October

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October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Latin "octo" meaning "eight") when January and February were added. October's birthstone is the opal or tourmaline, and its birth flower is the calendula (pot marigold) or Camellia.

October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. October begins in western tropical astrology with the sun in the sign of Libra and ends in the sign of Scorpio. Astronomically speaking, the sun actually begins in the constellation of Virgo and ends in the constellation of Libra.

October events and holidays

Children's Book Week (England) - First Week of October
National Day (China, People's Republic of) -October 1
Independence Day in the Republic Of Cyprus October 1
Independence Day in Nigeria- October 1
International Day of Non-Violence - October 2
German Unity Day (Germany) - October 3
Proclamation of Portuguese Republic (Portugal) - October 5
Independence day in Croatia - October 8
Thanksgiving (Canada) - Second Monday of October
Health and Sports Day (Japan) - Second Monday of October
Columbus Day (Most of United States) - Second Monday of October
Apple Day - October 21
Remembering the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 - October 23
United Nations Day - October 24
Independence Day in St. Vincent & the Grenadines - October 27
Independence Day in Turkmenistan - October 27
Independence Day in Greece October 28
Halloween - October 31
MLB Baseball World Series - Late October

More events are listed on the individual dates of the calendar on this page.

Month-long observances

Filipino American History Month (in United States)
National Arts & Humanities Month (in United States)
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (in United States)
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (in United States)
National Sexuality Education Month (in United States)
National Energy Month
LGBT Month
National Vegetarian Awareness Month

Cultural celebrations

German American Heritage Day (October 6)
National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15 in United States)
Italian American Heritage Month
Polish American Heritage Month

Health observances

Campaign for Healthier Babies Month
Celiac Sprue Awareness Month
Health Literacy Month
Healthy Lung Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (in United States and Canada)
National Dental Hygiene Month (in United States)
National Down Syndrome Awareness Month (in United States)
National Infertility Awareness Month (in United States)
National Lupus Erythematosus Awareness Month (in United States)
National Orthodontic Health Month (in United States)
National Physical Therapy Month (in United States)
National Spina Bifida Awareness Month (in United States)
National Spinal Health Month (in United States)
Rett Syndrome Awareness Month (in United States)
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month (in United States)
World Blindness Awareness Month

Other names

In Afrikaans, October is called Oktober
In Albanian, October is called Tetor
In Arabic, October is called tashrîn al-awwal in the Middle East and uktûbîr in North-Africa.
In Bulgarian, October is called Октомври
In Chinese, October is called Shíyuè（十月）, meaning the tenth month.
In Croatian, October is called Listopad, meaning leaves list fall pad.
In Czech, October is called říjen. The origin of this name is in the deer's belling in this month.
A traditional Dutch name for October is Wijnmaand ("wine month") because the first wines of the year have ripened.
In Finnish, October is called lokakuu, meaning "month of dirt".
In French, October is called "octobre".
In German, October is called "Oktober".
In Greek, October is called "Octovrios","Οκτώβριος".
In Hungarian, October is called Október.
In Icelandic, October is called október.
In Inuktitut, October is called uktuputi.
In Irish, October is called Deireadh Fómhair, meaning "end of harvest-time".
In Italian, October is called ottobre.
In the old Japanese calendar, the 10th month was called , literally meaning the godless month.
In Korean, it is called "Sib-weol" meaning the tenth month
In Latin, October is called Octubre, or VIIIber (where VIII is the Roman number 8, in Latin "octo"). The name is due to the fact that it was the 8th month in the early Julian calendar beginning in March.
In Lithuanian, October is called Spalis.
In Polish, October is called "Październik".
In Portuguese, October is called "Outubro".
In Romanian, October is called "Octombrie"
In Russian, October is called "Октябрь"
In Scottish Gaelic, October is called an Damhar, meaning "rutting time" (of stags).
In Serbian, October is called oktobar/октобар
In Slovak, October is called október
In Spanish, October is called "octubre".
In Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch and German, October is called Oktober.
In Turkish, October is called Ekim, meaning "sowing" because of the sowing of wheat.
In Welsh, October is called "Hydref", meaning "autumn".

Trivia

The month October has become famous as "Red October", due to the Russian October revolution of 1917, although in the modern Gregorian calendar, the revolution started in November.
In the nineteenth century, the month of October was dedication to devotion to the rosary in Roman Catholic countries.

References

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 13:33:20 PDT (GMT -0700)
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