Today is Saint Patrick’s day – a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the day that Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland died. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years although it has become an international festival with people celebrating Irish culture around the world with parades, dancing, special foods and a lot of green!
But did you know that, on 17th March:
- 45BC Julius Caesar defeated the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda…his last victory.
- 1658, A Pro-Charles II plot in England was discovered
- 1755, The Transylvania Land Company buys Kentucky for $50,000 from a Cherokee chief
- 1762, The first St Patrick’s Day parade was held in NYC, US.
- 1776, British forces evacuated Boston to Nova Scotia during the Revolutionary War
- 1800, The British warship Queen Charlotte caught fire; 700 died
- 1842, Indians landed in Ohio, a 12 square mile area in Upper Sandusky
- 1842, The Relief Society, a philanthropic and educational women’s organisation and an official auxilliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) was founded by Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA.
- 1871, The National Association of Professional Base-Ball players was organized
- 1891, The British Steamer “Utopia” sunk off Gibraltar killing 574
- 1901, A showing of seventy-one Vincent Van Gough paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, created a sensation.
- 1921, Lenin proclaimed New Economic Politics
- 1943, Physician Willem J Kolff performed the world’s first ‘hemodialysis’ using his artificial kidney machine in the Netherlands, however the treatment was unsuccessful and the patient died.
- 1953, The US performed a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site.
- 1957, The Dutch ban on Sunday driving was lifted.
- 1973, St. Patrick’s Day marchers carried 14 coffins commemorating Bloody Sunday.
- 1995, The Sinn-Fein leader Gerry Adams visited the White House
How many of your ancestors would have been involved with any of these World Events?
