October

October (Oct.) is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming between September and November. It has 31 days. The name comes from the Latin octo for "eight". It was the eighth month of the year before January and February were added to the beginning of the year.

October begins on the same day of the week as January in common years, but does not begin on the same day of the week as any other month in leap years. October always ends on the same day of the week as February, and additionally, January in common years.

The Month 

October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming after September and before November. It has 31 days. Its name comes from Latin octo, meaning eight, as it was the eighth month of the year in the Old Roman Calendar before January and February were added to the beginning of the year, though its name did not change. The tenth month at the time was December.

October is an Autumn (Fall) month in the Northern Hemisphere and a Spring month in the Southern Hemisphere. In each Hemisphere, it is the seasonal equivalent of April in the other.

October begins on the same day of the week as January in common years, but no other month in leap years begins on the same day of the week as October. October ends on the same day of the week as January in common years and February every year, as each other's last days are 39 weeks (273 days) and 35 weeks (245 days) apart respectively.

In common years, October starts on the same day of the week as May of the previous year, and in leap years, August of the previous year. In common years, October finishes on the same day of the week as May of the previous year, and in leap years, August and November of the previous year.

In years immediately before common years, October starts on the same day of the week as April and July of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years, September and December of the following year. In years immediately before common years, October finishes on the same day of the week as July of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years, April and December of the following year.

October is the month of the Rosary devotion.

October 31/November 1 is Samhain in old Pagan tradition. Several current observances at this time are believed to be related to it. They are: Halloween (October 31) in many western traditions, All Saints Day (November 1), All Souls Day (November 2), and the Day of the Dead (October 31 to November 2), which is celebrated in Mexico.

Holidays

Fixed Observances 

 October 1  National Day of the People's Republic of China
 October 1  Independence Day (Nigeria)
 October 1  National Day (Cyprus)
 October 1  Independence Day (Tuvalu)
 October 1  Independence Day (Palau)
 October 1  International Day of Older Persons
 October 2  Gandhi Jayanthi (India)
 October 2  Guardian Angels Day
 October 2  International Day of Non-Violence, birthday of Mahatma Gandhi
 October 2  Independence Day (Guinea)
 October 3  Unity Day (Germany)
 October 3  Foundation Day (South Korea)
 October 4  Independence Day (Lesotho)
 October 4  World Animal Day
 October 5  Republic Day (Portugal)
 October 5  International World Teachers' Day
 October 6  Armed Forces Day (Egypt)
 October 7  Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
 October 8  Independence Day (Croatia)
 October 9  Leif Erikson Day
 October 9  Independence Day (Uganda)
 October 10  National Day in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
 October 10  Independence Day (Fiji)
 October 11  National Coming Out Day (United States)
 October 12  National Day of Spain
 October 12  Independence Day (Equatorial Guinea)
 October 16  World Food Day
 October 18  Alaska Day
 October 19  Constitution Day (Niue)
 October 21  Apple Day
 October 21  Trafalgar Day (United Kingdom)
 October 23  Remembrance of the Hungarian Revolution (Hungary)
 October 23  Chulalongkorn Day (Thailand)
 October 24  United Nations Day
 October 24  Independence Day (Zambia)
 October 25  Day of the Romanian Army
 October 25  Day of the Basque Country
 October 25  Constitution Day (Lithuania)
 October 25  Republic Day (Kazakhstan)
 October 26  National Day of Austria
 October 27  Independence Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
 October 27  Independence Day (Turkmenistan)
 October 29  Republic Day (Turkey)
 October 31  Nevada Day
 October 31  Protestant Reformation Day
 October 31  Halloween
 October 31/November 1  Samhain (an approximate date)
 October 31 to November 2  Day of the Dead (Mexico)

Moveable Events 
 Jewish New Year, September/October
 Munich Oktoberfest, runs from mid-September until around October 3
 The Summer Paralympics have often taken place in this month.
 The Nobel Prize winners of the year are announced in October
 Northern Hemisphere: Harvest festivals take place around this time.
 Second Monday in October:
 Thanksgiving Day in Canada
 Health and Sports Day in Japan
 Columbus Day in the United States
 Divali (Hinduism), takes place in October or November
 Last Sunday in October: End of Daylight saving time in the EU; clocks are turned back one hour.

