HALLOWEEN (ALL HALLOWS’ EVE)

Halloween (October 31) originated with the ancient Celts, who, beginning at sundown on October 31 and extending into November 1, celebrated Samhain (pronounced sow-in, which rhymes with cow-in), which marked the end of harvest time and the beginning of the new year. The ancient Celts believed that at this time, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest, thereby making it a good time to communicate with the deceased and to divine the future. In later years, the Irish used hollowed-out, candlelit turnips, carved with a demon’s face to frighten away the spirits. When Irish immigrants in the 1840s found few turnips in the United States, they used the more plentiful pumpkins instead.

Every Year

• HALLOWEEN (ALL HALLOWS’ EVE)
• “TRICK OR TREATING” STARTED IN THE MIDDLE AGES, WHEN RICH PEOPLE GAVE POOR PEOPLE “SOUL CAKES” (BAKED GOODS) IF THEY PROMISED TO PRAY FOR THE GIVER’S DEAD FAMILY MEMBERS
• ANCIENT ROMANS BOBBED FOR APPLES, BELIEVING THAT THE FIRST PERSON TO CATCH AN APPLE WITH HIS TEETH WOULD BE THE FIRST TO MARRY IN THE NEW YEAR
• NATIONAL KNOCK-KNOCK DAY

1510s

• 1517: MARTIN LUTHER AFFIXED HIS 95 THESES TO DOOR OF WITTENBERG CASTLE CHURCH

1790s

• BORN 1795: JOHN KEATS (POET)

1820s

• BORN 1827: RICHARD MORRIS HUNT (ARCHITECT)

1850s

• BORN 1852: MARY ELEANOR WILKINS FREEMAN (AUTHOR)

1860s

• 1864: NEVADA ADMITTED TO THE UNION AS THE 36TH STATE

1890s

• BORN 1896: ETHEL WATERS (ACTRESS)

1920s

• DIED 1926: HARRY HOUDINI (MAGICIAN)
• BORN 1927: LEE GRANT (ACTRESS)

1930s

• BORN 1931: DAN RATHER (NEWSCASTER)
• BORN 1936: MICHAEL LANDON (ACTOR)

1940s

• 1941: THE U.S. NAVAL DESTROYER REUBEN JAMES WAS TORPEDOED BY A GERMAN SUBMARINE AND SUNK OFF THE COAST OF ICELAND, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE U.S. WAS NOT AT WAR WITH GERMANY
• 1941: AFTER 14 YEARS OF WORK, DRILLING WAS COMPLETED ON MOUNT RUSHMORE, NEAR KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA
• BORN 1943: BRIAN PICCOLO (FOOTBALL PLAYER)
• BORN 1947: FRANK SHORTER (RUNNER)

1950s

• BORN 1950: JANE PAULEY (BROADCAST JOURNALIST)
• BORN 1950: JOHN CANDY (ACTOR)

1960s

• BORN 1961: PETER JACKSON (DIRECTOR)
• BORN 1963: ROB SCHNEIDER (ACTOR)
• BORN 1969: MIKE O’MALLEY (ACTOR)

1980s

• BORN 1980: SAMAIRE ARMSTRONG (ACTRESS)
• BORN 1980: EDDIE KAYE THOMAS (ACTOR)
• DIED 1983: GEORGE HALAS (FOOTBALL COACH)
• 1984: INDIAN PRIME MINISTER, INDIRA GANDHI, IS ASSASSINATED BY TWO OF HER SIKH BODYGUARDS IN NEW DELHI. RAJIV GANDHI IS INAUGURATED AS HIS MOTHER’S SUCCESSOR

1990s

• DIED 1993: FEDERICO FELLINI (FILMMAKER)
• DIED 1993: RIVER PHOENIX (ACTOR)
• 1994: DUE TO ICE BUILD UP ON ITS WINGS, AN AMERICAN EAGLE COMMUTER PLANE CRASHED IN ROSELAWN, INDIANA, KILLING ALL 68 PASSENGERS AND CREW MEMBERS ABOARD

COURTESY www.almanac.com