**DONOTDELETE**
02-06-2003, 07:59 PM
I have collected little tidbits of factoids about redheads over the years, as I am cursed/blessed (depending on my mood) with red hair myself. While it has been a source of ridicule, teasing and harrassment over the years, it has also been the source of a bit more rugged attitude, methinks, more resourcefulness, and an ocasional bout of sympathy from some rather attractive ladies at various times (though the occasions were far too few, the last one stuck with lucky me).
Anyway, to the factoids:
1) Redheads are more inclined to sunburns, allergies, hyperactivity, higher IQs, need more anasthetic due to higher pain sensitivity, and are now thought to be partly descended from homo sapiens neanderthalis.
2) Notable red heads from history:
Judas Iscariot, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon, Nickolai Lenin, Galileo, Henry VIII, Cleopatra, GA Custer, Oliver Cromwell, Winston Churchill, Barbarosa, Andrew Jackson, Charlemagne, Anton Checkov, Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great of Russia, Antonio Vivaldi, Charles deGaul, Christopher Columbus, Colonel WB Travis of the Alamo, DH Lawrence, Billy the Kid, Darius the Great of Persia, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Huey Long, Queen Isabella of Spain, Jean Paul Satre, Mark Twain, Lizzie Borden, John D Rockeffeler, Henry Ford, Dwight Eisenhower, Joseph Kennedy of Boston, Otto vonBismark, Peter the Great of Russia, Sir Walter Raliegh, Rob Roy, King Rurik of Novgorod founder of Russia, Robert the Bruce, Titian, Tycho Brahe, Vincent van Gogh, William the Conqueror, and William Shakespeare.
You may have heard of some of them.
Legend has it that Jesus had auburn hair, too, heheh. Methinks that more than makes up for Judas.
3) Russia is the 'land of the redhaired people', coming from the Latin root word 'rusus' which means 'pertaining to red', and is also leant to the words rusty, ruse, russet, rubric, ruddy, rustle, and rubicond.
4) Red heads generally have dry less oily skin and thus have a more difficult time finding appropriate perfumes/colognes that have the same fragrance on them. Some say the best solution other than trial and error is to place the perfume in the hair.
5) Red heads have reputations as both great leaders (the Celts made their kings from their redheaded men folk,if htey had them) and great criminals. I have several times run across a quote or other that red headed theives were quicker to learn and thus avoid arrest than other theives. Billy the Kid, Rob Roy, Jesse James, Lizzie Borden, Sam Brown, Wild Bill Hickock and the terms 'ruse' and 'rustle' are other manifestations of this stereotype of the dangerous and tricky red headed criminal or warrior. "Salute no redhaired man nearer than thirty feet off, and even so, hold three stones in the fist wherewith to defend thyself." - Old English Proverb
6) It has been said that men prefer blondes, marry brunettes, and end up with redheaded mistresses. I guess I got lucky and married my would have been mistress, heheh.
7) Red heads are so known for their bad tempers that in Scottland they refer to anger as getting "redheadit".
The Chinese long believed that redheaded Europeans were related to their legendary trolls who lived in the western mountains. There really was a tribe of redheads in the Sinkiang area known as Turfanese that fought the Chinese encroachments till they were all destroyed.
In Australia the term for redheads is 'blueys' because to get angry in Australia is to be 'blue', and the angry behavior of red heads earned them the 'bluey' moniker over the color of their hair which is considered their less distinguishing feature.
8) Many religions believed that killing redheads earned favor with the gods, from the Egyptian worshippers of Osiris who buried red headed men alive to honor their god, to the Amerindians, many of whom had a belief that red heads were demon posessed and had to have the evil burned from them (while alive).
Anyway, to the factoids:
1) Redheads are more inclined to sunburns, allergies, hyperactivity, higher IQs, need more anasthetic due to higher pain sensitivity, and are now thought to be partly descended from homo sapiens neanderthalis.
2) Notable red heads from history:
Judas Iscariot, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon, Nickolai Lenin, Galileo, Henry VIII, Cleopatra, GA Custer, Oliver Cromwell, Winston Churchill, Barbarosa, Andrew Jackson, Charlemagne, Anton Checkov, Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great of Russia, Antonio Vivaldi, Charles deGaul, Christopher Columbus, Colonel WB Travis of the Alamo, DH Lawrence, Billy the Kid, Darius the Great of Persia, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Huey Long, Queen Isabella of Spain, Jean Paul Satre, Mark Twain, Lizzie Borden, John D Rockeffeler, Henry Ford, Dwight Eisenhower, Joseph Kennedy of Boston, Otto vonBismark, Peter the Great of Russia, Sir Walter Raliegh, Rob Roy, King Rurik of Novgorod founder of Russia, Robert the Bruce, Titian, Tycho Brahe, Vincent van Gogh, William the Conqueror, and William Shakespeare.
You may have heard of some of them.
Legend has it that Jesus had auburn hair, too, heheh. Methinks that more than makes up for Judas.
3) Russia is the 'land of the redhaired people', coming from the Latin root word 'rusus' which means 'pertaining to red', and is also leant to the words rusty, ruse, russet, rubric, ruddy, rustle, and rubicond.
4) Red heads generally have dry less oily skin and thus have a more difficult time finding appropriate perfumes/colognes that have the same fragrance on them. Some say the best solution other than trial and error is to place the perfume in the hair.
5) Red heads have reputations as both great leaders (the Celts made their kings from their redheaded men folk,if htey had them) and great criminals. I have several times run across a quote or other that red headed theives were quicker to learn and thus avoid arrest than other theives. Billy the Kid, Rob Roy, Jesse James, Lizzie Borden, Sam Brown, Wild Bill Hickock and the terms 'ruse' and 'rustle' are other manifestations of this stereotype of the dangerous and tricky red headed criminal or warrior. "Salute no redhaired man nearer than thirty feet off, and even so, hold three stones in the fist wherewith to defend thyself." - Old English Proverb
6) It has been said that men prefer blondes, marry brunettes, and end up with redheaded mistresses. I guess I got lucky and married my would have been mistress, heheh.
7) Red heads are so known for their bad tempers that in Scottland they refer to anger as getting "redheadit".
The Chinese long believed that redheaded Europeans were related to their legendary trolls who lived in the western mountains. There really was a tribe of redheads in the Sinkiang area known as Turfanese that fought the Chinese encroachments till they were all destroyed.
In Australia the term for redheads is 'blueys' because to get angry in Australia is to be 'blue', and the angry behavior of red heads earned them the 'bluey' moniker over the color of their hair which is considered their less distinguishing feature.
8) Many religions believed that killing redheads earned favor with the gods, from the Egyptian worshippers of Osiris who buried red headed men alive to honor their god, to the Amerindians, many of whom had a belief that red heads were demon posessed and had to have the evil burned from them (while alive).