Chicago River Dyed Green To Celebrate St Patrick's Day

The Chicago River has been dyed green to celebrate St Patrick's Day. For more than 60 years, the Windy City has been turning the river green to celebrate the Irish holiday. The manmade phenomenon began in 1961 when plumbers used the dye used to find leaks and pollution in the river. When fellow plumber and Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parade chairman Stephen Bailey noticed emerald green stains on a plumber’s overalls, he suggested using the dye to turn the river green for the city's St Patrick's Day parade. The very next year, with the approval of Mayor Richard J. Daley, the Chicago Plumbers Union used 100 pounds of the same dye to purposely stain the Chicago River green for St. Paddy’s Day. Hundreds of people head down to the river each year to witness the long-standing tradition.