Holidays Calendar for October 18, 2020
National Prayer Day (also known as National Day of Prayer, Fasting, Repentance and Reconciliation) is a Zambian public holiday celebrated on October 18 every year. Its main goal is to unite all Zambians in the face of hardship.
According to Islamic calendar, the first day of Rabi' al-awwaw is Maldives National Day. It commemorates the victory of Muhamadhu Thakurufaanu al-A'uẓam over Portuguese in 1573.
Sukkot is a seven-day Jewish holiday. Its celebration starts on the 15th day of Tishrei. Along with Pesach and Shavuot, it belongs to Shalosh Regalim (the Three Pilgrimage Festivals), on which the Israelites were required to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Temple.
World Menopause Day is an international observance held on October 18 every year. It was initiated by the International Menopause Society, a UK based non-commercial organization that was created in 1978 during the second Menopause Convention that took place in Jerusalem, Israel.
EU Anti-Trafficking Day is an annual awareness campaign held on October 18. Established by the Council of Europe, it aims to raise public awareness of the global problem of human trafficking, as well as to emphasize the right of all human trafficking victims to justice and compensation.
On October 18, Polish postal workers celebrate their professional holiday. Polish Post Day, also referred to as Postman’s Day, commemorates the foundation anniversary of Poczta Polska (Polish Post).
Russians and Ukrainians, who are occupied in food industry, have their own professional day to organize celebration of work they do and receive congratulations. Their holiday annually falls on the third Sunday in October and it's called Food Industry Workers' Day.
Road Sector Workers' Day is one of the professional days. It exists in the Russian Federation since 1996, and it's celebrated on the third Sunday in October.
Forestry Workers Day is a professional holiday in the Republic of Kazakhstan, celebrated annually on the third Sunday of October. It was officially established by the government of Kazakhstan in 2017 to highlight the contribution of forestry workers to the country’s economy and environmental safety.
Using paper bags instead of single-use plastic bags is one of the easiest ways to live a more sustainable life without spending significantly more money or drastically changing your habits. European Paper Bag Day is observed every October 18 to encourage more people to use paper bags for shopping.
Mehregan is a fall and harvest festival celebrated in Tajikistan on the third Sunday of October. It originated from an ancient Zoroastrian and Persian festival of the same name, which is still celebrated in Iran 195 days after Nowruz.
People of Azerbaijan celebrate Independence Day annually on October 18. Unlike in other countries, this is a national working holiday.
October 18 is an annual celebration of Persons Day in Canada. This holiday is connected to the case of Edwards v. Canada, which is commonly known as The Persons Case.
Alaska Day is observed on October 18. It has the status of a legal holiday in the U.S. State of Alaska. On this day in 1867, the territory of Alaska was formally transferred from Russia to the United States.
Cupcakes are one of the favorite America's desserts. They come in many flavors, and chocolate cupcakes are a delightful treat enjoyed by chocaholics and dessert lovers. The National Chocolate Cupcake Day is celebrated on October 18 across the United States.
Many countries around the world celebrate Necktie Day on October 18. The holiday originates from Croatia, because it's the place, where necktie (or at least its predecessor) was born.
A meal isn’t a meal without side dishes, but, alas, they rarely get the recognition and praise they deserve. National Mashed Potato Day was created to rectify this situation. It is celebrated on October 18 every year.
Even though the popularity of beards has been on the rise for at least a decade, there are still plenty of men who prefer a clean-shaven look. If you’re one of them, you should celebrate National No Beard Day that falls on October 18 every year.
Whereas most countries celebrate Mother's Day in May or June, Argentina is an exception. Mother's Day in Argentina is celebrated on the third Sunday in October.
A lot of countries celebrate Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June, which is arguably the best known date of the holiday. However, some countries have chosen other dates to honor paternal bonds and fatherhood. For example, Father’s Day in Russia is observed on the third Sunday of October.
Festivals on October 18, 2020
- Chestnut Festival in France in Mourjou, France
- Vimoutiers Apple Festival in Vimoutiers, France
- Kyiv Craft Beer Fest in Kyiv, Ukraine
- Marunada (Chestnut Festival in Croatia) in Dobreć, Croatia
- Seoul International Book Fair in Seoul, South Korea
- Tuzla Film Festival in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Carolina BalloonFest in Statesville, USA
- EuroChocolate in Perugia, Italy
- Freimarkt in Bremen in Bremen, Germany
- LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Fest in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
- International Rome Film Festival in Rome, Italy
- FinFur Animus in Tuusula, Finland
- Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland
- Chicago International Film Festival in Chicago, USA
- Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
This Day in History
- 2021 Died: Colin Powell, American statesman, diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th US secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office.
