Today is...
Halloween!

Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve, can be traced back to an ancient Celtic pagan festival called “Samhain,” which was celebrated over 2,000 years ago. The Celtic calendar began on November 1, and the Celts believed that as the old year faded and the new year emerged, the boundaries between the living and the dead became unstable. On the night of October 31, the spirits of the deceased could walk the earth and provoke sickness or damage crops. To combat these evil spirits and ward off wandering ghosts, the Celts built huge bonfires, left bowls of food outside their homes, and wore costumes and masks.
Although there are still plenty of ghosts and ghouls, Halloween has evolved into a secular, family-friendly event. One quarter of all the candy sold in the United States is purchased for Halloween, and over 40 million children trick-or-treat in their neighborhood each year. Want a quick and easy way to celebrate? Send free eCards for Halloween to all your family and friends! Happy Halloween!

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Today is also National Caramel Apple Day

October is Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month & National Breast Cancer Awareness Month & National Chili Month & National Dessert Month & National Pasta Month & National Roller Skating Month

This week is International Magic Week

images and text courtesy of MyPunchbowl.com" -- http://www.mypunchbowl.com/

History for October 31 1868 - Postmaster General Alexander Williams Randall approved a standard uniform for postal carriers. 1922 - Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy. 1940 - The British air victory in the Battle of Britain prevented Germany from invading Britain. 1941 - 14 years of work was completed on Mount Rushmore. At the time the 60-foot busts of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were finished. 1952 - The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb. 1968 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. ______________________________________________________ "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the triumph of great achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." --Theodore Roosevelt