hair, 13% of the Scottish population have ginger hair. (This is the highest proportion of any country in the world.)

The human head comes equipped with around 100,000 tiny hair follicles, from each of which grow a single hair. (The number of follicles varies depending on hair colour. Red heads have 90,000, people with black hair 110,000 and blondes 140,000.)

Alanis Morisette cuts her own hair. (She says, "It's easier". Me, I can't even use the curling iron.)