New Delhi: Halloween, celebrated on Oct. 31, originally started as nothing more than an autumn harvest festival. Today, the holiday is associated with ghosts, costumes and candy.Halloween originated as the ancient Celtic harvest festival of Samhain in Ireland and ancient Britain, when the spirits of the dead were thought to revisit their homes, and all kinds of ghosts, goblins, witches and demons were believed to be roaming about.In the 9th century, the Catholic church grafted the Christian onto the pagan when it named Nov. 1st ‘All Saints' Day' and Oct. 31st became ‘All Hallow's Eve'.It is the time of celebration and superstition.Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.Here are ten little known facts about this spooky season:1.The Halloween Parade in New York city is the largest Halloween Parade in United States. The Parade include 50,000 participants and draws over 2 million spectators.2.According to legend ,if you see a spider on Halloween,it's actually the spirit of a loved one watching over you.3.It is very rare for a full moon to occur on Halloween. Although, it is predicted to occur on 10/31/2020.4.During the Pre-Halloween celebration of Samhain,bonfires were lit to ensure the sun would return after the long ,hard winter.Often druid priests would throw the bones of cattle into the flames.5. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas. Halloween is a $6 billion industry.6. A Halloween Cake was baked with a thimble inside. Whoever got the thimble in their slice was to be unfortunate in love for the next year.8.Over 35 million Halloween cards are given every year ,producing close to a gross of $100 million.9. Haunted house attractions bring in about half a million dollars annually. 10.Today in North America around $ 3 billion is spent every year on Halloween costumes every year.
Updated on: September 28, 2013 7:02 IST
