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Today we’re treating you to some of the more interesting and coincidental events to occur on this day in history. While you all know today is Halloween, you may not know that on this date…
-Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation, nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Palace church in 1517.
-John Keats, who later wrote a sonnet titled “Written in Disgust of Vulgar Superstition,” was baptized in 1795.
-Nevada, a state now known for the revelry and costumes of Las Vegas, became the 36th state in 1864. (===>)
-Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” was published in 1892.
-In 1912, Oliver Martin Johnson, Jr. was born. As one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” Johnson worked on films such as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” “Robin Hood,” and “The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh,” all of which have inspired hundreds of Halloween costumes around the world. (===>)
-The master of magic, Harry Houdini died of peritonitis in 1926.
-In 1933, many cities in America suffered great destruction at the hands of mischief-making adolescent boys. The day became known as “Black Hallowe’en,” and many cities formed committees to prevent such destruction from happening again.
-Orson Welles, in 1938, expressed “deep regret” for the confusion caused by his presentation of “War of the Worlds” on the previous day. He was also bewildered, though, that people actually believed the alien invasion was real.
-Chicago once attempted to abolish Halloween, with the City Council voting unanimously for October 31, 1942, to be declared “Conservation Day.” (Nobody declared you should dress up as Woodsy the Conservation Owl. But it’s an option. ===>)
-Canadian comedian and actor John Candy was born in 1950.
-In 1964, Helen Pfeil distributed ant poison, steel-wool pads, and dog biscuits as Halloween “treats” to older children in New York. Her case is the first recorded incident of Halloween candy tampering.
-Ronald O’Bryan poisoned his child’s Halloween candy in 1974. He was indicted for his 8-year-old son’s murder, as well as for the attempted murder of his 5-year-old daughter and three other children. Supposedly, he did it for the $38,000 insurance on his children.
-Marijuana-stuffed Snickers bars were accidentally handed out to children in Hercules, Calif., in 2000. The candy had landed in the dead-mail office and was handed out by an employee, who was unaware that the candy was an attempt to mail marijuana to San Francisco.
Previously on mental_floss:
• Don’t miss your chance to win a Gummi Bear-inspired light!
• What’s your Halloween Giveaway Strategy?
• Ten Epic Costumes
• Gruesome Party Food
• DIY Decorations.
Comments (9)
Comment
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the war of the worlds was the scariest thing to ever happen to me, ever.
andrea, your posts complete me.
posted by Maxwell on 10-31-2007 at 3:45 pm
Jeewizz how much marijuana could you possibly fit into a snickers bar?
and I thought drug dealers were all brain dead.
Haha go to Chicago and see a bunch of kids dressed up as owls.
posted by Victor on 10-31-2007 at 4:22 pm
The marijuana fact is hilarious! I wish I had gotten one! Now thats a real Halloween treat ;)
posted by ummul on 10-31-2007 at 5:16 pm
A side note about Nevada’s statehood for all of you fact-loving Mental Flossers.
Nevada was granted statehood during the Civil War because Lincoln thought the election would be close and the electoral votes would be necessary for him to secure a second term as President. In order to become a state, however, the Nevada State Constitution had to be in Congress for the statehood vote. Without enough time to send it by rail prior to the election, the entire thing was sent by telegraph.
It is because the state was born during the Civil War that the state flag bears the words “Battle Born”.
posted by Julie on 10-31-2007 at 5:59 pm
Julie: Fascinating! Other than the year, I didn’t know anything about Nevada’s statehood. Thanks for sharing!
posted by Andréa on 10-31-2007 at 6:22 pm
I always wondered how the tradition started of handing out candy on Halloween… Now I know it is done in honor of John Candy. Thanks for making us so smart, Andréa! Happy Halloween to all!
posted by Therese on 10-31-2007 at 7:02 pm
Death Valley National Monument in California was officialy redesignated a National Park on Halloween 1994.
posted by Cheryl on 10-31-2007 at 8:14 pm
Julie,
As a resident of Nevada I became fascinated by its history.
A few other tidbits:
Although Lincoln wanted the electoral votes, he also wanted to make sure that the incredible wealth of the Comstock Lode didn’t come under Confederate control, which was altogether possible, considering there was a strong Confederate sympathy among residents and territorial lawmakers.
Nevada was originally part of the Utah territory before statehood, but when the Mormons were called home to protect the homeland when it looked like the US was going to invade, they abandoned their holdings there and returned to Salt Lake City. Las Vegas was originally a Mormon trading site – only clean water for a hundred miles (Las Vegas means “the meadows”).
When Nevada was admitted to the Union it didn’t have a large enough population to qualify as a state, This was waived (again, because of the silver mines). And in the late 19th century there was a move to rescind statehood because the population had dropped even further as the mines ran out and people moved elsewhere.
Fascinating place. Loved living there. Spent 3 years in Las Vegas and about 8 in Reno. Miss it terribly and intend to move back someday.
posted by Doc on 11-1-2007 at 8:02 am
Yeah I remember when they handed out the mary jane stuffed snickers. I lived in Hercules (at the time and I was 12) and my mom refused to let us go trick or treating that year. But one of my friends saved me some of their candy and I ate one of the weed snickers. I got very sick for 3 days because of that
posted by Jade R. on 11-16-2007 at 2:38 am