// *********************************************** // AUTHOR: WWW.CGISCRIPT.NET, LLC // URL: http://www.cgiscript.net // Use the script, just leave this message intact. // Download your FREE CGI/Perl Scripts today! // ( http://www.cgiscript.net/scripts.htm ) // *********************************************** function text() { }; text = new text(); number = 0; // textArray text[number++] = "72% of the households in America celebrate Halloween!" text[number++] = "Over 50% of adults wear a costume on Halloween." text[number++] = "Halloween originated from a festival celebrated by the ancient Celts." text[number++] = "Every year Americans spend more than 8 billion dollars on Halloween!" text[number++] = "More parties are held on Halloween than any other holiday!" text[number++] = "The Irish originally used turnips as their \"Jack's lanterns.\" " text[number++] = "The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. " text[number++] = "The favorite Halloween pranks in early New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates. " text[number++] = "Halloween is celebrated on the eve of All Saints Day." text[number++] = "The word \"Halloween\" has its origins in the Catholic Church and comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. " text[number++] = "The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated with a 9th-Century European custom called \"souling\". " text[number++] = "Australia doesn't celebrate Halloween!!" text[number++] = "Mexico celebrates the \"Day of the Dead\" instead of Halloween." text[number++] = "If you have an intense fear of Halloween you area suffering from \"Samhainophobia.\" " text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1517: Martin Luther posts 95 theses on Wittenberg Church and starts the Protestant Reformation." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1864: Nevada admitted as 36th state." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1922: Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) becomes Premier of Italy." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1940: Halloween was the deadline for the Jews to move into the Warsaw Ghetto." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1952: The first atomic bomb was detonated on the Marshall Islands." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1964: Barbra Streisand's \"People\" album goes #1 for 5 weeks." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1968: President Johnson orders a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1969: Race riots in Jacksonville Florida." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1970: Mamas and Papas singer Michelle Phillips marries actor Dennis Hopper. They divorce 8 days later." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1980: Julian Nott sets world hot-air balloon altitiude record (16,806m)." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1983: Ron Grant completes a 217 day, 8,316 mile run around Australia." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1987: Chris Antly at Belmont becomes the first jockey to win 9 races in one day." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1926: Erich Weiss better known as Harry Houdini made his last great escape." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1984: Indira Gandhi was assinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1988: John Houseman the actor made his final bow." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1991: Joseph Papp Broadway producer joined the great Chorus Line in the Sky." text[number++] = "Halloween in History 1993: Federico Fellini became truly immortal." text[number++] = "The word witch comes from the Saxon word wicca, which means \"wise one.\" " text[number++] = "Black cats, those customary Halloween icons, were originally believed to be witches' familiars, a kind of cosmic sidekick who protected the witches' powers from negative forces." text[number++] = "Some so-called vampire bats do drink blood, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on cattle, horses, and birds." text[number++] = "The biggest pumpkin in the world tipped the scales at a whopping 1,337.6 pounds. This gigantic gourd was weighed in October, 2002 at a pumpkin festival in Topsfield, Mass." text[number++] = "Of all canned fruits and vegetables, pumpkin is the best source of vitamin A. Just a half-cup of the orange stuff has more than three times the recommended daily requirement." text[number++] = "Halloween isn't just for kids. While 82 percent of children take part in Halloween festivities, a surprising 67 percent of adults also join in the