October is National Apple Month. For my series of posts on apples from 2007, including links to others’ posts about apples, click here.

October is also Stamp Collecting Month, Kids Love a Mystery Month, National Pasta Month, Polish American Heritage Month,

Check out Dawn’s list of thing to do in October.

October 1: NASA’s 52nd Anniversary.
Nominations for the 2010 Cybils, the children’s and young adult bloggers’ literary awards, open today.
Birthday of Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and author.
BIrthday of Julie Andrews Edwards, children’s author, actress, and singer, author of Mandy and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.

October 2: Birthday of Mohandas “Mahatma” Ghandi, b. 1869, Indian liberator and religious leader.

October 1-3: The National Storytelling Festival is held the first full weekend of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee. The storytelling festival was started by a high school journalism teacher in 1973. It has grown over the years to become a major festival in the United States with over 10,000 in attendance.

October 4: St Francis of Assisi Feast Day. Check out the movie, Brother Sun, Sister Moon.
The Dick Tracy comic strip, created by Chester Gould, debuted on October 4, 1931.
Birthday of Donald Sobol, b.1924, creator of Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown.

October 3-9: National Fire Prevention Week

October 5: Birthday of Gene Zion, b.1913, creator of Harry the Dirty Dog.

October 6: Birthday of Thor Heyerdahl, b. 1914, explorer and author of Kon-tiki.
German American Day.

October 7: National Poetry Day in the U.K.

October 8: Anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. For more information see The Great Fire by Jim Murphy.

October 9: Leif Erikson Day celebrates the discovery of North America by the Norsemen in the year 1000 AD.

October 11: Birthday of Eleanor Roosevelt, b.1884
Birthday of children’s nonfiction author Russell Freedman, b.1929.

October 12: Traditional date of Columbus Day or Discovery Day commemorating Columbus’s first sighting of America on October 12, 1492.
Columbus Day holiday in the U.S., celebrated each year on the second Monday of October. Columbus Day Activity Set from Scholastic.
Birthday of Molly Pitcher, Revolutionary War heroine, b.1754.

October 15: Last day for nominations for the 2009 Cybils.

October 16: World Food Day is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger.
Also Dictionary Day in honor of the birthday of Noah Webster (b.1758), the father of the American dictionary.
Games and activities for celebrating words on Dictionary Day or any day.
Birthday of Native American author of children’s and young adult literature, Joseph Bruchac.

October 16-17: Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas. More than 200 of the most accomplished writers from across Texas and the nation will be appearing at the 2010 Texas Book Festival on October 16th and 17th in the Texas State Capitol and in venues throughout downtown Austin.

October 17-23: National Chemistry Week. The 2010 theme is “behind the Scenes with Chemistry!”
Also Teen Read Week, sponsored by YALSA and by your local library.

October 18: Birthday of poet Shel Silverstein, b.1932.

Occtober 19: Birthday of author/illustrator Ed Emberly, b.1931.

October 21: Thomas Edison invented the light bulb on this date in 1879.

October 22: Birthday of actress Sarah Bernhardt, b. 1844.

October 25: Birthday of artist Pablo Picasso, b. 1881.

October 31: All Hallows Eve.

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