Happy National Bologna Day! 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Bologna

A typical bologna sausage contains beef, pork or a combination of the two. It tends to contain the leftover parts of the animal, like organs and end pieces. Salt, sugar, pepper and spices are often added, along with a curing agent. The meat is then placed in a casing, which is made of gastrointestinal tracts of animals like ... hogs, sheep and cows. Sorry if NewsFeed just ruined your appetite.

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Bologna is located in northern Italy, north of Florence. Some call it Italy's culinary capital; aside from its sausage, it's known for its architecture and its young student population. So next time you attempt to spell out your favorite lunch meat, make sure to spell it correctly — bologna, in the Italian style.

Like most culinary feats, the Italians have the Americans beat when it comes to bologna. Italian bologna sausage is called mortadella, which is made with pork and is much spicier and more flavorful than your typical Oscar Mayer.

His name is Alan "Shredder" Goldstein, and he ate more bologna in one sitting than many do in a lifetime. In six minutes, he ate 2.41 pounds of pork and chicken bologna.

In the 1930s, Alfred E. Smith, who served as governor of New York, used the term "baloney" to refer to the establishment in Washington. He is credited with popularizing the term, but some say it originates from the word Blarney. The Blarney Stone in Ireland is said to give visitors the "gift of gab."

Don't bother ordering a bologna sandwich in Pittsburgh. The city prides itself on its slang, and dubs bologna "jumbo," which is probably a derivative of "jumbo" bologna, a trade term.

Apparently, if you get arrested while protesting at Capitol Hill, you get a bologna sandwich on white bread and a cup of Kool-Aid. Are cops trying to bring protesters back to a childlike state so they'll calm down?

You probably knew this one already, but the meat was immortalized in commercial form in the 1970s. One part adorable child, one part catchy lyrics, the Oscar Mayer ad has taught countless children how to spell bologna.