Thanksgiving Around the World
This North American country celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, marking the end of the harvest season.
Canada
This is often said to be in the eye of the beholder
What is beauty? It means that beauty is a subjective term. You can find beauty in most everything if you look closely enough
This band first performed “Paperback Writer.”
Who are the Beatles? In 1966, it was released as a single and made it to the top of the charts. It was their first No. 1 hit song that wasn’t about love
Some people enjoy “cracking” these joints in the fingers
What are knuckles? When people crack their knuckles, what you hear is bubbles bursting in the fluid that lubricates the joints. As annoying as the sound of cracking knuckles might be, it does not lead to arthritis
At only 0.1 millimeters long, this tiny creature called the fairyfly holds the record as the smallest insect in the world.
wasp
In Germany, this world-famous beer festival traditionally begins in late September and runs into early October.
Oktoberfest
In this country, people celebrate Chuseok, a three-day harvest festival where families visit ancestral homes and share rice cakes called songpyeon.
South Korea
Frank Sinatra’s eyes were famously this color
What is (deep) blue? One of his nicknames is “Ol’ Blue Eyes.” Another favorite is “Chairman of the Board.”
E. B. White wrote this children’s book about a spider and a pig.
What is Charlotte’s Web? Charlotte is the spider, and Wilbur is the pig.
Pressure changes and/or infections can cause this ear bit between the inner ear and middle ear to rupture
What is eardrum? Typically, the rupture is a little fissure that is self-repairing. Occasionally, surgery is required
This ocean, bordered by Europe, Asia, and North America, is the smallest of the five oceans.
Arctic Ocean
This Asian country celebrates Golden Week in early October, marking its National Day on October 1st.
China
Known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, this celebration includes eating mooncakes and admiring the full moon.
China
In Van Morrison’s 1967 hit, he sings about a girl with this eye color.
What is brown? The song is “Brown Eyed Girl.”
This author’s Lord Nelson Tavern (1974) was one of several works by a Nova Scotia–born writer active in the 1970s storytelling circle in Montreal.
Ray Smith
This gland at the base of the neck regulates metabolism
What is thyroid? It also regulates hair growth, energy, mood, and body temperature.
The world’s smallest bird, the bee hummingbird, is found only in this Caribbean country.
Cuba
The Diwali festival, known as the Festival of Lights, sometimes falls in October depending on the lunar calendar, and is most celebrated in this country.
India
The Yam Festival celebrated by the Igbo people marks the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the harvest in this African country.
Nigeria
You might have heard the myth that doing this in low light permanently damages eyes.
What is reading? Regardless of what your parents told you, reading in low light can cause eye strain but does not cause permanent damage.
This author described Canada in the late 1950s as “an uncharacterized country” and was influential in shaping mid-century Canadian literary identity.
Hugh MacLennan
Located at the back of the throat, these filter out germs and are part of the lymphatic system.
What are tonsils? Their white blood cells filter germs that enter through the mouth and nose.
The world’s smallest desert, less than 1 square kilometer in size, can surprisingly be found in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
Carcross Desert
On October 12th, several Latin American countries celebrate this day honoring Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas.
Día de la Raza or Columbus Day
Sukkot, a Jewish festival celebrated for seven days, gives thanks for the fall harvest and commemorates the Israelites’ journey through the desert.
Israel
This is the official term for farsightedness.
What is hyperopia? People who are farsighted have trouble focusing on objects close to them but can see distant objects in focus. If you squint when reading, it’s time to get your eyes checked.
This Canadian writer is known for his Governor General’s Awards in the 1950s for juvenile fiction, including The Map-Maker (1955) and The Great Chief (1957).
Kerry Wood
If you wonder whether someone on TV is a body double or the real actor, look at these exterior sensory organs.
What are ears? Ear shape is unique to individuals and doesn’t change drastically, making it a useful biometric marker, like fingerprints.
The world's smallest standard variety of domestic turkey
Midget White. Adult males (called toms) weigh approximately 6 kg, and females weigh approximately 3.5–4.5 kg, making them little larger than the largest breeds of domestic chicken.
Every October, people around the world wear pink ribbons to support awareness and research for this important health cause.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month