October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.

October begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Libra and ends in the sign of Scorpio. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Virgo and ends in the constellation of Libra.

The name is from the Latin "octo" for "eight". October was the eighth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period (summer in the southern hemisphere) was divided between January and February.

In the old Japanese calendar, the month is called Kan'na dzuki (神無月).

Events in October

• Halloween
• Thanksgiving in Canada on the second Monday of the month.
• National Coming Out Day
• Columbus Day
• Samhain (an approximate date)
• The last Monday in October is one of the public holidays in the Republic of Ireland and in the Irish Calendar the month is called Deireadh Fómhair (literally "End of Autumn") and is the third and last month of the Autumn season.
• In the pagan wheel of the year October ends at or near to Samhain in the northern hemisphere and Bealtaine in the southern hemisphere.
• October 28: National celebration of "NO" held in Greece commemorating the single-word reply of Ioannis Metaxas to the Italian fascist forces (1940) who demanded occupation rights to strategic Greek sites.

Trivia

• October begins on the same day of the week as January in common years, but no other month begins on the same day of the week as October in leap years.
• It's the only of the four months that ends in -ber, but not preceded by an m. However usually kids mispell it for 'Octomber'.
• October is also the name of an album by U2 .
• The signs of the zodiac within the month of October are Libra and Scorpio.

Other names

• In Finnish, October is called lokakuu, meaning "month of dirt".

See also

• Historical anniversaries