Did you know?//Random facts book

Halloween

1. Halloween all started as a pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain (which means "summer's end") held around the first of November. It celebrated the final day of the harvest and the crossing of spirits over into the other world. People in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France would ward off ghosts by lighting sacrificial bonfires, and, wearing costumes.

2. Trick-or-treating has existed since medieval times.
Back then, it was known as "guising" in Scotland and Ireland. Young people dressed up in costumes and asked for food or money in exchange for songs, poems, or other "tricks." Today, the tradition has morphed into children to getting dressed up and asking for candy.

3. During the 18th century, ladies would follow Halloween traditions that would "help" them find a romantic match. women would: Throw apple peels over their shoulder hoping to see their future husband's initials, competitively bob for apples at parties because the winner would be the first to get married, and stand in a dark room with a candle in front of a mirror to look for their future husband's face.

4. Americans spend about $86.79 on Halloween every year.

5. Illinois produces up to five times more pumpkins than any other state.
It has more than 15,000 acres devoted to gourd growing, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Those Illinois farms typically grow more than 500 million pounds of pumpkins annually.

6. 'Monster Mash' once reigned supreme on the Billboard charts.
Bobby "Boris" Pickett reached #1 on the Hot 100 in 1962 just before Halloween and later recharted in 1973 — but this time in August.

7. The most popular children's costumes are princesses and superheroes.
Adults are most likely to dress as witches, according to the National Retail Federation. As for our pets? The most popular costume for dogs in 2018 was a pumpkin.

8. Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926.

9. Jack-o-lanterns were originally carved into turnips.

10. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

11. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.

12. The largest pumpkin ever measured was grown by Norm Craven, who broke the world record in 1993 with a 836 lb. pumpkin.

13. The first known mention of trick-or-treating in print in North America occurred in 1927 in Blackie, Alberta, Canada.

14. During the pre-Halloween celebration of Samhain, bonfires were lit to ensure the sun would return after the long, hard winter. Often Druid priests would throw the bones of cattle into the flames and, hence, "bone fire" became "bonfire."

15. In 2010, 72.2% of those surveyed by the National Retail Federation will hand out candy, 46.3% will carve a pumpkin, 20.8% will visit a haunted house, and 11.5% will dress up their pets.

16. The longest haunted house in the world is "Factory of Terror" in Canton, Ohio.

17. The original name of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's famous book was Count Wampyr.

18. Comedian John Evans once quipped: "What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o'-lantern by its diameter? Pumpkin π."

19. The blockbuster movie Halloween was filmed in just 21 days.

20. The movie Halloween was originally titled Babysitter Murders.

21. The average bag of candy that one child will collect on Halloween contains about 11,000 calories.

That's all for today. I know Halloween was yesterday but I thought I would post a chapter about it anyway.

What do you do on Halloween?

See you in the next chapter!

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii