The Life List: Five fun facts about Chupa Chups lollipops

SINGAPORE - A sweet surprise awaits visitors in Changi Airport. From now till May 3, a giant Chupa Chups strawberry lollipop takes pride of place in the Terminal 3 departure hall.

The lollipop, which measures 11.1m long and 4m tall, holds Singapore's Book of Records for the largest Chupa Chups lollipop display here.

Fans of the popular confectionery brand can also snap photographs with other colourful displays in the airport, and children can take part in creative workshops ranging from art to coding.

Here are five fun facts about the beloved lollipop brand.

When Spanish businessman Enric Bernat, founder of Chupa Chups, first came up with the idea of lollipops, he wanted to name the candy Gol, after the Spanish word for "goal", because he imagined the candy as a soccer ball.

But after seeking input from an advertising agency, he decided on Chups, which comes from "chupar", or "to suck" in Spanish. An advertising jingle later popularised the now-familiar name Chupa Chups.

Chupa Chups shares its birth year of 1958 with many celebrities, including talk show host Ellen Degeneres, American film director Tim Burton and the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Spanish artist Salvador Dali is best known for his Surrealist artworks like The Persistence Of Memory, which features melting clocks. But he was also the designer of the iconic Chupa Chups logo in 1969, which incorporates the brand's name in a brightly coloured daisy shape that can be seen from the top of the lollipop.

In 1995, Russian astronauts brought Chupa Chups to their Mir space station, making them the first lollipops to be enjoyed in zero gravity.

During a 2000 expedition to the Wardell Sea in the Antarctic Ocean, scientists discovered a unique sea sponge. It has a bulbous head, much like a lollipop, so it was named Stylocordyla Chupachups, or S. Chupachups.