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HALLOWEEN PRINTABLES and OCTOBER CALENDARHalloween Printables
October is the tenth month of the year, and has 31 days. In the United States, October is associated with Halloween (October 31st) and a popular German celebration called Oktoberfest. In American culture, October is also known as German-American Heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, Italian-American Heritage Month, Filipino-American History Month, Polish-American Heritage Month and LGBT History Month. October's birthstone is the opal, which is thought to have the power to predict illness, due to its natural heat sensitivity. The only U.S. State admitted to the Union during the month of October was Nevada.
************************************************************ October's biggest American celebration takes place on Halloween. The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. So, on the night of October 31st, Celts held a celebration in which they wore costumes and told fortunes. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, November 1st became known as All Saints Day. On that day, a mass was performed called 'All hallows mass.' The night before the mass became known as All Hallows E'en. The name was eventually simplified to "Halloween." Halloween became more commercialized during the 20th century, as manufacturers began mass producing Halloween costumes in the 1930s. Trick-or-treating became popular sometime in the 1950s. ************************************************************ FUN FACTS: In Mexico, they celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). It starts on the evening of October 31. It is believed that orange and black became Halloween colors because orange is associated with harvests and black is associated with death. A pumpkin is a kind of squash, and comes from the same family as the cucumber. Ninety-nine out of a hundred pumpkins sold in America are used as Jack O' Lanterns for Halloween. ************************************************************ For October clipart, coloring pages, calendars, horoscopes and other free printable items, click any of the links below.
HALLOWEEN PRINTABLES
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