Halloween Part 1- Haunted History and Horrifying Hippos 🙀
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Season 2: Episode 25 Description
In today’s episode: 👻 Halloween is almost here and we're getting our costumes ready. 🦇 Creepy correspondent Ryan Nerz shares the history of Halloween and trick or treating. 🕯️Spooky host Bethany Van Delft talks about animals that are cute but deadly. 💀 In the news: A ghostly tablet and vomiting buzzards. 🎃 And test your pumpkin knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources for the episode:
33 Adorable Animals That Are Actually Deadly — Best Life (bestlifeonline.com)
Unlocking the mystery of the duck-billed platypus' venom - American Chemical Society (acs.org)
Don't You Know That You're Toxic? | Poison Dart Frog | Aquarium Fact Sheet | Berkshire Museum
Oldest ghost drawing discovered on Babylonian exorcism tablet | Live Science
North Carolina: Buzzards With Acidic Dropping Invade a Small Town (insider.com)
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:05
Haunting history and horrifying hippos? It's Halloween time. Today we're celebrating the spookiest day of the year. I'm Bethany van Delft. It's Thursday, October 28th. And this is The Ten News.
Various Voices 0:26
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:34
Depending on where you live, this year's Halloween may feel mostly back to normal. But how did taking a bag door to door to ask our neighbors for candy become normal in the first place? Correspondent Ryan Nerz takes us back to the origins of this spooktacular holiday.
Ryan Nerz 0:54
When you think of Halloween, you probably think of costumes, candy, and decorations. And you're not wrong. But there's a rich history behind why we get dressed up. In fact, Halloween is one of the world's oldest holidays. So if you'll travel with me now, way back when many moons ago, in times of yours, you'll find that Halloween had much weirder, darker, and spookier events. Okay, it's the year 1200 BC, the Iron Age, we're in the land of the Celts, a tribe that ruled parts of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Celts separated the year into two parts, light and dark. Every year, as summer turned toward the darkness of winter, the Celts celebrated a three-day pagan festival called Samhain. The Celts thought that during Samhain, when the gods actually became visible to humans, ghosts of the dead and spirits of the underworld would spring to life and walk among us. So, the Celts wore disguises like animal skins and animal heads in hopes that the gods might mistake them for spirits hiding behind these costumes. The villagers played pranks on each other, and, of course, blamed it on the spirits. Ohhhhhh. These animal skin disguises were the original Halloween costumes, and those mischievous Celtic pranks are what put the Trick in Trick or Treat. Many centuries later, Pope Gregory changed the date of the Christian holiday, All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day to November 1st. The day before was All Hallows Eve, which eventually became Halloween, but it remained a work in progress for centuries. In the 1700s, the first waves of Irish immigrants arrived in the United States, their Halloween traditions came with them. For two centuries, American Halloween costumes stuck to their Celtic roots. The most common costumes were ghosts and goblins. The point was to be frightening, and to make your costume from whatever you found sitting around the house, but in the 1930s, costume companies started licensing fictional characters like Mickey Mouse and Little Orphan Annie. Oh Boy. These pop culture costumes, along with other disguises like pirates and Gypsies helped change the vibe of Halloween from scary to just plain fun. The concept of trick or treating had only been around since the 1940s. And in the early days, when you knocked on your neighbor's door, you'd be more likely to get fruit, money, or toys than candy. Candy's dominance over Halloween didn't take hold until the 1960s, thanks to you guessed it advertising. Brock's, the world's biggest manufacturer of candy corn, ran ads boasting that they were goblin-approved. These days, Halloween is celebrated by millions and it's become big business. This year, Americans will spend over $10 billion on Halloween supplies. And despite the pandemic, 65% of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween, and 20% of those are going to force the family pet to wear a costume. Of course, not every country celebrates Halloween, but many cultures have their own amazing end-of-summer holiday. Mexico has the staggeringly beautiful Day of the Dead. Hong Kong has the Hungry Ghost festival. India has Pitru Paksha and the Philippines has the tongue-twisting holiday known as the Pangangaluluwa. Ah. So whether you're celebrating Halloween or Pangangaluluwa, you should know that this holiday isn't just about buying costumes and getting candy. It's about adding some magic to your day-to-day life. Get in touch with your ancestors, and celebrate the beauty of Rebirth by transforming yourself and your surroundings into something new.
Bethany Van Delft 5:32
When you think of scary Halloween costumes, ghosts, monsters, maybe zombies probably come to mind. But you know what we might want to add to that list? Hippos. Yeah, hippos. They might look slow and harmless, but they're actually fast, aggressive, and very dangerous. They've even been known to hurt their young if they get in the way of a hippo battle. Are you kidding me? Since hippos are considered the deadliest land mammals to humans, maybe they do deserve a spot on the terrifying costume list. Yep. Speaking of things that are cute, but deadly. If you think hippos are cute. Let's consider the blue-ringed octopus. This teeny-tiny cephalopod is smaller than a candy bar. Adorable, right. Wrong. Its venom is so powerful. It makes it one of the most poisonous creatures on the planet. Who knew? Yikes. And while we're at it, can we talk about the duckbill platypus? Okay? It may look soft and cuddly, if not a little bit odd. And maybe it reminds you of a certain beloved cartoon character. Who are you and what are you doing here? But this egg-laying mammal has some serious stingers that deliver a venom that can leave their opponent knocked out for weeks. Okay, one more, the poisonous dart frog. I mean, the name alone should be enough, right? Though it is true that most aren't actually dangerous to humans. The ones that are can be lethal. Like the golden poison dart frog, it may be only two inches long, but it packs it of poison to kill 10 grown men. Maybe I should be a golden poison dart frog for Halloween. Scary and adorable. Now, let's see what other spookiness is going on.
Bethany Van Delft 7:49
Do you believe in ghosts? Well, at least one person 3,500 years ago did. According to a new book, a stone tablet from the ancient city of Babylon shows what might be the oldest drawing of a ghost ever discovered. But don't worry, the tablet includes instructions for banishing the pesky spirit. Here in the US the town of Bunn, in North Carolina has been invaded by vulture-like birds called buzzards. One woman said she counted 58 around her house. Locals have tried scaring the birds with cannons and horns, but they won't budge. Instead, they vomit when they're scared. Sounds like me. And their poop can eat through paint. Gah, disgusting. Most people don't think too highly of bats, but a scientist in Texas who's been studying these nocturnal creatures for 60 years is trying to change that. He created a new phone game called, "Find the Bats," to teach people more about them. Players will get to explore different places where bats live and hopefully realize the bats are not so spooky after all. I mean, really, they're just kind of like fluffy flying mice. What's that over there? I think it's a... What, what, what's the big idea? Trivia on The Ten. What is the record for the world's fastest pumpkin carving? Is it a) 20 seconds? b) 16.47 seconds or c) 9.4 seconds? Did you guess it? The answer is C. Stephen Clark, a teacher from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania was able to carve a Jack-o-lantern in just 9.4 seconds in October of 2020 breaking his own previously held record of 16. 47 seconds. I'm gonna need to see this. How is it possible?
Bethany Van Delft 10:12
Time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is making their own hippo costumes and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Andrew Hall, and Nathalie Alonzo. Ryan Nerz contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Do you know what I'm going to be for Halloween? A Zombie hippo. I wonder if zombie hippos still run fast?
