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October facts for kids

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2024 Calendar
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Maple leaf in fall
Maple leaf in October (Northern hemisphere).

October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC, October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ôctō meaning "eight") after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. In Ancient Rome, one of three Mundus patet would take place on October 5, Meditrinalia October 11, Augustalia on October 12, October Horse on October 15, and Armilustrium on October 19. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. Among the Anglo-Saxons, it was known as Winterfylleth (Ƿinterfylleþ), because at this full moon, winter was supposed to begin.

October is commonly associated with the season of spring in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, and autumn in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.

Symbols

Calendula January 2008-1 filtered
The calendula
Opal Armband 800pix
An opal armband. Opal is the birthstone for October.
Tourmaline cut
Cut tourmaline

October's birthstones are the tourmaline and opal. Its birth flower is the calendula. The zodiac signs are Libra (until October 22) and Scorpio (from October 23 onward).

Observances

This list does not necessarily imply either official status or general observance.

Beata Vergine Maria, Madonna del Rosario
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, whose devotion and Feast are celebrated in October

Non-Gregorian: 2024 dates

(All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.)

  • List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar
  • List of observances set by the Chinese calendar
  • List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar
  • List of observances set by the Islamic calendar
  • List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar

Month-long

United States

The last two to three weeks in October (and, occasionally, the first week of November) are normally the only time of the year during which all of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the U.S. and Canada schedule games; the National Basketball Association begins its preseason and about two weeks later starts the regular season, the National Hockey League is about one month into its regular season, the National Football League is about halfway through its regular season, and Major League Baseball is in its postseason with the League Championship Series and World Series. To date there have been 30 occasions in which all four leagues played games on the same day (an occurrence popularly termed a sports equinox), with the most recent of these having taken place on October 30, 2023. Additionally, the Canadian Football League is typically nearing the end of its regular season during this period, while Major League Soccer is beginning the MLS Cup Playoffs.

  • American Archives Month
  • National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month
  • National Arts & Humanities Month
  • National Bullying Prevention Month
  • National Cyber Security Awareness Month
  • National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
  • Filipino American History Month
  • Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month
  • Polish American Heritage Month
  • National Work and Family Month
United States, health-related
  • American Pharmacist Month
  • Celebrating All of October Dwarfism/Little People/Short Stature/Skeletal Dysplasia Awareness
  • Dwarfism/Little People Awareness Month
  • Eczema Awareness Month
  • National Dental Hygiene Month
  • National Healthy Lung Month
  • National Infertility Awareness Month
  • Liver Awareness Month
  • National Lupus Erythematosus Awareness Month
  • National Physical Therapy Month
  • National Spina Bifida Awareness Month
  • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month (United States)
United States, culinary
  • National Pizza Month
  • National Popcorn Poppin' Month
  • National Pork Month
  • National Seafood Month

Movable dates

  • Oktoberfest celebrations (varies globally based on area)
  • Astronomy Day: October 1
  • World Cerebral Palsy Day: October 6
  • World College Radio Day: October 7
  • Earth Science Week: October 9–15
  • See also Movable Western Christian observances
  • See also Movable Eastern Christian observances

First Sunday

First Monday

First Tuesday

First Wednesday

First Thursday

  • National Poetry Day (UK, Ireland)

First Friday

First full week

Second Sunday

Second Monday

Second Tuesday

  • Ada Lovelace Day

Second Wednesday

  • Policy Statement of Belgian Parliament (Belgium)

