TIL: Halloween

Targaryen had some videos to watch said
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Halloween is the repackaged version of a holiday thousands of years old.

Eight quick facts:

  1. Halloween is more Irish than St.Patrick’s Day. A lot of Halloween’s roots are from Ireland, though the holiday maybe up to 6,000 years old.

  2. Jack o’ lanterns were initially made out of turnips, beets and potatoes.

  3. Halloween is second to Christmas in holiday profit.

  4. On the Christian side of the holiday people would travel offering prayers for the dead in exchange for Soul Cakes, they called this “Souling.”

  5. Some other names for Halloween: All Hallows’ Eve, Witches Night, Lamswool, Snap-Apple Night, Nutcrack Night, Samhain, and Summer’s End.

  6. Harry Houdini died on Halloween Night in 1926 after getting appendicitis after getting 3 punches in the stomach. Every year since 1927, a séance has been held in the hopes of making contact with Houdini. Houdini had given a code word to his wife Bess before he died and told her he would use it if he were able to cross over from the other world. Bess participated in the séance for 10 years until finally declaring that he wasn’t coming back. The séance, however, continues today without her.

  7. Both Salem, Massachusetts, and Anoka, Minnesota, are the self-proclaimed Halloween capitals of the world. (Not sure how Ireland feels about that…)

  8. According to legend, if you put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards at Halloween, you’ll see a witch at midnight. (Let us know if you try this!)

If you’re interested in more in depth knowledge here is a 40 minute video about Halloween below.