St. Patrick’s Day: A time when everyone decides it’s cool to be Irish for a day. (Also, a great excuse for everyone to go drinking in the middle of the week). Bet you didn’t know these facts about the history of the day though. I know I certainly didn’t.
1) The day was originally set as a day of remembrance for St. Patrick, who died on this date more than 1500 years ago.
2) St. Patrick’s color was blue, not green. The use of green became popular in 1798, during the Irish Revolution. It represented the clover, which was the symbol of the revolution.
3) Bars in Ireland were actually, by law, forced to be closed on this day. That is until the law was repealed in 1961.
Bonus Round:
St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish?! That’s right. He was actually born in Britain but moved to Ireland as a missionary.
These facts and more are courtesy of Time Magazine (linked above). Happy St. Patrick’s Day!