VIDEO: Chicago dyes river green for St. Patrick's Day

Still recovering from St. Patrick's Day? Here's a time-lapse video of what you missed in Chicago, where thousands of people gathered to see the Chicago River as it was turned a radioactive shade of green (temporarily replacing its usual murky green). The tradition has been happening for more than 40 years to celebrate the holiday. It all went down at 10 a.m. on Saturday, just before the St. Patrick's Day Parade marched through the city.

According to Dan Lydon, a former chairman and coordinator of Chicago's St. Patrick's Parade, the tradition began in 1961 when someone spotted local plumber Stephen Bailey's coveralls splotched with bright green dye. When asked why his coveralls were stained with such an outrageous color, he explained that the dye used to detect waste leaking into the river was the same vibrant shade. From there a tradition was born and the river has been dyed shamrock green every year since. Read more about how and why the river is turned green at greenchicagoriver.com.

Filed under: United States