St. Patrick's Day {I like to call it St. Patty's}, the way we celebrate it, is more
American than Irish.  In Ireland St. Patty's Day is a religious holiday - shops and
businesses are closed to give everyone a day off to be spent with family and friends.
Catholics begin their day by attending Mass.  Families gather for celebratory meals
and spend the day at popular sporting events - Geelic games, championship rugby
matches or a steeplechase.  There are big parades in Dublin and Belfast to celebrate
national pride.

It is said there are more Americans of Irish descent in America than there are
Irishmen in Ireland.  Americans celebrate St. Patty's Day with such fun and wild
abandon that many people in Ireland tune in their televisions to watch celebrations
and parades in the U.S.

The first St. Patty's Day celebration in America was in 1737 hosted by the Charitable
Irish Society of Boston.  The second was established in 1780 by the Friendly Sons of
St. Patrick in Philadelphia.

It is not known if March 17 is celebrated because it is the date of St. Patrick's
birth or his death.  Some claim it is both, others say neither.  As to St. Patrick's
birthplace, the only definite statement is that he most certainly was not born in
Ireland.  He founded 165 churches and started a school with each one.  St. Patrick
is widely acknowledged as the patron saint of Ireland.

There are no snakes in all of  Ireland thanks to St. Patrick.  Of all the legends
surrounding this popular figure, the most long-lived is the story of St. Patrick
driving the snakes from Ireland.  As the population of Ireland looked on, St. Patrick
pounded a drum and banished the snakes.

The shamrock is seen everywhere on St. Patty's Day.  St. Patrick used the shamrock
when he preached the doctrine of the Trinity as a symbol of its great mystery.
Today, it is widely worn in Ireland and America to celebrate Irish heritage.  In
fact, several million shamrock plants are grown in County Cork, Ireland, and shipped
all over the world for St. Patty's Day.

45 B.C.: Julius Caesar defeated the Pompeians at the Battle of Munda in Spain.  The
  Pompeians, led by two sons of Pompey the Great, lost over 30,000 men.

461 A.D.: According to tradition, St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died in
  Saul.
  
1776: George Washington forced the British under William Howe to evacuate Boston
  during the Revolutionary War.  

1870: The Massachusetts legislature authorized the incorporation of Wellesley Female
  Seminary.  It later became Wellesley College.

1905: Eleanor Roosevelt married Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York.

1906: President Theodore Roosevelt used the term "muckrake" in a speech to the
  Gridiron Club in Washington. 
  
1910: the Camp Fire Girls organization was formed. (It was formally presented to the
  public on this day two years later.)
  
1912: The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded by Mrs. Luther Halsey Gulick of
  Maine. 

1919: Singer and entertainer Nat "King" Cole was born.

1938: Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was born.

1941: The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.

1942: Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of
  Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War II.
  
1950: Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had
  created a new radioactive element, which they named "californium." 
    
1959: A major uprising began in Tibet against Chinese rule.  The Dalai Lama fled
  the capital in disguise.

1966: A U.S. midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen from
  an American bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain.

1967: Snoopy and Charlie Brown of the comic strip "Peanuts" made the cover of "LIFE"
  magazine. 

1969: Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel. 

1970: the U.S. cast its first veto in the U.N. Security Council.  (The U.S. killed a
  resolution that would have condemned Britain for failure to use force to overthrow
  the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.)

1985: William Schroeder set a record for heart transplant patients as he reached his
  113th day of life with the artificial organ. 
    
1999: a panel of medical experts concluded that marijuana has medical benefits for
  people suffering from cancer and AIDS.  The International Olympic Committee
  expelled six of its members in the wake of a bribery scandal, but backed president
  Juan Antonio Samaranch.  Instant replay was voted back in the NFL for the 1999
  season.

1918 - Mercedes McCambridge, actress, "The Exorcist"
1941 - Paul Kantner, singer, Jefferson Airplane
1944 - John Sebastian, singer/musician, The Lovin' Spoonful
1949 - Patrick Duffy, actor, "Dallas," "Step by Step"
1951 - Kurt Russell, actor, "Escape From New York," "Breakdown"
1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, actress, "North and South," "Sunset Beach"
1955 - Gary Sinise, actor, "Apollo 13," "Forrest Gump"
1959 - Danny Ainge, NBA coach of Phoenix Suns
1960 - Vicki Lewis, actress, "NewsRadio"
1964 - Rob Lowe, actor, "Contact," "St. Elmo's Fire"
1967 - Billy Corgan, singer/musician,  Smashing Pumpkins

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