20 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About The Spooky Night Of Halloween

Somewhere between the going of fall and the coming of winter, Halloween is the night of plenty and paucity, life and death, celebration and superstition. It is said to have originated from the Celtic festival of Samhain, where people would light bonfires to ward off evil spirits.
Surprise! The festival has more to it than tricks and treats and dressing up scary.

Here are 20 things you probably didn't know about the spooky festival of Halloween!

1. The word Halloween comes from Hallows eve

Which was the evening before All Hallows’ (sanctified or holy) Day or Hallowmas on November 1.

Source: tumblr.com

2. Thousands of people suffer from Samhainophobia even today

Samhainophobia is the irrational fear of Halloween. Despite conscious understanding of the individual and reassurance from others, the phobic individual is spooked out on Halloween.

Source: wadesthoughts.com

3. The first Jack-o-lanterns were actually turnips

Yeah, they look spookier too. Pumpkins only came later.

Source :marthastewart.com

4. The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.”

In fact it is believed that the wiccians were highly respected people at one time.

Source: franceslivings.com

5. Jack-o-Lanterns were named after stingy man Jack

According to legend, Jack tricked the devil several times and was not allowed to enter hell, or heaven. So he passed his time waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths.

Source: jackolanternlouisville.com

6. The largest pumpkin ever was weighed in at 1,872 pounds

It was  Norm Craven, who broke the world record in 1993.

Source: worldrecordacademy.com

7. It's illegal in Alabama to dress up as a priest!

That's a funny custom.

Source: partycity.com

8. Trick-or-treating was actually meant to pacify roaming spirits

It evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food to placate spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain, on the last day of the Samhain calendar.

Source: huffingtonpost.co.uk

9. Ireland is the birthplace of Halloween

Not just famous for its whiskey and coffee, but also for being spooky!

Source: Wikipedia

10. Orange and black are the colours of the night

Orange is the colour of strength and endurance, and also symbolises harvest of autumn, and black is symbolic of evil and death. Two things that Halloween stands for.

Source: media.ireland.com

11. Halloween is the second highest commercial holiday after Christmas in America

It’s estimated that total Halloween spending could reached $8 billion in 2015!

Source: tumblr.com

12. According to tradition, if you see a spider on Halloween, a loved one is watching over you.

Girls also  believed they would see their boyfriend’s faces if they looked into mirrors while walking downstairs at midnight on Halloween.

Source: wallfon.com

13. Your ghost costume isn't authentic till you poop in it!

Disgusting as it sounds, according to custom, it is believed that ghosts wear the same clothes they die in, and an involuntary effect of death is defecation.

Source: Tokyofashion.com

14. It's very rare for Halloween to be a full moon night

Although it is predicted that 2020 will be such a year.

Source: pinterest.com

15. Magician Harry Houdini died on Halloween

One of the most famously mysterious magicians to have ever lived, strangely died on the spookiest day of the year.

Source: fineartamerica.com

16. Halloween was influenced by the Romans

The agricultural influence of Halloween comes from the ancient Roman festival Pomona, which celebrated the harvest goddess of the same name.

Source: imgarcade.com

17. Some animal shelters won't allow the adoption of black cats around Halloween

Animal protections fear that they will either be cursed or sacrificed!

Source: tumblr.com

18. Halloween is the sweetest holiday

Over 20 million Pounds of candy corn is sold each year! Add the hard candies, chocolates gums to it and so many sweets are sold for no other holiday!

Source: proteinlifestyle.co.uk

19. Snickers are the favourite Halloween candy

Followed by Reese's and M&M's

Source: tumblr.com

20. Halloween has been celebrated for over 6000 years

It is thought to have originated around 4000 BC!

Source: funmozar.com

Don't be scared, grab yourself a treat. Happy Halloween!

11 Interesting Things That Are Happening In Indian Colleges These Days

Gone are the days when ‘Majnu ka tilla’ or ‘Sharmaji ke samose’ were the only talk-worthy points of a college. Instead of dancing around trees and sending love notes, college kids these days are instead doing ‘Cool shit’.

