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10: The original color of St. Patrick's Day was blue, not green. The Irish began wearing green to show pride in their country and faith to the Catholic Church. Many Protestants began wearing orange in defiance.
9: The shamrock used to celebrate St. Patrick's Day has thee cloves on it, referencing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Trinity.
8: In the past, St. Patrick's Day was a religious holiday, but in 1903, was made a public holiday by the Money Bank Act, an act introduced by Irishman James O'Mara. Though the holiday is now public, it still remains a religious holiday in Ireland.
7: The longest-running St. Patrick's Day parade in Canada is held in Montreal, Quebec. The parade has been running since 1824.
6: The first St. Patrick's Day parade held in the US, or better yet, the Colonies, was held on March 17, 1737, by the Irish Society of Boston.
5: Though many Major League Baseball teams celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the Cincinnati Reds were the first MLB team to wear a St. Patty Day themed hat in 1978.
4: Contrary to popular belief, Leprechauns DO NOT exist.
3: The largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the US is held in New York with approximately 2 million viewers in attendance and about 150,000 marchers participating.
2: It is believed that St. Patrick died on either March 8 or 9, so to celebrate his passing, the two days were combined to get March 17 as his official remembrance.
1: No matter who you are, what you believe, or what nationality you belong to, on March 17 of every year, everyone in the world is "officially Irish."
Ryan Stroud is a military trained journalist who has served in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army. Prior to his military experiences, Stroud grew up playing, coaching, and refereeing soccer. Also, Stroud focused many years of his life playing, touring, and recording/producing local music acts. He has a wonderful wife of 4 years, a 2 year old son and a newborn daughter.
Stroud's biggest writing influences are Jim Butcher, Chuck Palahniuk, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Christopher Moore and Ben Fox.
He currently resides in Huntsville, Al, with the 59th Ordnance Brigade at Redstone Arsenal.
Stroud would also like to take a moment to thank his friends who are currently in battle over in Iraq. God bless all of you.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
