Fun Halloween Historical Facts

[Bratva Assassin]

A little late but better l8 than never. As some of my fellow GTAF members may know, I’m definitely an enthusiast of history! It was my FAVORITE subject in high school, alongside English.  With that being said, I thought I’d teach you all a little something new! This thread goes out to ALL of you guys, especially ones like SonOfLiberty, JPFL, and ii Criminnaal 49. I understand that this is an international forum so not everyone is from a culture but celebrates Halloween, but hey, a day without learning anything is a day wasted IMO.

 

1.  Nevada was founded on Halloween of 1864.

2. Halloween originates among the Irish, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Eastern Europeans around the 4th century AD.

3. Cats, owls, and ravens have long been believed to protect witches from negative forces.

4. The original jack-o-lanterns were carved from turnips.

5. Pumpkins are closely biologically related to cucumbers, zucchini, and squash.

6. Halloween's original name was All Hallows' Eve.

7. The original Halloween costumes were made of animal skins and heads.

8. Trick or treating originated among peasants coming up to wealthy people's houses in request for gifts, money, and food. The food they got would result in huge feasts and celebrations.

9. The word "bonfire" is derived from the words "bones" and "fire". The ancient and early medieval people from Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and Eastern Europe would burn bones of slaughtered cattle for Halloween ceremonies.

10. If you see a spider on Halloween, it has been believed to be the spirit of a loved one watching over you.

11. The reason why orange and black are Halloween colors is because orange is associated with the Autumn Harvest while black is associated with darkness and death.

12. Halloween was brought to North America by Europeans who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance, and tell fortunes.

13. The ancient Irish, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Eastern Europeans believed that ghosts would roam around at night so they would wear masks in order to avoid being recognized as humans.

14. Imhotep was a real pharaoh from ancient Egypt. He was also a doctor, scientist, and builder. The Mummy movies and 1827 novel were inspired from him.

15. Count Dracula was also a real person from the Middle Ages. He fought for Romania against the Ottoman Empire and was in the Order of the Dragon. He impaled over 2,000 Ottomans. The movies and 1897 novel were both inspired from him.

16. Bobbing for apples dates back as far as ancient Rome in order to honor the Roman goddess Ceres, whom the dwarf planet was named after. Ceres was the goddess of harvesting and her Greek equivalent was Demeter.

17. Boston Custer, the youngest brother of George Armstrong Custer, was born on Halloween of 1848 in a small town of Ohio.

18. Vanilla Ice, Willow Smith, Jim Benton, Rob Schneider, Peter Jackson, and Adam Horovitz (from the Beastie Boys) all have their birthdays on Halloween.

19. Procter and Gamble was founded on Halloween of 1837 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

Happy Halloween!

[NaidRaida]

Halloween always reminds me of carnival, just because of the costumes. With my favourite carnival costumes (cowboy or ninja) I probably wouldn't get a single piece of candy on 31 October. Only frightening costumes allowed, is that correct?

 

I've heard there was an Irish man who was given a candle, and he put it in an hollowed pumpkin, maybe to protect it from wind or something, not sure anymore. I've heard that in the radio yesterday. They explained the origin of this tradition. Couldn't hear it all because of traffic. This tradition is not that popular here in middle europe, so this explanation of the origin was helpful. I didn't knew it was influenced by european culture that much. I like this radio stations where they just give you facts and not the same music every day by day.

Edited November 1, 2019 by NaidRaida

[Tacymist]

I love reading random facts so thanks for sharing. Happy Halloween! 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Tacymist

[Bratva Assassin]

51 minutes ago, Tacymist said:

I love reading random facts so thanks for sharing. Happy Halloween! 

No problem!

[sivispacem]

The term jack-o'-lantern only came to have it's current meaning in the 19th century (1835, Ireland); before then it referred to a literal bloke with a lantern, or was interchangable with will-o'-the-wisp (IE ghost light over peat bogs).

[Bratva Assassin]

1 hour ago, sivispacem said:

The term jack-o'-lantern only came to have it's current meaning in the 19th century (1835, Ireland); before then it referred to a literal bloke with a lantern, or was interchangable with will-o'-the-wisp (IE ghost light over peat bogs).

Wow! Surprisingly, I didn’t know that one until now! Cool fact though.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Outlaw Biker Viking