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Halloween History

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.

Boooooo to You!

Shakespeare’s Macbeth-Enter the Witches one of my favorites.

    William Shakespeare (1564-1616)                      from Macbeth
A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.
                Enter the three Witches.
       1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d. 

       2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d. 

       3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time! 

       1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go; 

    In the poison’d entrails throw.— 

    Toad, that under cold stone, 

    Days and nights has thirty-one; 

    Swelter’d venom sleeping got, 

    Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot! 

       ALL. Double, double toil and trouble; 

    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

       2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake, 

    In the caldron boil and bake; 

    Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 

    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, 

    Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, 

    Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,— 

    For a charm of powerful trouble, 

    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

       ALL. Double, double toil and trouble; 

    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

       3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf; 

    Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf 

    Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark; 

    Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark; 

    Liver of blaspheming Jew; 

    Gall of goat, and slips of yew 

    Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse; 

    Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips; 

    Finger of birth-strangled babe 

    Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,— 

    Make the gruel thick and slab: 

    Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron, 

    For the ingrediants of our caldron. 

       ALL. Double, double toil and trouble; 

    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

       2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon’s blood, 

    Then the charm is firm and good.
 
brinded – having obscure dark streaks or flecks on gray 

gulf – the throat 

drab – prostitute 

chaudron – entrails

The above appears at the beginning of Act IV, Scene 1 as found in:

Shakespeare, William. The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare: The Complete Works Annotated. Howard Staunton ed. New York: Gramercy Books, 1993.

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Halloween Safety a MUST!

Love him!!! Childhood Favorite

Republic of Texas – Remember the Alamo! – The Lone Star State.

When I first joined the military I studied at Ft. Sam Houston. And I have been to the Alamo and have seen the 67 foot statue of him. 

Samuel “Sam” Houston (March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American politician and soldier, best known for his role in bringing Texas into the United States as a constituent state. His victory at the Battle of San Jacinto secured the independence of Texas from Mexico in one of the shortest decisive battles in modern history. The only American to be elected governor of two states (as opposed to territories or indirect selection), Houston was also the only governor within a future Confederate state to oppose secession (which led to the outbreak of the American Civil War) and to refuse an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, a decision that led to his removal from office by the Texas secession convention.

As governor, he refused to swear loyalty to the Confederacy when Texas seceded from the Union in 1861 with the outbreak of the American Civil War, and was removed from office. To avoid bloodshed, he refused an offer of a Union army to put down the Confederate rebellion. Instead, he retired to Huntsville, Texas, where he died before the end of the war.

Houston’s name has been honored in numerous ways. He is the namesake of the city of Houston, Texas’s most populous city and the fourth most populous city in the U.S.. Other things named for Sam Houston include: a memorial museum, five U.S. naval vessels named USS Houston (AK-1, CA-30, CL-81, SSBN-609, and SSN-713), a U.S. Army base, a national forest, a historical park, a university, an elementary school in Lebanon, TN (Sam Houston Elementary) and a prominent roadside statue outside of Huntsville.

Sam Houston and the Battle for Texas Independence 

“Remember the Alamo” is a well-known phrase. Do you know what it means?

Sam Houston had already served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor of Tennessee when he moved to Texas in 1832. At the time he arrived, Texas was part of Mexico and the site of rising tensions and violent disturbances between Mexican authorities and Anglo settlers from the United States. Voicing his support for a separate state of Texas, Houston emerged as a leader among the settlers. In 1835, he was chosen commander in chief of the Texas army.

The Alamo was an 18th century Franciscan Mission in San Antonio, Texas, which was the location of an important battle for Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. In 1836, a small group of Texans was defeated by Mexican General Santa Anna.

When Houston received word of the defeat at the Alamo, he was inspired to begin a month-long retreat to regroup and replenish the Texas army’s strength. Remembering how badly the Texans had been defeated at the Alamo, on April 21, 1836, Houston’s army won a quick battle against the Mexican forces at San Jacinto and gained independence for Texas. Soon after, Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas. He continued to serve as senator and governor after Texas became part of the United States in 1845.

Sam Houston died in 1863 in Huntsville, Texas, where a 67-foot-tall memorial statue of him now stands. After a lifetime of service to his country, the event for which he is most well known is his role in the independence of Texas. 

National Mammography Day is observed annually on the third Friday in October as part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

 

This day serves as a reminder to all women that the best defense is early detection. A mammogram can often detect a problem before there is any outward physical sign. Make sure you get your regular checkups.

OBSERVE

Set up a mammogram and use #NationalMammographyDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

President Bill Clinton proclaimed the first National Mammography Day in 1993.
DATES

October 21, 2016

October 20, 2017

October 19, 2018

October 18, 2019

National Chocolate Cup Cake Day

National Chocolate Cupcake Day is observed annually on October 18. With a dollop of frosting, one sweet serving will satisfy chocolate and dessert lovers!
Cupcakes have also been known to be called:

Fairy Cakes,  Patty Cakes and Cup Cakes (different from Cupcakes (one-word)

Cupcakes can be traced back to 1796 when there was a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” written in American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons. The earliest known documentation of the term cupcake was in 1828 in Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook.

Cupcakes were originally baked in heavy pottery cups. Today, some bakers still use individual ramekins, small coffee mugs, large teacups, or other small ovenproof pottery-type dishes for baking their cupcakes.