Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have just a wee bit o' Irish in my blood. It's true. Does the red hair, freckles, and hazel eyes give it away? (I'm not Amy Adams-below)

Fun facts about redheads:

• Redheads account for 1-2% of the world population and 40-46% of the world population carry the recessive gene. 13% of the Scottish population and 10% of the Irish population have red hair. The US has the most redheads due to the large population (6-18 million).
• The most rare hair color in humans is red.
• Red hair doesn't gray as much as other hair colors. Red hair initially tends to turn blond and then white.
• People with red hair are often referred to as redheads, gingers, leprechauns, carrot top (which never made sense to me because carrot tops are green), and a few others that I'm not going to put on here since this is a family oriented blog.
• According to Wikipedia, redheads are often "fiery tempered and have sharp tongues." 
• The pigment pheomelanin gives red hair its color.
• 80% of redheads have freckles.
• There is such an event called Redheadday that is a 2 day festival in September in the city of Breda, the Netherlands.
• People with red hair have twice the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease. (AHHHH!!!)
• "While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads derive from cats." -Mark Twain
• Some scholars postulate that the same gene mutation that causes red hair also affects the way redheads respond to pain and anesthetics.
• "Gingerphopia" is a fear of redheads. "Gingerism" is the bullying or prejudice of redheads.

Fun facts about St. Patrick's Day:

• St. Patrick wasn't Irish...he was born in Scotland or Wales and brought to Ireland as a slave. His given name was Maewyn.
• In 1903, St. Patrick's Day was named a national holiday in Ireland and until 1970, Irish bars closed on St. Patrick's Day.  
• There are more than 35 million Americans with Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is 4.2 million.
• 4 out of 5 Americans wear green today and 1 out 13 go to bar.
• 40 pounds of green vegetable dye is added to the Chicago River for St. Patrick's Day.
• The 4 leaves of a shamrock represent faith, love, hope, and luck.

There is an actual place called Mt. Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia. 

Go eat your bangers and mash and enjoy your green beer. Happy St. Patrick's Day!