Few St. Patrick's Day revelers have a clue about  the man we honor each year. For starters, he wasn't even Irish. Born in Britain around A.D. 390, his first sight of Irish shores came after being kidnapped and forced into slavery at 16. After religious conversion, he spent his life teaching Christianity to the Irish. Patrick's work was tough- he was constantly beaten by thugs, harassed by the Irish royalty, and admonished by his British superiors. After he died on March 17, 1461, Patrick was largely forgotten. Slowly, mythology grew around Patrick, and centuries later he was honored as the patron saint of Ireland.

Until the 1970s, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday. A priest would acknowledge the feast day, and families would celebrate with a big meal, but that was about it. But in America, Irish charitable organizations originally celebrated St. Patrick's Day with banquets in places such as Boston, Massachusetts; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina. Eighteenth-century Irish soldiers fighting with the British in the U.S. Revolutionary War held the first St. Patrick's Day parades. Today, the U.S. tradition of St. Patrick's Day parades, packed pubs, and green silliness has invaded Ireland with full force. The country figured out that the popularity of St. Patrick's Day was a good way to boost spring tourism.