Green River Dye - St Patrick's Day Tradition

Today is St Patrick's Day and one of the coolest traditions on Saint Patrick's Day is found in Chicago who dye the river green to celebrate the day. Why? Well sometime in the 19th century, as St. Patrick's Day parades were flourishing, wearing the color green became a show of commitment to Ireland. In 1962 the show of solidarity took a spectacular turn in Chicago when the city decided to dye a portion of the Chicago River green. The tradition started when parade organizer Steve Bailey, head of a plumbers' union, noticed how a dye used to trace possible sources of river pollution had stained a colleague's overalls a brilliant green. Why not use the dye to turn the whole river green on St. Patrick's Day, Bailey thought. So began the tradition.

Who was Saint Patrick?
For many, especially those in USA, Saint Patrick's Day is just a great reason to wear green and drink lots of Guiness. Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday in Ireland. But who was Saint Patrick? He was said to have converted people in Ireland to Christianity and helped build churches and performed many miracles during his life time. When the Irish began to move to America, it was to escape poverty and starvation when famine hit their country. However, America was not very accepting of the Irish. They were considered to be drunk, violent monkeys. Irish soldiers marched through the streets years ago on March 17th, which is also the date of Saint Patrick's death. They marched through the streets of New York City to reconnect with their Irish roots. The parade in New York City continued for many years, but the Irish people were not accepted by the country for years after. As the popularity of the holiday rose, the Irish became more accepted and those who were not Irish began to celebrate this day every year.