fun." text[number++] = "Candy corn, anyone? With an estimated $ 1.93 billion in candy sales, Halloween is the sweetest holiday of the year, beating out Easter, Valentine's Day, and Christmas. In fact, one quarter of all the candy sold each year is purchased between September 15 and November 10." text[number++] = "U.S. consumers spend as much as $ 1.5 billion on costumes each year, and more than $ 2.5 billion on other Halloween paraphernalia, such as decorations and crafts — more than $ 100 million of which is spent online." text[number++] = "The first Halloween card was made in the early 1920s. These days, U.S. consumers spend about $ 50 million on Halloween greetings." text[number++] = "On the evening before Samhain, people left food on their doorsteps to keep hungry spirits from entering the house. Festivalgoers started dressing in ghost, witch, and goblin costumes so wandering spirits would leave them alone. To this day, these are Halloween's most popular costumes." text[number++] = "Halloween is the original new year, when the Wheel of the Year finishes." text[number++] = "In Northern Britain, the words ghost and guest (geist) are the same word." text[number++] = "In Germanic Pagan tradition, taxes and wages were collected in person at this time of year. In Scotland, this practice turned into playful door-to-door begging called \"guising.\" " text[number++] = "The 1900’s through the mid 1960’s was the golden age of Halloween-themed Americana. The decorations of those decades reveal a society secure enough to get pleasure out of being spooked, apparently reserving fear for real enemies and actual threats." text[number++] = "The well-publicized acts of the '60s - loading brownies with pot or LSD by a few demented individuals - insured that Halloween treats are now exclusively pre-packaged, store bought candy." text[number++] = "Over 2500 years ago a Japanese artisan was inspired by the incredible jointed folds of bat wings to create the first folding fans. " text[number++] = "Owls are believed to do the necessary work of helping escort the dead to the spirit world. " text[number++] = "Halloween's origins date back over 3,000 years to the Celtic celebration of Samhain (Sow-en, not Sam-haain)." text[number++] = "Today Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, even surpassing Valentine's Day. Scary must be better than loving." text[number++] = "Pumpkins are not a vegetable - they are a fruit! Pumpkins, like gourds, and other varieties of squash are all members of the Cucurbitacae family , which also includes cucumbers, gherkins, and melons." text[number++] = "Some Native American tribes believe the owl to be harbinger of illness and death. While some writings emphasize the fear owls inspire, some poems relate gratitude to owls for maintaining a balance of health in the tribe." text[number++] = "Owls are revered by some Native Americans for doing the necessary work of helping escort the dead to the spirit world. Owls only have as many owlets as they can care for. They feed all their babies equally, making certain smaller babies catch up to others in size and health, never leaving weaker ones to starve. " text[number++] = "In pre-Christian Pagan Europe, women ordinarily practiced skills of healing, spiritual leadership and intuition and fierce protectiveness of family, unseparated from everyday life. The ordinary business of Germanic wives included healing and protection spells as well as routine future forecasting. At first contact with the Germanic tribes, Romans were astonished that the men respected and honored women equally as themselves, and sought their wisdom in counsel. " text[number++] = "A list of folk names for hobgoblins, elves, fairies, gremlins, imps and Things That Go Bump in the Night: Redshank, Phouka, Manx Buggane, Padfoot, Boggart, Galley-Trot, Picktree Brag, Licke, Dunter, Colt-Pixie, Skrike, Rawhead, Pokey-Hokey, Lull, Melsh Dick, Orph, Fane, Dunnie, Booback, Cauld Lad of Hilton, Hobmen, Pinch, Yarthkins, Pug, Redcap, Mumpoker, Sib, Hagge, Booman, Capelthwaite, Dobie, Puck, Spunkie, Knockers, Mara, Peg Powler, Clap-Cans, Bullbeggar, Tom-Poker, Bugs, Frid, Henkie, Lubbard-Fiend, Cearb, Bug-a-Boo, Mare, Banshee, Tankerabogus, Lob, Trow, Wight, Jack-in-Irons, Tatterfoal, Bugbear, Skillywidden, Boggle-Boo, Galley-Beggar, Bogey-Beast, Urisk, Licke, Galley-Trot, Dunnie, Barguest, Derricks, Grogan, Dobby, Klippe, Booback, Pixie, Brag-Buggan, Puddlefoot, Tom Thumb, Firedrake, Hellwaine, Calcar, Kit with Cansticke, Boneles, Puckle, Tom Tumbler, Spoorne, Humbug, Spoge, Putz. " // keep adding items here... increment = Math.floor(Math.random() * number); //-->