Halloween is the biggest annual costume party in the world. Do you know the facts that can haunt you on Halloween? If you are curious, read the article below.
Halloween is the biggest annual costume party in the world. Do you know the facts that can haunt you on Halloween ? If you are curious, read the article below.
Halloween means all saints evening
Some of the earliest uses of the word Halloween or Hallowe'en date back to 1745, and are tied to Christian origins. The word Hallowe'en is Scottish and means All Hallows' Eve.
The word 'eve' or 'even', short for evening in Scottish, is sometimes written or pronounced as een or e'en. Over time, All Hallows Evening was shortened to Hallowe'en.
Wearing masks on Halloween was originally for protection.
Halloween masks were originally worn to ward off evil spirits. It was believed that on Halloween, spirits would return to earth, looking for lives to take with them. So, if you wore a scary mask, you would ward off evil spirits.
Blue moons are very rare on Halloween.
Blue moons are rare enough that their appearance on Halloween is a unique phenomenon, occurring only once every 18-19 years.
A blue moon is the second full moon that occurs in the same month. The first full moon in October is called a harvest moon, and if there is a second, it is called a hunter moon.
In Lithuania, Halloween is the night of light and darkness.
In Lithuania, it is believed that half the year is light and half is dark, not just in terms of physical light but also in terms of spirit. Halloween marks the day when these two elements meet, and it is the transition from light to dark.
Sometimes light is seen as good and darkness as bad, so children often dress in black or white to represent both sides.
Guising was the first trick-or-treating game.
"Guising" is an English term for the act of disguising oneself in order to conceal one's identity. The practice has been recorded in Scotland since the early 16th century.
One of the main ways to "guise" is to wear a mask or veil on Halloween. In the 1800s, this custom began to develop into going around the house wearing a costume mask to "beg" or ask for fruit.
There is a "no mask" policy on Halloween
In the United States, there are a variety of laws about wearing masks in public on Halloween. For example, in Dublin, Georgia, it is illegal to wear a mask if you are under 16 years old.
And in Belleville, Illinois, it's also illegal to wear a mask if you're under 12.
The record for the loudest scream on Halloween has been broken.
English teaching assistant Jill Drake broke the Guinness World Record in October 2000. While attending a Halloween party in London, England, at the Old Millennium Church, Drake's scream reached an astonishing 129 dBA. This is equivalent to a rock concert with a large symphony.
In Wales, Recording Angel will decide who will die on November 1st.
In Welsh mythology, a spirit called Angelystor, meaning "Recording Angel," appears every Halloween at the Llangernyw yew tree, located in the yard of St. Digain's Church in the village of Llangernyw, Conway, Wales.
Spirits are sent to inform the villagers who will be the next to die.
The biggest pumpkin sculpture is about the zombie apocalypse
Over the course of two days, Ray Villafane created the world's largest pumpkin sculpture. The record took two days to complete and used two pumpkins weighing 1,800 pounds and 1,600 pounds. He created a zombie apocalypse scene on these two pumpkins on October 22-23, 2011.
In addition to the world's largest pumpkin carving, there is another record for the largest number of pumpkins carved at the same time. A total of 1,060 people in New Mexico, USA, carved pumpkins together, becoming the world's largest group of people to carve pumpkins at the same time.
The record was set by Galloping Grace Youth Ranch and the people of New Mexico on October 26, 2013.
Charlie Brown was the first television character to participate in trick-or-treating.
In 1966, a famous Charlie Brown cartoon had its characters asking for tricks. This was the first time the concept of trick-or-treating was featured on a television show.
The cartoon has become the iconic image of trick-or-treating, and everyone wants to be like Charlie and his friends.