National Find a Rainbow Day Apr 3, 2025

National Find a Rainbow Day

Have you ever spotted a rainbow and felt a little lucky? National Find a Rainbow Day, celebrated today, is all about looking to the sky for that magical mix of sun and rain. Nature"s color wheel has long been linked to myths and legends, from Norse gods to the Irish leprechaun"s pot of gold. But beyond folklore, the science behind rainbows is just as compelling. The first real explanation came from Theodoric of Freiberg, a German physicist, in 1304. He discovered that rainbows form when sunlight enters a raindrop, bends, reflects inside, and then bends again as it exits. This process splits light into its colors, creating the spectrum we see. The classic "ROYGBIV" (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) doesn"t tell the whole story—rainbows contain millions of colors blended together.

© Frank Staub/Getty Images

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Today in History

Apr 3, 2018The village of Castelluccio above the Piano Grande, Umbria, Italy
Apr 3, 2019Dark skies over New Mexico
Apr 3, 2020The rainbow connection
Apr 3, 2021A light at the edge of the world
Apr 3, 2022Lake Tai s cherry trees in bloom
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Apr 3, 2024Find a Rainbow Day

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