Wednesday of second full week in October

Second Thursday

  • World Sight Day

Second Friday

Second Saturday

Week of October 10

Second Week of October

Third Sunday

Third Monday

Third Thursday

  • International Credit Union Day

Third Saturday

Fourth Monday

Fourth Wednesday

Fourth Friday

  • Global Champagne Day

Fourth Saturday

Week of Fourth Wednesday

Last Monday

Last Friday

Last Sunday

Fixed

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry octobre
October, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Halloween Derry 2005
A shop in Derry decorated for Halloween
Pumpkins-2009
Halloween pumpkins
  • October 1
  • October 2
    • Batik Day (Indonesia)
    • Feast of the Guardian Angels
      • National Grandparents Day (Italy)
    • Gandhi's birthday-related observances:
      • Gandhi Jayanti (India)
      • International Day of Non-Violence
      • World Day for Farmed Animals
    • Independence Day (Guinea)
  • October 3
  • October 4
    • Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi
    • Cinnamon Roll Day (Sweden)
    • Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique)
    • Independence Day (Lesotho)
    • World Animal Day
    • The beginning of World Space Week (October 4–10)
  • October 5
  • October 6
  • October 7
  • October 8
  • October 9
    • Hangul Day (South Korea)
    • Independence Day (Uganda)
    • Independence of Guayaquil (Ecuador)
    • Leif Erikson Day (United States, Iceland and Norway)
    • National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust (Romania)
    • Takayama Autumn Festival (Takayama, Japan)
    • World Post Day
    • Valencian Community Day (Spain)
  • October 10
    • Arbor Day (Poland)
    • Capital Liberation Day (Vietnam)
    • Double Ten Day (Taiwan)
    • Fiji Day (Fiji)
    • Finnish Literature Day (Finland)
    • Independence Day (Cuba)
    • Party Foundation Day (North Korea)
    • World Mental Health Day
  • October 11
    • General Pulaski Memorial Day (United States)
    • International Day of the Girl Child
    • International Newspaper Carrier Day
    • National Coming Out Day (multinational, including United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland among others)
    • Old Michaelmas Day (Celtic)
    • Revolution Day (Republic of Macedonia)
  • October 12
    • Children's Day (Brazil)
    • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8):
      • Columbus Day (United States, Honduras)
      • Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España, also Armed Forces Day (Spain)
      • Día de la Raza (El Salvador, Uruguay)
      • Día de la Resistencia Indígena, "Day of Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela)
      • Día de las Américas (Belize)
      • Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)
      • Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural, "Day of respect for cultural diversity" (Argentina)
    • Discovery Day (The Bahamas, Colombia)
    • Feast for Life of Aleister Crowley, celebrated as "Crowleymas" (Thelema)
    • Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)
    • Freethought Day
    • Independence Day (Equatorial Guinea), celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968.
    • UN Spanish Language Day (United Nations)
  • October 13
    • Azerbaijani Railway Day (Azerbaijan)
    • Doi taikomatsuri October 13–15 (Shikokuchūō, Ehime, Japan)
    • International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
    • National Police Day (Thailand)
    • Paramedics' Day (Poland)
    • Rwagasore Day (Burundi)
  • October 14
    • World Standards Day
  • October 15
    • Breast Health Day (Europe)
    • Evacuation Day (Tunisia)
    • Global Handwashing Day
    • King Father's Commemoration Day (Cambodia)
    • National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
    • Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (United States and Canada)
    • Spirit Day (International observance)
    • Teachers' Day (Brazil)
    • White Cane Safety Day (United States)
  • October 16
    • World Food Day
    • Pope John Paul II Day (Poland)
    • World Anaesthesia Day
  • October 17
    • Dessalines Day (Haiti)
    • International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
    • Loyalty Day (Argentina)
  • October 18
    • Alaska Day (Alaska, United States)
    • Day of Restoration of Independence (Azerbaijan)
    • Necktie Day (Croatia)
    • Persons Day (Canada)
    • World Menopause Day
  • October 19
  • October 20
    • Arbor Day (Czech Republic)
    • Heroes' Day (Kenya)
    • Revolution Day (Guatemala)
    • Vietnamese Women's Day (Vietnam)
    • World Osteoporosis Day
    • World Statistics Day
  • October 21
    • Apple Day (United Kingdom)
    • Armed Forces Day (Honduras)
    • Egyptian Naval Day (Egypt)
    • Indian Police Commemoration Day (India)
    • International Day of the Nacho
    • National Nurses' Day (Thailand)
    • Ndadaye Day (Burundi)
    • Overseas Chinese Day (Taiwan)
    • Trafalgar Day (the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th century)
  • October 22
  • October 23
    • Aviator's Day (Brazil)
    • Chulalongkorn Day (Thailand)
    • Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle (Republic of Macedonia)
    • Liberation Day (Libya)
    • Mole Day (International observance)
    • National Day (Hungary)
    • Paris Peace Agreement Day (Cambodia)
  • October 24
    • Azad Kashmir Day (Pakistan)
    • Day of Special Forces of the Armed Forces (Russia)
    • Food Day (United States)
    • Independence Day (Zambia)
    • Suez Day (Egypt)
    • United Nations Day (International observance)
    • World Development Information Day
    • World Polio Day
  • October 25
  • October 26
    • Accession Day (Jammu and Kashmir)
    • Angam Day (Nauru)
    • Armed Forces Day (Benin)
    • National Day (Austria)
  • October 27
    • Black Cat Appreciation Day (United Kingdom)
    • Černová Tragedy Day (Slovakia)
    • Flag Day (Greece)
    • Independence Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
    • Navy Day (United States) (unofficial, official date is October 13)
    • World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
  • October 28
    • Day of the Establishment of an Independent Czecho-Slovak State (Czech Republic and Slovakia)
    • International Animation Day
    • Ohi Day (Greece, Cyprus)
    • Prefectural Earthquake Disaster Prevention Day (Gifu Prefecture, Japan)
    • Youth Pledge Day (Indonesia)
  • October 29
    • Coronation Day (Cambodia)
    • Cyrus the Great Day (Iran)
    • National Cat Day (United States)
    • Republic Day (Turkey)
    • World Stroke Day
  • October 30
    • Anniversary of the Declaration of the Slovak Nation (Slovakia)
    • Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions (former Soviet republics, except Ukraine)
    • Indonesian Banknote Day (Indonesia)
    • International Orthopaedic Nurses Day
    • Mischief Night (United States and Canada)
      • Beggars Night (certain regions of the United States)
      • Devil's Night (Michigan, United States)
    • Thevar Jayanthi (Thevar community, India)
  • October 31

Miscellaneous

  • Eric Whitacre composed a piece based on this month, titled October.
  • Neil Gaiman wrote a story personifying the month, titled "October in the Chair", for his 2006 collection Fragile Things.
  • Ray Bradbury published a collection of short stories titled The October Country in 1955.
  • The song October doth before us go celebrates the progression of spring (from the perspective of the Southern Hemisphere).

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Octubre para niños

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October Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.