Halloween--What is it?

Today is Halloween, the day to fun and scary things, and of course, trick or treat. But where did this holiday come from? According to the book Holiday Symbols (found in the Library) "Halloween can be traced directly back to the SAMHAIN, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of what is now France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Beacuse it was a time of transition between the old and the new, the Celts believed that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to travel together to the land of the dead. They lit bonfires and sacrificed fruits and vegetables, hoping to win the favor of the spirits of the decased and to avoid their punishments. Sometimes the living disguised themselves in masks and costumes so that the spirits of the dead wouldn't recognize them...By the fourth century, the Christian church was doing everything it could to stamp out pagan festivals like Samhain, but the Celts wouldn't give up their ancient rituals and symbols. So the Christian church gave them new names and meanings. November 1 became All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day in England), a celebration of all the Christian saints. The night of October 31 became All Hallows'Eve (later Halloween). But is association with the supernatural persisted. Halloween came to America with the Irish immigrants of the 1840's."

Source: Thompson, Sue Ellen, ed. Holiday Symbols: A guide to the Legend and Lord Behind the People, Places, Food, Animals, And Other Symbols Associated with the Holidays and Holy Days, Feasts and Fasts, and Other Celebrations, Covering Popular, Ethnic, Religious, National, and Ancient Events, and Observed in the United States and Around the World. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 1998.

Other sources are:

• Chambers, R., ed. The Book of Days. London : W&R Chambers, 1906?


• New Catholic Encyclopedia New York : McGraw-Hill, 1967-1979


• Etzion, Amitai. We are What We Celebrate: Understanding Holidays and Rituals New York University Press, 2004.


• Harper, Wilhelmina. Ghosts and Goblins: Stories for Halloween. E.P. Dutton, 1965.

Black Tuesday The Stock Market Crash, October 29, 1929

Today marks the 79th anniversary of when the Stock Market fell in October 1929 that brought on the Great Depression of the 1930's. This crash is important to us today because of what is going on right now with our economy. On Tuesday, October 29, 1929, over nine million shares had traded hands, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 12.8 percent, the highest in the history of the Stock Market up to that time. (Information on the Stock Market taken from Martin Gitlin's book, The 1929 Stock Market Crash, Edina, Minn: ABDO Publishing Company, 2008.)
In September-October, 2008, the Stock Market fell again, losing billions of dollars, and it is unknown what the outcome will be. Are we in a recession now, or are we heading for a depression?

Election 2008 Voters Guide

With the Election only a week away, I thought that it would be useful post websites that will be useful in finding out more about the candidates.

Texas Secretary of State: Elections Divisions.

This site contains information about the candidates in Texas, Voter information, and a Voter FAQ.
Oklahoma State Election Board

This site is the counterpart to Texas' Election site.
2008 Presidental Election Interactive Map and History of the Electoral College.
Election 2008: NPR

Teddy Roosevelt--born 150 years ago today

He is an interesting character from U.S History, A rich man who is interested in reform, a robust man who as a boy was weak and sickly, and a war hero, governor and finally President of the United States. He was one who brought back power and influence to the Presidency after several post- Civil War presindents who were weaker and when the balance of power was shifted more towards congress. He was born on October 27, 1858, and while he was alive, he was always stirring things up. HE was a man made for the Presidency, and the greatest mistake that he made was when he promised that he would not be a candidate for the Presidency in 1908.

He is one of four U.S. Presidents on Mount Rushmore, and most historians rate Roosevelt near the top of the list of Presidents. HE was a man who experienced tradgey in his life. His wife and mother died on the same day in 1884. He went out west to the Dakotas and tried his hand at ranching and captured thevies by himself.


The Library has several books on this great American.

• 973.911 R781M Morris, Edmund. Theodore Rex. Random House, 2001.


• 973.911 R 781G Grubin, David. TR, the Story of Theodore Roosevelt. PBS Video, 1996


• NA 973.0497 R67B Hagan, William Thomas. Theodore Roosevelt and six friends of the Indian. University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.
  
• 973.913 W754COO Cooper, John Milton. The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,1983.


