9 WTF Facts On Kissing You Probably Didn't Know
The 6th of July is declared as International Kissing Day.
By Rohini Rajaratnam — 15 Jul 2015, 03:44 PM
The word "kiss" needs no introduction, neither does it need any description. However, chances are that many of you reading this probably isn't aware about these crazy facts about kissing:
1. Kissing is good for you! It can help prevent dermatitis, blemishes and also help fight tooth decay from the extra saliva produced.
2. Almost 280 colonies of bacteria can be swapped during a kiss, which means more than 5 million bacteria could be entering your body during a particularly steamy lip-locking session
3. The Guinness World Book of Records held the longest kiss by far stands at well over two days. Yes folks, you heard it right, nearly 48 hours!
The longest kiss in the real world belongs to Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat. In 2011, the young Thai couple locked lips continuously (without a break) for nearly two days straight - a record-setting forty-six hours, twenty-four minutes and nine seconds.
4. A woman in China partially lost her hearing after her boyfriend reportedly ruptured her eardrum with a passionate kiss
Apparently, the kiss reduced the pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out, and caused the breakdown of the ear.
5. The German language has words for 30 different kinds of kisses, including Nachküssen, which is defined as a kiss “making up for kisses that have been omitted.”
6. In 1910, the French banned kissing on railways because it could cause delays. Apparently in the early 20th century, so many French commuters were getting frisky on the train that they had to ban kissing altogether.
7. In Nevada, it is illegal to kiss with a mustache. We're not very sure why, but we're counting on the fact it might be ticklish...?
8. Two thirds of people tilt their head to the right when they kiss. Why?
A German researcher observed over 100 couples and noted that two-thirds of them tilted their heads to the right. Experts think this instinct originates from the womb when we naturally tilt our heads to the right.
9. Kissing descends from an ancient rat called Eomaia scansoria. It "kissed" mates by rubbing noses to sample pheromones and signal sexual desire. So basically, human kissing is rodent behaviour. Who knew?
Kazushige Touhara and colleagues at the University of Tokyo believe that our affinity for kisses descends from an ancient rat. Mice and men have a surprisingly similar genetic makeup and share a common ancestor that lived sometime between 75 and 125 million years ago. This ancient rat-like creature was called Eomaia scansoria (Eomaia, Greek for "ancient mother" and scansoria, Latin for "climber"). The science team theorizes that this creature would rub noses with a mate to sample his or her pheromones and signal desire.