2. The word "Halloween" comes from All Hallows' Eve and means
"hallowed evening." The history of Halloween dates back to a pagan
festival called Samhain. Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as
saints and went door-to-door, which is the origin of Halloween
costumes and trick-or-treating.
3. Although their exact origin is uncertain, dates were first known to
be cultivated in the Fertile Crescent between Egypt and
Mesopotamia as early as 4000 B.C. Date palms fare best in tropical
and subtropical regions. They continue to be an important crop for
Iraq, Iran, Arabia and North Africa west to Morocco.
4. With such a cultural influence, Halloween today in Ireland is
celebrated very much the same as in the States. Adults and
children dress up as witches, ghosts, zombies and all kind of
macabre figures and go to fancy dress parties or go out trick
or treating.
5. Americans used to celebrate the holiday by sending Halloween cards.
In the early 1900s, before the telephone was invented, Halloween cards were
about as popular as Christmas cards.
Stephen Clarke holds the record for the world's fastest pumpkin carving time.
He did it all under 24.03 seconds, beating his previous record of 54.72 seconds.
Do you think you can do it faster?
There's a reason why black and orange are associated with Halloween.
Orange signals the harvest of autumn, while black is a symbol of darkness and
acts as a reminder that Halloween once was a festival that marked the
boundaries between life and death.
