Today is Umbrella Day, celebrated internationally on February 10 each year. With all the rain my area has had this fall and winter, I can appreciate this day. I've certainly been using my umbrellas enough. I like bright-colored umbrellas on a dark, dreary day. It's uplifting to see the colorful circles cutting through the gloom.
The collapsible umbrella originated in China in 21 A.D. Chinese tradition says that the idea came from banners waving in the air on a rainy day. Evidence of parasols or umbrellas have been found in ancient Nineveh, Persia, Egypt, India, Greece, and Rome. Even Tenochtitlan and the Aztec Empire used a type of umbrella made from feathers.
There may have been allusions to umbrellas in Medieval Europe, but they weren't used widely then. They became more common in the 17th century, as this portrait by van Dyck (1623) shows. The European lightweight, folding umbrella was introduced in 1710 by a Paris merchant. These became popular and spread. Today, umbrellas are as common as the rain.
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