The Great Halloween Unit Study

Halloween Facts

• Halloween is one of the oldest celebrations in the world-pre-dating Christ.
• Halloween in Welsh is 'Nos Calan Gaeaf.'
• Halloween is correctly spelled 'Hallowe'en.'
• When Christianity came to England and the rest of Europe, November 1 became All Saints Day--a day dedicated to all those saints who didn't have a special day of their own. They performed a mass called 'All Hallow Mass' and the night before became known as 'All Hallows E'en,' and eventually Hallowe'en and Halloween.
• When the Romans conquered England, they merged Samhain with their own festivals, a harvest festival called Poloma, and a celebration for the dead called Feralia.
• In Mexico, they celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) starting the evening of October 31.
• Black cats were originally believed to protect witches' powers from negative forces.
• The very first jack-o-lanterns were made out of hollowed-out turnips.
• Ringing bells scare evil spirits away.
• If you see a spider on this night, it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you.
• Growing big pumpkins is a big-time and serious hobby. Top prize money for the biggest giant pumpkin is as much as $25,000 dollars at fall festivals. The current world record for giant pumpkins is 1446 pounds (that's a lot of pumpkin pies!).
• With an estimated $1.93 billion in candy sales, Halloween is the sweetest holiday of the year (beating out Easter, Valentine's Day, and Christmas). In fact, one quarter of all the candy sold each year is purchased between September 15 and November 10. Now that's one of the sweetest Halloween facts around!