- 2019 NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch became the first two women to conduct a spacewalk together; they replaced a power controller on the ISS.
- 2007 A motorcade carrying former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was attacked by a suicide bomber in the city of Karachi.
- 2003 President of Bolivia Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign and leave the country in the course of the so-called Bolivian gas war.
- 2000 Died: Julie London (born Gayle Peck), American jazz and pop singer. She is known for her signature song "Cry Me a River" (1955).
- 1992 Born: Barry Keoghan, Irish actor known for his roles in the films Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Eternals, The Banshees of Inisherin, Saltburn, and others.
- 1991 Born: Tyler Posey, American actor and musician. He is best known for portraying Scott McCall on MTVs television series Teen Wolf.
- 1987 Born: Zac Efron, American actor and singer. He rose to prominence after his lead roles in High School Musical and the 2007 film Hairspray.
- 1984 Born: Freida Pinto, Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. She rose to prominence with her film debut in the drama Slumdog Millionaire.
- 1984 Born: Milo Yiannopoulos, British right-wing political commentator whose speeches and writings typically criticize social justice, feminism, political correctness, and Islam.
- 1978 Died: Ramón Mercader, Spanish communist and Soviet agent who assassinated the Russian Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky in 1940.
- 1977 Lufthansa Flight 181 was stormed by the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9. All 86 passengers were rescued from hijackers.
- 1973 Died: Leo Strauss, German-American political philosopher, classicist, and academic who specialized in classical political philosophy.
- 1967 Soviet probe Venera 4 ("Venus 4") became the first probe to land on another planet and perform in-place analysis of its environment.
- 1966 Died: Sebastian Spering Kresge, American businessman who founded the S. S. Kresge Company, which was eventually renamed Kmart.
- 1960 Born: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian martial artists, actor, and director. Some of his best known films include Kickboxer, Hard Target, and JCVD.
- 1956 Born: Martina Navratilova, Czech-American former professional tennis player widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time.
- 1941 Soviet military intelligence officer Richard Sorge was arrested in Tokyo, where he was working undercover as a German journalist.
- 1939 Born: Lee Harvey Oswald, American sniper who assassinated the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
- 1934 Died: Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish histologist, pathologist, and neuroscientist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- 1931 Died: Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman best known for inventing the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the light bulb.
- 1926 Born: Chuck Berry, America guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Chuck Berry made a significant influence on the development of rock and roll music.
- 1922 The British Broadcasting Company (the predecessor of BBC) was formed by British and American electrical companies doing business in the UK.
- 1893 Died: Charles Gounod, French composer. Gounod is best known for his opera Faust and his piece Ave Maria based on a work by Bach.
- 1889 Died: Antonio Meucci, Italian and American inventor. He best known for developing an apparatus which some sources credit as the first telephone.
- 1880 Born: Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Russian-born Jewish Zionist leader, journalist, writer, and military leader who co-founded several Jewish organizations.
- 1871 Died: Charles Babbage, English polymath. Charles Babbage is primarily remembered for originating the concept of a programmable computer.
- 1859 Born: Henri Bergson, French philosopher who was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas.
- 1851 Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick; or, The Whale was first published in London. It is an outstanding work of Romanticism and the American Renaissance.
- 1785 Born: Thomas Love Peacock, English novelist and poet known for his satirical novels. One of his most famous works is Nightmare Abbey.
- 1777 Born: Heinrich von Kleist, German poet, novelist, short story writer, and playwright. A prestigious prize for German literature was named after him.
- 1741 Born: Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French novelist, official and army general, best known for his epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.
- 1541 Died: Margaret Tudor, Queen consort of Scots from August 8, 1503 until September 9, 1513 as the wife of James IV, King of Scots.
- 1386 The Heidelberg University was officially established by a special Pontifical High Mass in the Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg, Germany.
- 1356 A 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred near the city of Basel, Switzerland. It is the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe.
- 1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was almost completely destroyed by the sixth Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.