Every year on October 31, millions of people around the world celebrate Halloween. In North America, children dress up in costumes to play pranks and ask their neighbors for candy – a tradition known as "trick-or-treating." People in Mexico, Italy, and other countries visit the graves of family members, often saying prayers or leaving flowers.
Most historians think that Halloween started in Europe about 2,000 years ago. The Celts, who lived in and around Ireland, celebrated "Samhain" every year, which means 'the end of summer.'
The Celts believed that the dead came back to life on the last night of October, so they would light bonfires and wear costumes to protect themselves. They also offered gifts of food to the dead and the poor.
On Samhain, young Celtic women would secretly mark apples before dropping them into a tub of water. Men would then grab the apples with their mouths to find out whom they would marry. This game, known as "bobbing for apples," is still played at Halloween parties in many countries. Although, it's no longer used for matchmaking.
By the ninth century, Christianity had reached the Celts. The Catholic church already celebrated dead saints on "All Saints' Day" – also known as "All Hallows' Day" – on November 1st. So they combined Samhain with that holiday, calling it "All Hallows' Eve." The name was eventually shortened to "Halloween."
Soon, people in Ireland and the UK started their own Halloween traditions. The most common was "mumming and souling." Poor families would visit their wealthier neighbors wearing costumes ("mumming") to entertain them, or offer to pray for their dead relatives ("souling"), in exchange for treats.
Another tradition involved carving scary faces into vegetables and placing them in windows or doors to scare away evil spirits. The Irish brought this practice to the US, where it's still very popular. Most Americans don't believe in evil spirits, but according to the US Department of Agriculture, about 148 million of them will carve a pumpkin this Halloween.
