If you surgically sever the interconnecting part (corpus callosum) of their brain hemispheres, they can remember twice as many things. The same is not true for humans.

Also, different cats have different sensitivities to where they like to be pet. For instance one of mine likes pats on/around the head but not on the back, and my other one likes pets all over.

Also (and this is true for all cats, lions, pumas, ...) look directly at them and they will soon yawn, or if they look back they'll blink slowly. Because intense focus is hunting behavior, but you don't close your eyes when hunting. A good way to signal that you're friendly to a cat is to blink slowly once upon eye contact.

Another one: Cats groom each other partly to express dominance. This is why you can see clips online of two cats trying to lick each other ("how cute!") but then suddenly they attack. You'd probably be fine with your mother tidying you up, but if your friend did it?

Finally, if you want to pet and hold a cat you've never met, the most effective and humane method of doing it to run toward it at full speed flailing your arms while screaming "CAT DETECTED CAT DETECTED CAT DETECTED CAT DETECTED"