Every year on January 25, people around the UK don their tartan, rustle up a tasty plate of haggis, and recite some rhymes in honor of Scotland’s favorite son, Robert Burns.

So who was Robert Burns, and what are some of the weird and wonderful reasons he’s so celebrated?

1. Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway, Scotland and is widely regarded as the country’s national poet. After Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, Burns has more statues dedicated to him around the world than any other non-religious figure.

2. Over 260 years after his birth, Robert Burns is still beloved, and his work has provided inspiration for many writers and poets. The title of J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel, The Catcher in the Rye, comes from the Burns poem, Comin Thro the Rye, while John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men takes its title from Burns’s poem, To a Mouse.

3. British-born astronaut Nicholas Patrick carried a miniature book of Burns poems into orbit on a two-week space mission in 2010. Burns’s poetry completed 217 orbits of Earth.

4. “Auld Lang Syne,” traditionally sung at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, is one of Burns’s most famous works. Along with “Happy Birthday” and “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” “Auld Lang Syne” is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the three most popular songs in the English language.

5. Looking for the largest collection of Burns’s work? You’ll find it in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, which includes translations of his poems in more than 30 languages.

6. Robert Burns fathered a total of 12 children with four different women. His youngest child, Maxwell, was born on the day of Burns’s funeral.

7. Burns lived a short life, dying of unknown causes in 1796 at the age of only 37. Though it’s debated by scholars, the most likely cause of death is a heart condition brought on by a childhood bout of rheumatic fever.