March 17 Birthday
March 17 is St. Patrick's Day. Patrick was not Irish — he was Romano-British, born in what is now Wales or Scotland. He was kidnapped by Irish raiders at sixteen, enslaved for six years, escaped, and later returned as a missionary. The snake story is mythological — Ireland never had snakes, post-glacially. The shamrock was already a Celtic symbol before Patrick used it to explain the Trinity. The global celebration of St. Patrick's Day — parades, green beer, rivers dyed green — is largely an Irish-American invention. Dublin's first St. Patrick's Day parade was in 1931, centuries after Boston and New York. People born on March 17 fall under the zodiac sign of Pisces. The birthstone is Aquamarine and the birth flower is Daffodil. Historical events on March 17 include 461: Traditional death of St. Patrick, 1776: British evacuate Boston, 1958: Vanguard 1 satellite launched (oldest still in orbit). Famous people born on March 17 include Nat "King" Cole (1919), Kurt Russell (1951), Rob Lowe (1964).