00:00Arr, matey, t'was a fine time trick-or-treatin' this year.
00:20Yar, and now let's count up the booty.
00:23Tis a king's ransom in chocolate and sugar.
00:30Now pour out your treasury, you salty dog, and let's eat.
00:40Wow.
00:42Dear Tim and Moby, why do we have Halloween?
00:46Sincerely, Michael.
00:49Hey, Michael.
00:49Well, Halloween has kind of a long and interesting history.
00:54It begins more than 2,000 years ago in ancient Britain and Ireland.
01:00Back then, the land belonged to a group of people called the Celts.
01:05November 1st was an important holiday for the Celts.
01:09It marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.
01:13To celebrate, they had a giant festival that began on the night of October 31st.
01:17It was called Samhain.
01:22Yeah, I know. It's spelled differently than how it's pronounced.
01:26When did you become such a stickler?
01:31During Samhain, the Celts would light bonfires and sacrifice crops and livestock to their gods.
01:36They would dress up in animal skins and hides during the festivities.
01:43The Celts believed that the ghosts of the dead, along with fairies, goblins, and other supernatural beings,
01:48roamed the earth during Samhain.
01:52These beings could cause a lot of trouble.
01:56To keep them at bay, people would leave food for them outside their houses.
01:59Well, during the 1st century CE, the Romans conquered Britain.
02:14Over the next few centuries, two Roman holidays became combined with Samhain.
02:19First, there was Feralia, which honored the dead.
02:23And then there was the Feast of Pomona, which honored the goddess of fruit orchards and the harvest.
02:29And then there was the Feast of Pomona, which honored the goddess of fruit orchards and the harvest.
02:30Well, Pomona's symbol was an apple, so some historians believe that the tradition of bobbing for apples began with her festival.
02:38Anyway, in the 4th and 5th century, Christianity reached the British Isles.
02:43The Celts and the other people that lived there all converted,
02:46but in many places, the old holidays were still celebrated.
02:51To get them to stop, the Pope replaced Samhain with Christian holidays.
02:56November 2nd became All Souls Day,
02:59a day to remember the souls of the dead.
03:02November 1st became All Saints Day,
03:04a day honoring Christian martyrs.
03:07And October 31st was All Hallows' Eve,
03:09which was shortened to Halloween.
03:13Well, Hallows is Old English for saints,
03:16and Ean means evening,
03:18so Halloween literally means the evening before All Saints' Day.
03:21The traditions we associate with Halloween gradually evolved over the centuries.
03:28By medieval times, the tradition of leaving food out for the dead had evolved into a ritual called souling.
03:35Beggars would go from door to door at Halloween time.
03:39They would promise to pray for the souls of people's dead relatives.
03:42In return, they'd receive some food.
03:46That's probably how trick-or-treating began.
03:50In Ireland, people began dressing up as ghosts and goblins
03:53in order to blend in with the supernatural creatures that wandered the earth on Halloween.
03:57They also began carving scary faces onto turnips, gourds, and potatoes.
04:04They'd place them in windows or near doors to keep these beings away from their homes.
04:12That's how the tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns got started.
04:14When people from Scotland and Ireland immigrated to America,
04:19they brought their traditions with them.
04:22They caught on, and pretty soon,
04:24kids across the country were making mischief and trick-or-treating on Halloween night.
04:30What do you mean I'm making Halloween boring?
04:35You want it to be more scary, huh?
04:38Alright, how's this?
04:44Happy Halloween, everybody!
04:47Happy Halloween, everybody!
