Today is the day after the celebrated weed smoking date of 420.  But do you know where the term 420 came from?

According to High Times magazine, a reputable source for all things marijuana-related, the term 420 got its start in 1971 at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California.  A group of about a dozen young pot smokers who called themselves The Waldos would gather at the statue of French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur on the school’s campus at around 4:20 p.m. every afternoon to partake in their favorite pastime of smoking marijuana.  They started to use the term 420 as a code for marijuana use that they could say in front of their parents and be very discreet about it.

Today, there are events held all around the world on April 20^th to fly your freak flag, so to speak.  From Hippie Hill in San Francisco, California near the Golden Gate Bridge to Tallahassee, Florida to Boulder, Colorado people will gather together to advocate the decriminalization of marijuana. In Ottawa, Ontario in Canada thousands of people will gather on Parliament Hill to spark up their weed at exactly 4:20 p.m. on April, 20^th in a show of solidarity for the legalization of marijuana.   Such “smoke out” events also take place in Montreal, Quebec and London, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia on April 20^th. Countries as far away as New Zealand also have similar celebrations of marijuana on this unofficial holiday for marijuana smokers.

The term 420 has been so widely associated with marijuana that it has manifested itself in strange ways throughout pop culture.  For instance, in the movie, Pulp Fiction, all of the clocks are set to 4:20.  Check it out next time you watch that film. California’s medical marijuana bill is called SB420. So the next time anyone from Generation X tries to lay claim to that term you can tell them that old people came up with it first.  These people are now in their fifties and Louis Pasteur has been gone from this earth since 1895.