10-31 Halloween
October 31st, 2009
Halloween:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween)
It has roots in the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a secular celebration, but some have expressed strong feelings about perceived religious overtones. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America during Ireland’s Great Famine of the 1840s.
The day is often associated with orange and black, and is strongly associated with symbols like the jack-o’-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, reading scary stories, and watching horror films.
It could be seen as a festival of the dead. The ancient Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honored and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.
Interstitial Cystitis Awareness Day:
(excerpted from http://www.fightingfatigue.org/?p=1089)
The symptoms for IC (Interstitial Cystitis) are not the same for every person. For some symptoms can be mild and not affect their daily routine that much. For others, the symptoms can be so severe that they are bedridden and in constant pain and agony. IC affects more women than men, but there are plenty of men still afflicted with this illness.
National UNICEF Day:
(excerpted from http://www.unicef.org/support/14884.html)
The tradition of ‘Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF’ began in 1950 in the United States, when Philadelphia schoolchildren first went door-to-door at Halloween collecting money in decorated milk cartons to help their global peers.
They raised a grand total of $17, kicking off a campaign that has since brought in millions of dollars each year to help UNICEF provide medicine, better nutrition, safe water, education, emergency relief and other support to children in more than 150 countries.
National Magic Day:
(excerpted from http://www.ehow.com/how_2310806_celebrate-national-magic-day.html)
National Magic Day is celebrated October 31 in honor of Harry Houdini. The great magician Houdini died on Halloween in 1926. The Society of American Magicians, known for its professional and charitable works, promotes public events and exhibits for the week leading up to this day.
National Carmel Apple Day:
(excerpted from http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/national_caramel_apple_day.html)
Caramel apples or toffee apples are created by dipping or rolling apples-on-a-stick in hot caramel, and sometimes then rolling them in nuts or other small savories or confections, and allowing them to cool.
More elaborate apples use white chocolate over the caramel to hold a variety of candies, nuts or cookies. Tart, crisp apples such as Granny Smith are preferred to contrast with the soft, sweet caramel.
Caramel apples are usually consumed as treats at autumn festivals such as Halloween, in the wake of the annual apple harvest.
Nevada Day:
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Day)
Nevada Day commemorates the admission of the state of Nevada into the union on October 31, 1864. The first known observance of Nevada Day (originally known as “Admission Day”) was by the Pacific Coast Pioneer society during the 1870s. It was not until 1933 that the state legislature designated October 31st as Nevada Day and a state holiday.
Celebrity Birthdays:
(excerpted from http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/history/low_biography/)
Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts of the USA, was born Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon on October 31, 1860, in Savannah, Georgia.
In developing the Girl Scout movement in the United States, Juliette brought girls of all backgrounds into the out-of-doors, giving them the opportunity to develop self-reliance and resourcefulness. She encouraged girls to prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for possible future roles as professional women—in the arts, sciences and business—and for active citizenship outside the home. Girl Scouting welcomed girls with disabilities at a time when they were excluded from many other activities. This idea seemed quite natural to Juliette, who never let deafness, back problems or cancer keep her from full participation in life.
(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rather)
Daniel Irvin “Dan” Rather, Jr. (born October 31, 1931) is a journalist and former news anchor for the CBS Evening News and is now managing editor and anchor of a television news magazine, Dan Rather Reports, on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9, 1981, to March 9, 2005. He also contributed to CBS’ 60 Minutes. Rather left CBS Evening News in 2005 and subsequently left the network in 2006.
Birthday Greetings:
Jack Abraham’s Birthday
Happy Birthday Jookie!!
