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More chocolate is bought on Valentines day than on Halloween.
Trick or treating is actually derived from an Irish custom, in the AD 900's Irish nobles would give food to the peasantry (treat). The idea behind it was that ghosts would see this act of kindness and generosity and not cause mischief in the nobles manor (trick). The costumes however come from about 1,000 years later when people known as "guisers" would dress up in fearsome costumes and travle from house to house making a comotion on Halloween night (then known as All Hallow's Eve) with the intention of scaring away ghosts; wether or not it works is debatable. In the 20th century the two traditions were combined now it is a way to keep your kids from misbehaving.
October 30 is National Candy Corn Day in the US.
The average american household buys $44 of candy for Halloween.
The first Jack-o-Lanterns were made of turnips; they were to scare away ghosts and demons; most specifically Jack o' the Shadows (death), where they get their name from.
"Samhainophobia" is the morbid fear of Halloween.
82% of children take part in Halloween festivities, as do 67% of adults.
Halloween is the biggest holiday of the year when it comes to candy sales—estimated at $1.93 billion. One quarter of all the candy sold each year is purchased between September 15 and November 10.
Halloween costume sales are estimated at $1.5 billion.
Daylight Saving time: In the 1780's Benjamim Franklin suggested daylight saving time so that farmers would have more time to work in their fields. But it wasn't until 1907 that the idea was seriously considered when an English Citizen named William Willet (here on known as WW) proposed it to Parliment, but it was not excepted until 1916. In 1918 the United States also excepted daylight saving time as an official policy; but only for a few years, then it was basically forgotten. It was once again declared a law in the 1940's during World War II. One major problem with daylight saving time was States could choose their own day for it, so, until 1966, daylight saving time was different all over the country. In 1966 Congress passed a law that it must all be the same, but it was not until 1986 (a whopping 20 years later) that the federal government actually set a standard
for the first Saturday of April and the last Saturday of October. Thats it thats all on that.
Only ten countries around the world practice daylight saving time and in the U.S. three states do not practice daylight saving time; they are Hawaii, Indian, and Arizona.
The purpose of daylight saving time is actually to conserve energy.
Christmas became a national holiday in the US in 1890.
Easter is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after March 21.
99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns.
Donner's original was Donder.
Bing Cosby's: White Christmas is the highest selling holiday related song EVER.
Since 1991 more fake Christmas trees are sold than real ones every year.
The first Whitehouse Christmas tree was decorated by President Franklin Pierce in 1856.
The first printed reference to Christmas trees was made in Germany in 1531.
In 1818 Austrian Priest Joseph Mohr found his church organ would not be working in time for Christmas, so he wrote a carol that didn’t need an organ accompaniment. That was Stille Nacht (Silent Night)
The official date of Christmas was set by Pope Julius in the 4th century.
Kissing under the mistletoe was started by the Romans as a symbol of peace.
Every year 34-36 million Christmas trees are produced.
Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas carols between 1649 and 1660.
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