• 973.911 R781R Morris, Edmund. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1979.
• 
  

NationMaster, a new website

Nationmaster (http://www.nationmaster.com) is an online resource about countries. Read what Luke Metcalfe, the Manager/Developer says about why he made this site: "The idea for NationMaster arose as I was surfing around the CIA World Factbook. It's a great read but I felt the individual figures (like number of TV's, or kilometres of coastline) didn't mean much on their own. They'd be more illuminating if they were placed alongside other countries and shown relative to population."

"So I decided to put together a website that allowed users to generate graphs based on numerical data extracted from the Factbook. The next (rather obvious) realisation was that there's no reason I couldn't take in data from other sources. Why shouldn't the net have a central location that allows you to compare countries on any statistic you like?"

But why did I do it? To promote education and understanding about the world. To make it easy to engage with the indicators that shape global commerce, health, politics and ecology. To make the facts easily accessible and meaningful. To bring the works of academics, public agencies and private researchers to a wider audience.

One intended use for this site is, during debates in discussion groups, people link to comparisons of specific countries. I hope students, educators and librarians will find the site a useful teaching aide. More generally, I hope the figures will spark people's interest and they'll want to read more.

Further information from the About page says this about NationMaster: "This website was created by Rapid Intelligence, a web technology company based in Sydney, Australia. We produce original sites that provide people with unique views of content."

All statistics on this site are cited. If you are concerned about authenticity and authorship, please view the "Source:" field, found below each graph. Or when viewing country statistics, click the "View with citations" link below the bottom of the page.

Other sites similar to NationMaster include:

UNdata
GlobalEdge
The World Factbook
Background Notes

Columbus sighted America 516 years ago

Yesterday marked the 516th anniversary of when Columbus first sighted land in the Carribean Sea that started the flow of Europeans to the Americas. Today, Monday, October 13, is when this event is observed. Whether this event began the colonization and civilization of the Americans, or the destruction and slaughter of thousands and thousands of Native Americans, and the destruction of many Native civilizations is left to you to decide. However you feel about this event, here are some links that contain more information:

The Columbus Navigation Homepage

1492: Christopher Columbus: Man and Myth

Catholic Encyclopedia: Christopher Columbus

Famous People: Christopher Columbus: BBC

Images of Christopher Columbus and His Voyages

Christopher Columbus and the Flat Earth Myth

The Scandalous Flat Earth Myth

Zarahemla Research Foundation: Christopher Columbus: Man of Vision and Faith

Christopher Columbus: Hero or Murderer?

Today in History: October 12

The History of Columbus Day

Examining the Reputation of Christopher Columbus

The Library has many books on Columbus:

• 970.015 C781 Columbus, Christopher.  The Log of Christopher Columbus. Camden, Maine:  International Marine Pub. Co., c1987.



• B C72cEk   Colon, Fernando. The Life and Times of Admiral
  Christopher Columbus by His Son Ferdinand.  New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1959.



• 973.1 Ir8D  Discovery and Conquest of the New World: Containing the Life and Times of Christopher Columbus (by Washington Irving). Chicago: Chas. Webb & Co, 1892




• B C72d2 Downworth, Albert Bernard. Why Columbus Sailed. New York: Exposition Press, 1953.



• R 970.015 C46 Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992



• 929.7315 C776L   Landstrom, Bjorn. Columbus; the Story of Don Christobal
  Colon, Admiral of the Ocean. New York: Macmillan, 1967.



• B C72mor Morrison, Samuel Eliot, ed. Journals and Other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press, 1963.



• B C72m Morrison, Samuel Eliot. Admiral of the Ocean Sea, A Life of Christopher Columbus.  Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1942.



• 970.015 C726p  Phillips, William D. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus.   New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.



• R 912 T48   The Times Atlas of World Exploration: 3000 Years of Exploring, Explorers and Mapmaking. New York:
  HarperCollins Publishers, 1991.



• B C72w   Wassermann, Jakob. Columbus, Don Quixote of the Seas.
  Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1930.

Finincial Crisis

The financial situation in our country is precarious. Here are some links to some sites on the Internet that might be of help in learning more about what is going on:

The United States Department of the Treasuary
Finaicial Crisis: A Guide to the Recent Financial Crisis by the Colorado State University Libraries
Yahoo Finance
CNN/Money
Forbes.com
MSN Money
NYSE: The New York Stock Exchange
The Financial Times London-Global Financial Crisis
The Guardian: The Observer: The 2008 Crash
America's Money Crisis
HowStuffWorks LibGuide: Economy 101 and Financial Crisis Guide