Question Asked: Why Do People Say God Bless You When Someone Sneezes?
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Nov 18th, 2008 |
Good question, I’ve often wondered this myself. In digging through history, it looks like saying “God Bless You” when someone sneezes started way back around 340-360A.D., by St. Gregory.
Way back then, it was commonly believed that sneezing was a sign that you’d gotten the plague, and didn’t have long left to live. St. Gregory eventually died on pneumonia in 390A.D. at the age of 60.
Some other interesting facts about sneezes and sneezing:
- 50 million Americans sneeze every second.
- The average sneeze travels at 95 miles per hour and contains over 16 million germs.
- Most sneezing caused by colds last two or three days, and generally average between 100-200 sneezes.
- The world record for sneezing is held by Donna Griffith, from 1981. She sneezed for 971 consecutive days, and was told “God Bless you” over 3 million times.
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