Fact of the Day: Halloween
Halloween, celebrated on October 31, can be traced back to Samhain, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Because it was a time of transition between the old and the new, the Celts believed that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to travel together to the land of the dead. It was also a time when those who had died in years past returned to visit their homes. November 1 was considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. People lit bonfires to scare away evil spirits and "sacrificed" fruits and vegetables, hoping to appease the spirits of the deceased. Sometimes people disguised themselves in masks and costumes so that the visiting spirits would not recognize them. Charms, spells, and predictions of the future were all part of the eve of Samhain. In the old Celtic calendar, that last evening of October was "old-year's night," the night of all witches.
Events
1517 - Martin Luther posted the "95 Theses" on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church in Germany, starting the Protestant Reformation.
1803 - Congress ratified the Louisiana Purchase, adding territory which will eventually become 13 states.
1902 - The first telegraph cable across the Pacific Ocean was completed.
1941 - USS Clemson Class destroyer Reuben James was torpedoed by a German submarine, the first U.S. warship sunk in World War II. Though some were saved, 96 crew members died.
1941 - Mount Rushmore National Memorial was completed after 14 years.
1950 - Earl Lloyd became the first black to play in the NBA when he took the floor for the Washington Capitols.
1952 - The U.S. exploded its first hydrogen bomb, at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1956 - U.S. Rear Admiral George J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
1959 - Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine from Texas, announced in Moscow that he would never return to the United States.
1968 - President Lyndon Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
1980 - Reza Pahlavi, oldest son of the late shah, proclaimed himself the successor to the Peacock Throne.
1992 - Vatican formally rehabilitated Galileo Galilei, who was forced by the Inquisition in 1633 to recant his assertion that the Earth orbits the Sun.
2001 - Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department reached a tentative agreement to settle the historic antitrust case against the software giant.
Births
1795 - John Keats, English poet.
1860 - Juliette Low, American, founder of the Girl Scouts.
1887 - Chiang Kai-shek, first constitutional president of the Republic of China and army general.
1912 - Dale Evans (Frances Butts), American singer-songwriter, actress, wife of Roy Rogers.
1931 - Dan Rather, American TV journalist.
Deaths
1926 - Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz), Hungarian-born American magician and escape artist.
1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, assassinated by Sikh members of her own security guard.
1993 - River Phoenix, American film actor.
Halloween, celebrated on October 31, can be traced back to Samhain, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Because it was a time of transition between the old and the new, the Celts believed that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to travel together to the land of the dead. It was also a time when those who had died in years past returned to visit their homes. November 1 was considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. People lit bonfires to scare away evil spirits and "sacrificed" fruits and vegetables, hoping to appease the spirits of the deceased. Sometimes people disguised themselves in masks and costumes so that the visiting spirits would not recognize them. Charms, spells, and predictions of the future were all part of the eve of Samhain. In the old Celtic calendar, that last evening of October was "old-year's night," the night of all witches.
Events
1517 - Martin Luther posted the "95 Theses" on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church in Germany, starting the Protestant Reformation.
1803 - Congress ratified the Louisiana Purchase, adding territory which will eventually become 13 states.
1902 - The first telegraph cable across the Pacific Ocean was completed.
1941 - USS Clemson Class destroyer Reuben James was torpedoed by a German submarine, the first U.S. warship sunk in World War II. Though some were saved, 96 crew members died.
1941 - Mount Rushmore National Memorial was completed after 14 years.
1950 - Earl Lloyd became the first black to play in the NBA when he took the floor for the Washington Capitols.
1952 - The U.S. exploded its first hydrogen bomb, at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1956 - U.S. Rear Admiral George J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
1959 - Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine from Texas, announced in Moscow that he would never return to the United States.
1968 - President Lyndon Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
1980 - Reza Pahlavi, oldest son of the late shah, proclaimed himself the successor to the Peacock Throne.
1992 - Vatican formally rehabilitated Galileo Galilei, who was forced by the Inquisition in 1633 to recant his assertion that the Earth orbits the Sun.
2001 - Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department reached a tentative agreement to settle the historic antitrust case against the software giant.
Births
1795 - John Keats, English poet.
1860 - Juliette Low, American, founder of the Girl Scouts.
1887 - Chiang Kai-shek, first constitutional president of the Republic of China and army general.
1912 - Dale Evans (Frances Butts), American singer-songwriter, actress, wife of Roy Rogers.
1931 - Dan Rather, American TV journalist.
Deaths
1926 - Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz), Hungarian-born American magician and escape artist.
1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, assassinated by Sikh members of her own security guard.
1993 - River Phoenix, American film actor.