Selection of Historical Events 

 October 1, 1890  Yosemite National Park is created by United States Congress.
 October 1, 1946  The Nuremberg Trials of leading Nazis ends.
 October 1, 1949  The People's Republic of China is declared by Mao Zedong.
 October 1, 1960  Nigeria becomes independent.
 October 1, 1961  British and French Cameroon merge.
 October 1, 1978  Tuvalu becomes independent.
 October 1, 1994  Palau becomes independent from a UN Trusteeship, though remains dependent on US aid.
 October 2, 1958  Guinea declares independence.
 October 3, 1932  The Kingdom of Iraq is formed.
 October 3, 1990  Germany is officially re-united.
 October 4, 1957  The Soviet Union launches the Sputnik 1 probe into orbit.
 October 4, 1966  Lesotho becomes independent.
 October 5, 1910  Portugal becomes a Republic.
 October 6, 1860  The Introduction of the so-called Section 377 of the British Indian penal code (Law) was enacted in British India respectively.
 October 6, 1973  The Yom Kippur war begins as Egypt and Syria launch an attack on Israel.
 October 6, 1981  President of Egypt Anwar Sadat is shot dead at a military parade.
 October 6, 1987  Fiji becomes a Republic.
 October 7, 1949  East Germany is founded.
 October 9, 1962  Uganda becomes independent.
 October 10, 1780  The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000 to 30,000 people in the Caribbean.
 October 10, 1928  Chiang Kai-shek becomes leader of the Republic of China.
 October 10, 1970  Fiji becomes independent.
 October 10, 2010  The Netherlands Antilles are split up.
 October 12, 1492  Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean.
 October 12, 1871  The Introduction of the so-called Criminal Tribes Act was an enacted extension in British India respectively.
 October 12, 1968  Equatorial Guinea becomes independent.
 October 12, 1999  The population of the world is said to have officially reached six billion.
 October 13, 2010  Successful rescue of 69 miners trapped underground near Copiapo, Chile.
 October 14, 1066  The Battle of Hastings results in William the Conqueror taking over England.
 October 14, 1964  Martin Luther King, Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
 October 14, 1981  Hosni Mubarak becomes President of Egypt.
 October 14, 1991  Aung San Suu Kyi wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
 October 15, 1917  Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari is executed for espionage in France.
 October 16, 1582  Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
 October 16, 1978  Pope John Paul II becomes Pope, remaining in this position until 2005.
 October 17, 1989  The Loma Prieta earthquake strikes the San Francisco Bay Area.
 October 18, 1867  Alaska officially changes from Russian to US control.
 October 18, 1898  The US takes control of Puerto Rico.
 October 18, 1989  Leader of East Germany Erich Honecker resigns.
 October 20, 1973  Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, is officially opened.
 October 20, 2011  2011 Libyan civil war: Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi is killed.
 October 21, 1805  The naval Battle of Trafalgar ends in British victory, although Admiral Horatio Nelson is killed.
 October 22, 1962  The Cuban Missile Crisis begins.
 October 23, 1956  The Hungarian Uprising begins.
 October 24, 1945  The UN is officially founded.
 October 24, 1964  Zambia becomes independent.
 October 26, 1905  Norway becomes independent from Sweden.
 October 26, 1955  Austria declares 'Permanent Neutrality'.
 October 27, 1962  The Cuban Missile Crisis ends.
 October 27, 1979  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines becomes independent.
 October 27, 1991  Turkmenistan becomes independent from the Soviet Union.
 October 28, 1886  The Statue of Liberty is officially dedicated near New York City, as a gift to the United States from France.
 October 29, 1923  The Republic of Turkey is officially declared by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
 October 29, 1929  The Wall Street crash occurs, starting the Great Depression.
 October 29, 1998  Hurricane Mitch causes much destruction in Central America.
 October 31, 1517  Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther is believed to have nailed his 95 theses to Wittenberg Castle Church in Germany on this date.
 October 31, 1984  Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi is shot dead by two Sikh security guards. Riots against the Sikh population start soon after.
 October 31, 2011  The population of the world is said to have officially reached seven billion on this date.

Trivia 
 October has the 300th day of the year. October 27 in a common year, October 26 in a leap year.
 Because Daylight Saving Time ends in October in some Northern Hemisphere countries, it is sometimes seen as the "longest" month there.
 In a common year, October 31 falls on the same day of the week as February 28 while in a leap year, it falls on the same day of the week as February 29.
 October 1 is the only day in October to start within the third quarter of the calendar year.
 This month is tied with November as the months with the most births of US Presidents as of January 20, 2021: with six - Jimmy Carter (October 1), Rutherford B. Hayes (October 4), Chester A. Arthur (October 5), Dwight D. Eisenhower (October 14), Theodore Roosevelt (October 27) and John Adams (October 30).
 October's flower is the Calendula.
 One of October's birthstones is the opal. The meaning of the opal is hope. The other birthstone of October is the pink tourmaline.
 The astrological signs for October are Libra (September 22 to October 21) and Scorpio (October 22 to November 21).

References

Other websites 
 Octobre in easy French

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