St. Patrick (née Maewyn Succat) was a 5th century Brit, abducted as a teenager as a forced laborer and trafficked as a swineherd to Ireland, where he got religion. He later escaped, went to France, and became a priest (at either Lérins Abbey or Auxerre) before returning to proselytize in Ireland. A millennium later, North America’s early Irish immigrants and their descendants began to celebrate the day of his death as a joyous holiday, which seems a wee bit ghoulish.
The party ramped up after the Potato Famine increased Irish immigration to the US in the mid 19th century. St. Patrick’s Day became a celebration of parades, corned beef and cabbage, fiddle music, soda bread, and green beer rather than the solemn saint’s day it had been in the Auld Sod, but that’s America for you. US tourists in Ireland expected a big bash on March 17th, and the host country was glad to oblige, in celebration of greenback dollars. The holiday has now gone global. Faith and begorrah!
A National Georgraphic video.
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The history of ketchup, now a pantry staple, goes back centuries, but the ubiquitous condiment didn’t even include tomatoes until 1812. A Weird History Food video.
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“A Visual History of Every Air Jordan,” a video by The Pudding. Nike issued different versons of these basketball shoes beginning in 1985. More here.
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Parking protected bike lanes use parked cars to create a buffer between moving vehicles and cyclists. While this eliminates a few parking spots, it improves traffic flow for vehicles increases retail sales for nearby businesses, and improves bicycle safety and encorages more people to bike. After a pilot project on 9th Avenue in 2007, then New York City transportation official Janette Sadik-Khan used 1% of her agency’s budget to build 1200 miles of protected bike lanes.
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How did we get artificial flavors? Danielle Bainbridge explains, for The Origins of Everthing, from PBS Digital Studios.
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1 in 10 American homes are in regions most at risk from climate change. PBS Terra explains.
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In the 17th century, plague doctors.wore beak-like masks and covered themselves from head to toe, their idea of hazmat suits. This TED-Ed animation explains. Research by Stephanie Honchell Smith, narrated by George Zaidan.
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Americans used to smoke cigarettes, and they smoked them while driving, so cars had ashtrays and cigarette lighters. The lighter’s electric elements would broil cigarette ends, filling the car with a toasty aroma. Your car probably has a vestigial lighter today. A video by Zack Pradel explains.
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Rituals were a prominent part of the seasonal calendar and life cycle in the past. Not so today. A video from The School of Life.
Note: UNESCO recognizes that surviving traditional rituals and festive events form a key part of humanity’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
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