“October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.”
- by George Cooper, October’s Party
I’ve always looked forward to October because it’s the month we celebrate Halloween. Of course, you need to go through 30 more days till the night of the event itself but it’s worth the wait. Here are a few things I’d like to share about the 10th month:
October comes from the Latin word ‘octo’, which means eight. This might seem a little strange, considering that October is the 10th month in the Gregorian calendar but there’s a reason why.
The mythical Roman king Romulus (one of those two babies suckling a she-wolf in that famous sculpture), made a calendar that had only 10 months. According to the writer Ovid, this must have been so because Romulus only had 10 fingers. The number of days in Romulus’ calendar totaled only 304 days.
The first four months were named after the popular festivals or gods: Martis, Aprilis, Maius, Junius. The rest were so-named because of the sequence of their appearance: Quintilis (5th), Sextilius (6th), September (7th), October (8th), November (9th) and December (10th).
As you can see, October was then the 8th month. It was later bumped off to number 10 when the Romans decided to honor another god (Janus) and another festival (Februarius), finally ending up with the number of months we know today. The calendar still wasn’t perfect – it only had 344 days (the Romans added one more day because they had a superstition about even numbers) – but it was on its way.
It was only in 47 BC when the great Julius Caesar finally fixed the Roman calendar at 365 days a year, plus one year every four years. He got this idea from the Egyptians (he was the lover of their queen, Cleopatra). Julius merely copied the Egyptian’s calendar system (based on the sun) and integrated it into the Roman system (based on the moon).
The calendar was further refined by Emperor Constantine the Great and later by a pope, Gregory XIII.
Other things about October:
Those born in the month of October are Librans and Scorpios. Their birthstone is the opal, a lustrous multi-colored stone. Some, however, prefer the tourmaline, which ranges in color from black to blue, from green to brownish-black. Some tourmalines are red, in which case they are called rubellites. Colorless or white tourmalines are the rarest of these gems.
The birth flower for this month is the Camellia, a tree or shrub belonging to the tea family or the calendula, the most famous species of which is pot marigold, commonly found in gardens.
For beer lovers, October is a month to look forward to because of Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a festival that originated in Germany. Although it began as a feast to celebrate the marriage of the man who would later become Bavaria’s King Louis I, Oktoberfest is now known around the world as a loving tribute to beer and its fans.
For many Catholic school children, October is rosary month. In some schools, kids would be asked to make rosaries and pray one decade (that’s 1 Our Father and 10 Hail Marys) prior to the start of each class.
Henry Ford’s Model T first hit the market on the 1st of October, 1908.
On Oct. 4, 1957, the Iskustvennyi Sputnik Zemli was launched by the Soviets. It was to become the world’s very first artificial satellite.
October is also the month for Breast Cancer Awareness. Go pink! Here’s a link for more information.
