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") when January and February were added.

October's birthstone is the opal or tourmaline, and its birth flower is the calendula (pot marigold) or Camellia.^{citation needed}

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 Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. October begins in western tropical astrology with the sun in the sign of Libra and ends in the sign of Scorpio. Astronomically speaking, the sun actually begins in the constellation of Virgo and ends in the constellation of Libra.

October starts on the same day of the week as January in common years.

October events and holidays

October, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.

• Children's Book Week (England) - First Week of October
• National Day (China, People's Republic of) -October 1
• Independence Day in the Republic Of Cyprus October 1
• Independence Day in Nigeria- October 1
• International Day of Non-Violence - October 2^[1]
• German Unity Day (Germany) - October 3
• Proclamation of Portuguese Republic (Portugal) - October 5
• International World Teachers' day - October 5
• Independence day in Croatia - October 8
• Thanksgiving (Canada) - Second Monday of October
• Health and Sports Day (Japan) - Second Monday of October
• Columbus Day (Most of United States) - Second Monday of October
• World Food Day - October 16
• Constitution Day in Niue - October 19
• Apple Day - October 21
• Remembering the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 - October 23
• United Nations Day - October 24
• Day of the Romanian Army - October 25
• Independence Day in St. Vincent & the Grenadines - October 27
• Independence Day in Turkmenistan - October 27
• Navy Day (United States) - October 27
• Independence Day in Greece October 28
• Republic Day in Turkey October 29
• Halloween - October 31

More events are listed on the individual dates of the calendar on this page.

Month-long observances

• Filipino American History Month (in United States)
• National Arts & Humanities Month (in United States)

Cultural celebrations

• German American Heritage Day (October 6)
• National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15 in United States)
• Italian American Heritage Month
• Polish American Heritage Month^[2]

Health observances

• Celiac Sprue Awareness Month^[3]
• Health Literacy Month [5]
• Healthy Lung Month^[4]
• National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (in United States and Canada)^[5]
• National Dental Hygiene Month (in United States)^[6]
• National Down Syndrome Awareness Month (in United States)^[7]
• National Infertility Awareness Month (in United States)^[8]
• National Lupus Erythematosus Awareness Month (in United States)^[9]
• National Orthodontic Health Month (in United States)
• National Physical Therapy Month (in United States)^[10]
• National Spina Bifida Awareness Month (in United States)^[11]
• National Spinal Health Month (in United States)
• Rett Syndrome Awareness Month (in United States)^[12]
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month (in United States) [6]
• World Blindness Awareness Month^[13]

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 nineteenth century, the month of October was dedication to devotion to the rosary in Roman Catholic countries.

References

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October

Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.