Every June, Swedes celebrate Midsummer with maypole dancing, pickled herring, aquavit, and a skinny dip at night.
Tradition also calls for placing seven different flowers under your pillow to dream of your future spouse. What happens between the aquavit and the pillow is apparently no mystery: the most common birth date in Sweden is March 22, exactly nine months later.
As one Swedish ethnologist diplomatically noted, "a lot of children are born nine months after Midsummer in Sweden." The Swedes, it seems, take their summer solstice traditions very seriously.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
