Happy Birthday, Guinness!

Today is a very special day for connoiseurs of fine beer. It marks the 250th anniversary of Guinness stout!


OK, this date is a little arbitrary - The Guinness brewery at St. James Gate in Dublin was leased to the company on Dec. 31, 1759, and Arthur Guinness had been making his special brew for a few years before that. But today is Arthur Guinness' birthday, and since Dec. 31 is kind of already taken as a holiday, the Guinness company decided to make today, Sept. 24, "Arthur's Day."

As the first beer I ever finished a glass of, and my reigning favorite, Guinness holds a special place in my heart. To mark this occasion, I'll be going out to enjoy a pint (or two) of the black gold tonight. And in addition to that, I'll tell you all some fun facts about the beer, accompanied by some of its rad advertisements:

- Though people think of it as filling, Guinness contains only 198 calories per pint! That is less than most light beers, wine, orange juice, or even light milk!

- Legend has it that at some point in the 250 years they've been brewing Guinness, some health inspectors came in for a routine inspection. They found dead rats in some of the beer vats, and made the company clean them out. After this though, the Guinness didn't taste as good. So (again, according to legend) to this day, they throw meat into the vats while brewing Guinness to bring back the distinct flavor. What kind of meat, the legend doesn't say.

- According to a study at the University of Wisconis, a pint of Guinness a day works as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.

- Some people say you can determine a person's nationality by counting the rings of foam left on their glass after they've had a pint of Guinness. An Irishman will have 3 or 4 rings, an American will have 6 or 7, and Australians don't have any.