Luis Suarez started an “8 Things You Didn’t Know About Me” meme back on December 19. 

It’s been passed around and around the blogosphere and has finally made it’s way to Red Cross Chat!

1. Johnny Weismuller, winner of 5 Olympic gold medals who played Tarzan in a dozen movies, was an active Red Cross swimming instructor. [Find out how you can be too.]
2. Clara Barton, known as the Angel of the Battlefield, was not a trained nurse. [Find out more you didn't know about our founder Clara. You can even take a quiz about her.]
3. American Red Cross began experimenting with blood collection on a local level as early as the 1930s. A national blood program began during World War II.
4. Tallulah Bankhead, Ray Bolger and Lucille Ball were all supporters of the American Red Cross. A list of today’s Celebrity Cabinet members is located here.
5. American Red Cross ran a Braille Corps from 1921 to 1942 to transcribe written texts for readers who were blind. Over its 21 years of existence, an average of 1,600 volunteers spent 87,000 hours a year transcribing words into Braille. In all, they transcribed an estimated six million pages for persons who were blind.
6. The American Red Cross was one of the first major nonprofits to have a Web site and to conduct online fundraising.
7. Most American Red Cross workers are volunteers—about 600,000 volunteers versus 35,000 employees.
8. In April 1912 American Red Cross provided food and shelter as well as financial assistance to those who survived the sinking of the Titanic. [Find out more about today's disaster response efforts.]

Now it’s your turn. What are 8 things we probably didn’t know about you?

Filed under: Blood, Disaster Response, Flickr, Health & Safety