Jordan Smith
Jordan Smith is a freelance writer, editor, and author with 10 years of experience reporting on health, wellness and news infused with pop culture trends. She’s interested in how history shapes today’s trends, which she explored in a book she authored for students on the origins, and deception, of reality TV. Her work has also appeared in Biography, Self, Peloton, and Runner’s World, among others.
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Local celebrations include parades and reenactments as well as hatchet burials, horse races and barbecue competitions.
The spiritual meaning of St. Patrick’s Day dates back to the Middle Ages. The holiday largely emphasizes Irish culture today.
St. Patrick is said to have chased snakes out of Ireland, but in truth, he might never have seen one there.
St. Patrick is not a canonized saint, despite his well-known honorific. Still, he is known as the patron saint of Ireland and Nigeria.
Unlike the rest of the United States, the two states haven’t changed their clocks in decades.
The holiday was preceded by an ancient Roman festival, though two medieval poets and a Catholic pope are credited with its invention.
St. Valentine is thought to be the patron saint of lovers. The truth is more complicated.
The TV show “Parks and Recreation” launched the once-fictional February holiday in 2010.
Among the states with alternate Presidents’ Days, Indiana has long celebrated George Washington and Abraham Lincoln at the end of the year.
The religious origins of the holiday don’t stem from the Bible.
The Roman Empire regularly persecuted Christians like St. Valentine.
Unscripted television has captivated audiences for some 80 years.
The anti-consumerism holiday, made popular by “Seinfeld,” is inspired by one of the show writer’s childhood traditions.
