Nancy Hauser, age 8, of Overland Park, Kan., for her question:
HOW DID OCTOBER RECEIVE ITS NAME?
Even though October is the tenth month of the year, the name comes from the Latin word for "eight."
In the olden days when the Roman calendar was in use, October was the eighth month of the year. But even after it had two other months moved ahead, the people refused to accept any name change and they continued to call it October.
The Roman Senate tried to name the month "Antoninus" after a Roman emperor. That didn't work. Then they tried to name the month "Faustinus" after the emperor's wife, but that didn't work either. Nor did the attempt to name the month "Tacitus" after a Roman historian.
From the time of Julius Caesar, October has had 31 days.
In most of North America, October usually means the start of the autumn season. Although fall officially started about September 21, it isn't until October that the first frost arrives and some really cold weather begins.
During October the days are usually warm and there's also a tang of the approaching winter in the air. Leaves change color, turning from bright green to various shades of red, russet, crimson and gold. And some of our favorite birds head south to warmer locations.
On farms, October usually means harvest time for many crops. By the end of the month, the apples will be getting ripe in some sections of the land.
Then on the sporting front we have the end of the baseball season and the exciting World Series. Many people, who during the year pay no attention to baseball, suddenly give lots of their time to radio or television as a world champion is determined.
And October means football.
In many parts of the land, schools and various organizations celebrate Columbus Day on the 12th. In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October.
Perhaps the most festive holiday in October is Halloween, which is celebrated on the last day of the month. Today, many children use this holiday as an occasion to dress themselves up with costumes and masks. They then go from door to door asking for treats.
Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, was born on October 14, 1890, in benison, Texas. And the 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt, was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City.
Rutherford Hayes, the 19th President, was born on October 4, 1822, in Delaware, Ohio, while Chester Arthur, the 21st President, was born in Fairfield, Vt., in 1829.
And there's a fifth President with an October birthday. John Adams, the nation's second Chief Executive, was born on October 30, in 1735 in Braintree, now Quincy, Mass.
The White House cornerstone was laid on October 13, 1792. And Nevada became the nation's 36th state on October 31, 1864.