We all know that St. George’s Day can be a little underwhelming so to make the day a little more interesting you here are five things to impress your mates with down the pub.
23rd April has been declared International Day of the Book by UNESCO as 23rd April 1616 marks the deaths of both William Shakespeare and Spanish author, Miguel de Cervantes.
According to Bram Stoker’s Dracula when the clock strikes midnight the night before St. George’s Day all the evil things in the world will have full sway and evil things will occur.
In Catalonia, La Diada de Sant Jordi is a holiday with many similarities to Valentine ’s Day. Sweethearts and loved ones are expected to exchange roses and books on the day. Every year La Rambla is taken over by makeshift flower and book stalls and roughly four million roses and 800,000 books are bought throughout the day, counting for half of the yearly book sales in Catalonia.
In Georgia (The country not the state) there are 365 churches dedicated to St. George, one for each day of the year and to commemorate his body being cut into 365 pieces after death.
St. George has no actual connection to England, historical or otherwise. He was born in what is now Palestine and lived all of his life within the Eastern Roman Empire.