Google is paying homage to the rainiest day in UK history with a Doodle celebrating beloved wellingtonboots.
On 5 December 2015, an area of the northwestern county of Cumbria, England, recorded more than 13in of rain over a 24-hour period.
Four years later, the search engine is expressing its gratitude for the boots that have made rainy day weather bearable for centuries.
These are three interesting facts you should know about wellingtons, better known as wellies.
They were first created in the 1800s
The wellies we know and love were first imagined by Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington.
According to Google, the duke asked his shoemaker to make a shorter version of military issue Hessian boots and swap polished calfskin leather to a waxed version in the hopes that the boots would be easier to wear with trousers.
The result was the first pair of wellingtons.
The boots were made out of rubber in 1856
After briefly going out of fashion following the duke’s death in 1852, the boots were revived in 1856 with the arrival of vulcanised rubber.
The first rubber wellies were created by Edinburgh-based company North British Rubber Company, later named Hunter Boot Ltd.
However, they did not become popular until the First World War, when millions of pairs were commissioned for soldiers as a means of preventing trench foot.
By the end of World War II, when the boots were again depended upon in large quantities, wellies had become a popular footwear choice for men, women and children.
One of the most popular colours in Britain is green
In 1956, Hunter Boot introduced The Original Green Wellington. The style quickly became a staple in many British households, before becoming even more popular when the late Princess Diana was photographed wearing the boots alongside Prince Charles.
Today, wellies are available to purchase from numerous companies, in any colour imaginable.
Whether they are needed to navigate the rainiest day ever or when you just want to jump in a puddle, wellies have maintained their usefulness hundreds of years since they were first created.
