October is the tenth month in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of preparation for the winter in the northern hemisphere, and preparation for spring in the southern hemisphere. It comes from the Latin word "octo" meaning eight as it was originally the eighth month of the Roman calendar, but when the senate decided to change the calendar it was moved to tenth position.

In Old England, the month was called Winmonath, which means “wine month,” for this was the time of year when wine was made.

On the 1st October 1982, the world's first CD (Compact Disc) player went on sale. It was developed jointly by Sony, Philips and Polygram and cost the equivalent of $2,200 (over a thousand pounds) in today's currency. I remember them well!

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on the 2nd October 1869, in Porbander in western India. He is famous for working to achieve freedom and equality for all, in India and in Africa. He is remembered for his non-violent creed, and for his belief that black and white people should have equal rights, and be looked upon the same as every other person. He influenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and millions of other people. He was assassinated in the garden of his home in New Delhi on 20 January 1948.

On the 3rd October 1906 the 'SOS' signal was established as an International Distress Signal by an agreement made between the British Marconi Society and the German Telefunk organisation at the Berlin Radio Conference. The signal was formally introduced on the 1st July 1908.

The 4th to 10th is World Space Week, an annual international celebration of key milestones in space. The 4th October 1957 was the launch date of Sputnik I, the first human-made Earth satellite. And the first international space treaty, the Outer Space Treaty, went into effect on the 10th October 1967.

The Jarrow March. On the 5th October 1936, a group of 200 British unemployed workers staged a hunger marched as a way of bringing public attention to the plight of the unemployed in depressed areas of the country. The march began in the ship-building town of Jarrow in north east England, where two thirds of the working population were jobless, and ended in London, a distance of almost 300 miles (480 km).

A Lost Traveller Story. In Hampshire, UK in the eighteenth century, a Mr William Davis was riding home when a heavy fog surrounded him, and in no time at all he found that he had lost his way. Suddenly, he heard the bells from his local church at Twyford start to ring and realised he was heading in the wrong direction. He turned his horse around to follow the sound and arrived home safely.  Later on he worked out that he must have been only a few yards away from deep chalk pits. Had he continued in the wrong direction he would have plunged to certain death. When William died in 1754, he left some money to pay the bellringers to ring the church bells at 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m on 7th October every year, to help travellers find their way home should they get lost on the same night he had been lost. The funds ran out long ago but the tradition remains. I like this story.

On the 8th October 1965 the Post Office Tower, now known as the BT Tower, was officially opened by the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. Costing £2 million to construct, it's made from 13,000 tonnes of concrete, steel and glass, and at the time of opening was the tallest building in London. Its primary purpose was to support the microwave aerials then used to carry telecommunications traffic from London to the rest of the country. Today the tower is a telecommunications centre designed to relay broadcast, Internet and telephone information around the world.

On the 10th October 1881.The Savoy Theatre opened in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. It was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity.

Concorde flew its last flight on 24th October 2003 ending three decades of supersonic travel. The last transatlantic flight carried 100 celebrities from New York and touched down at 1605 BST at London Heathrow airport.

The 28th is Frankenstein Friday and my darling grandson's birthday (no connection 😄)

On the 30th October 2004 a pod of seven dolphins saved four people swimming in the ocean off Whangarei, New Zealand from being attacked by a 3 metre great white shark. A lifeguard was swimming with his daughter and two of her friends off Ocean beach near Whangarei, when seven bottle nosed dolpins began aggressively herding the swimmers into a small group by doing tight circles around them. The dolphins kept their vigil for 40 minutes until the shark lost interest, and the group could swim 100m back to the shore.

Probably the most famous date in October is the 31st,  Halloween, thought to be the one night of the year when ghosts, witches, and fairies are especially active. 👻

∼ Be safe and well∼

         Polly x