Are you a ginger? The 2% of the world’s population that currently has red hair inherited a gene that once helped humans make vitamin D from sunlight. If you want to boost the odds of landing your very own Nicole Kidman, Lindsay Lohan, or Conan O'Brien, head to Scotland—13% of the population there has red hair, and three times that many carry the gene. Recently, many news organizations have reported that true redheads or "gingers," are declining in number and may soon be gone altogether. Citing the "Oxford Hair Foundation", they claimed that there would be no more redheads by as early as 2060. It turns out that the redhead extinction claim is bogus. Redheads are here to stay and should be around well beyond 2060, or even 2061.
Some of the articles discussing redhead extinction referred to the Oxford Hair Foundation as an "independent" research foundation, but here’s the scoop: the Oxford Hair Foundation is funded by Proctor & Gamble, makers of numerous beauty products—including red hair dye. Did you know:
1. Sixty percent of women who dye their hair do so at home. Of them, 26% choose to go blonde, 27% go brunette, and 30% choose to become redheads. The sale of at home red dye kits has gone up 17% since the year 2000.
2. Red hair is a genetic mutation.
3. Red hair is seen on the heads of only 4% of people. Most of the world’s natural redheads are in Scotland (13%), followed by Ireland with 10%, and the US with 2%.
4. In the late 16th century, the fat of a redheaded man was an essential ingredient for poison.
5. In the early 1600s, the belief of Pixies, who were strongly associated with red hair for their mischievousness and otherworldly talents, emerged in southwest England.
6. Redheads are harder to sedate than any other people, requiring 20% more anesthesia. Inadequate doses cause people to wake up during surgery and have increased recall of procedures.
7. Redheads don't turn grey. Red hair turns sandy, then white and loses color later in life than people with other hair colors.
8. The perception of the color red, scientifically speaking, enhances the viewer’s metabolism and increases heart rate and respiration.
9. The country name of Russia means "land of reds" in honor of a redheaded Viking by the name of Rurik.
10. Red-haired Clowns have their origins in Russia.
11. From the 1930s to 1950s, Cassville, Missouri hosted a women’s basketball team called The Redheads, who became a much sought after exhibition team that rivalled the Harlem Globe trotters. Not all of them were natural red heads.
12. The first redheaded British monarch was a woman. Boudicca, a Celtic warrior, led the Icenti against the Romans in the C.E. 60s.
