Monday, October 4, 2010

OCTOBER 2010 International holidays and observances

              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") after July and August, after Julius and Augustus Caesar respectively, when the calendar was originally created by the Romans.
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 Northern hemisphere and vice versa.
 October Symbols
      • October's birthstone is the opal. The opal is thought to have the power to predict illness. This is because the opal responds to heat. Sickness increases body temperature before signs of illness appear. The increased body heat causes the opal to lose its shine, leaving it dull and lacking color. It is also said that the opal will crack if it is worn by someone who was not born in October.
      • Its birth flower is the calendula. 
      The Zodiac sign for those born in this month is either Libra or Scorpio, depending on which day you were born.



      October International  Observance:
      • First Monday of October - World Habitat Day, recognized by the UN
      Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in modern social and political activism,
      considered these traits to be the most spiritually perilous to humanity.
      • October 2 - International Day of Non-Violence, recognized by the UN, observed on M.K. Gandhi's birthday


         
      • October 4 - World Animal Day
          Palliative Care: Improving Quality of Life for People With Serious Illnesses
        • Second Wednesday of October - International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction, recognized by the UN
        • October 6 - World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
        • October 8 - World Humanitarian Action Day
        • October 9 - World Post Day, recognized by the UN
        • October 14 - World Standards Day
        • October 15 - International Day of Rural Women, recognized by the UN
        • October 15 - Foundation of the Black Panthers Day
        • October 16 - World Food Day, recognized by the UN
        The Poverty of Rights: Human Rights and the Eradication of Poverty (Crop International Studies in Poverty Research) (v. III)
        • October 17 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, recognized by the UN
        • October 24 - World Development Information Day, recognized by the UN 

        October events and holidays
        Halloween, Samhain –   October 31 
        Month-long observances

        Cultural celebrations

        Health observances

         Miscellaneous

        • 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 19th century, the month of October was dedicated to the devotion of the rosary in Roman Catholic countries.
        • Slavs call it "yellow month", from the fading of the leaf; to the Anglo-Saxons it was known as Winterfylleth, because at this full moon (fylleth) winter was supposed to begin
        • Eric Whitacre composed a piece based on this month, titled October.
        • Mental Illness Awareness Week

         

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