Here’s a selection of interesting stuff happening in Indian colleges these days: (Smriti Irani, we hope you take note).

1. ACYUT - BITS Pilani

The student community of BITS Pilani not only created India’s first humanoid but also earned laurels for India at International RoboGames 2009.

Might we add, the yellow stress ball seems like a cute spin-off of Wall-E.

2. IIT Kanpur’s own airstrip for aeronautical engineering students

What do you do when you do not have an airport in the vicinity for your aeronautical engineering students to use? You build one, of course.

The airstrip now also helps companies visit the town for recruitment. Some of the company professionals who have used this route to visit campus are known to have uttered the words, ‘The name’s Bond. James Bond’ after disembarking and putting on stylish shades.

3. MICAVAANI - MICA

The students of MICA got fed up of the local radio and took it upon themselves to change the radio scene in the idyllic Shela village. 

MICAVAANI was thus born in 2005, a student run radio channel that transmits upto 7 kms from the college.The station caters to 4 villages and has collaborated with UNICEF in the past. We suggest you to give them a try at 90.4 FM if you’re in and around Shela.

4. TANSTAAFL Café - IIM Ahmedabad

The mecca of management studies in India ensures that no opportunity for learning management principles is lost.

The 24 hour café at IIM A is thus aptly named after Nobel  Laureate’s Milton Friedman’s book, ‘There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch’. The name cautions its patrons that spending too much leisurely time at the 24-hour café may come at the cost of poor grades in classes.

5. HR Manager - SRCC Delhi

SRCC is known to conduct a rigorous simulation with industry mentors wherein they demand certain requirements from students and check their tact. The one who’s most convincing wins the contest.

The apprentice with an Indian twist. ;)

6. Abhyudaya, SP Jain Mumbai

A unique mentorship program wherein all first year MBA students are required to mentor underprivileged kids (they call them ‘Sitaras’) from neighboring government schools for an year. It is a mandatory for all first year students to participate as it is a graded 1.5 credit course.

Charity, it seems, now begins at B-school.

7. Solaris, Delhi Technological University

While most of us were still driving around in our petrol/diesel cars, a bunch of students at DCE (now DTU) are said to be credited with creating India’s first indigenous car back in 2007.

The team also developed Solar rickshaw and other car models few years ago. The drivers of the car are known to feel like ‘David Hasselhoff’ from Knight Rider.

8. Bhooklagi, IIM Kozhikode

A student run delivery service that supplies food to the lazy bums on 'Kampus'. The venture is owned by a team of PGP students who handle the entire operations, marketing and finance of the firm.

And as part of tradition, each year the venture is up for auction for juniors to take over and run. The below psychedelic cat is it’s symbol.

9. Merchants of Delhi, FMS

Each year the first year students are divided in teams of 14 and given Rs. 500 per team to maximize in 6 hours. The teams had garnered over Rs. 1 lakh in 6 hours last year with an initial sum of less than 7500 rupees. 11X+ return in 6 hours? Shut up and take my money.

10. Rural Immersion Program, IIM Indore

IIM Indore is the only institute that offers a week long rural immersion program in addition to summer internships. Introduced in 2008, the students go on a week-long trip to MP hinterlands. Students interact with locals and it sensitizes them to how the system works at zilla parishad and panchayat level.

11. Illumina, MDI Gurgaon

Disguised Marketing Research is a very niche area of expertise, something that MDI Gurgaon has pioneered over the last 20 years through its rural and urban initiatives partnering with huge brands like Coca-Cola, Airtel, Flipkart, Mahindra in the past. The club’s alumni are now VPs, senior marketing professionals at various MNCs. It’s not a surprise then that the club is only 2 letters of ‘Illuminati’ ;).

Drop by and see the urban Illumina live on 8th November between 2-8 pm at the MDI, campus.