Below are the top 5 Fab Facts heard on Episode 18 of Newsy Pooloozi!
In this spooky special episode we told the story of autumn festivals all over the world – from the far east of Asia where they set a place at the table for their Hungry Ghosts, to the Pagans in Europe who lit a fire and wore masks for their harvest festival and how that changed to All Saints Night, or we should say, All Hallows Eve, to be become, you guessed it, Halloween! We’ll also find out where trick-or-treating came from and why Mexico’s Day of the Dead isn’t as scary as it sounds. That’s not all… We also recounted the mystery of the killer whales attacking boats off the coast of Spain and how the Japanese get their ghostly thrills in a socially distanced way.
And the top fab facts that came out of all that were:
FAB FACT NUMBER 1: In the east of Asia people who follow the Buddhist or Taoist faith have three holidays dedicated to their dead ancestors, including the Hungry Ghost Festival when the dead are believed to come visit the living.
FAB FACT NUMBER 2: Halloween is a mixture of the Celtic harvest festival called Samhain (sow-in) and the Christian All Saints and All Souls Day.
FAB FACT NUMBER 3: The Middle English way of saying All Saints was Alholowmesse/All-hallowmas, which became All-hallows for short. Parties were celebrated the night, or eve, before, so it became All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually, in the United States, became Halloween!
FAB FACT NUMBER 4: Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival dates back to two thousand years to the native Nahua people, including the Aztecs, who considered the dead to still be members of the community, who would visit the living one night of the year.
FAB FACT NUMBER 5: Orca whales belong to the dolphin family. They have strong teeth and are known to be some of the world’s most powerful predators – hence the nickname, “killer whales.”