Strangely enough, Halloween is more likely to fall on Monday, Wednesday or Saturday than the other days of the week. For many people, Halloween marks the end of fall and the beginning of the holiday season. October 31 is not only the day we take our children out for candy and treats. Nevadans celebrate admission to statehood on the day. Piper Perabo, Vanilla Ice and Jane Pauley are just three of the famous people who celebrate their birthday on October 31. Here are some of the other holidays you can celebrate if you’re not into dressing up in a costume and ringing doorbells for chocolate.
- Samhain is the Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Cattle would be brought down from the summer pastures for the winter. In older times, livestock would be slaughtered and preserved for the upcoming months. Bonfires were lit, and offerings of food and drink were left for the gods and spirits. In some ways, Samhain is almost a precursor for Halloween, as people would go door to door in costumes as part of the festivities.
- Reformation Day is celebrated by many Protestant churches as a remembrance of the Reformation or the schism from the Roman Catholic Church begun by Martin Luther and John Calvin in the sixteenth century. Some churches actually celebrate the day on the closest Sunday to October 31, but it’s an important day in the history of Christianity. Many Christian churches celebrate the feast of Martin Luther on the day.
- World Savings Day was initiated in 1924 by the 1st International Savings Bank Congress held in Milan, Italy. Although it has been overshadowed by Halloween, many banks still try to focus on opening savings accounts in developing countries where many people do not have bank accounts. It was started to help regain confidence in the banks that had failed in 1923 in Europe.
- Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico as a remembrance of family and friends who have died. The day is often associated with All Saints Day, which is celebrated by the Catholic Church, but Day of the Dead has roots in an Aztec festival. It’s almost a national holiday in Mexico. People go to the cemeteries and take gifts for the deceased. It’s a huge celebration that shouldn’t be ignored.
- Hop-tu-Naa is celebrated on the Isle of Man, a small Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea. The festival is the Celtic New Year. Children carry turnip lanterns and go from house to house to get sweets or money. People attempt to predict the new year and tell fortunes for the upcoming seasons. It sounds very similar to Samhain.
- In Cornwall, the festival is called Allantide. Large Allan apples are given to family and friends as a token of good luck. The origins of Allantide are in the celebrations of Halloween and Samhain, and there may be some relationship to Christian festivals.
Other Events on October 31
In 1926, Harry Houdini, famous magician, died of an infection that developed following the rupture of his appendix. Mount Rushmore was completed in 1941 on Halloween. It took 14 years of work. The tragedy of Western Airlines Flight 2605 happened on October 31 in Mexico City, when the plane crashed. Seventy-three people died. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. Four more flights crashed on Halloween, one in Indiana in 1994 killing 68 people. Another occurred in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and killed 99 passengers and crew members. EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed, killing 217 people. A plane taking off in Taipei in 2000 crashed and killed 83. In 2015, a flight was bombed when it flew over the Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board were killed. It would seem that Halloween is not the day to fly.