Here’s the October, 2019 Special Days list!  It’s filled with holidays, observances, food themes, awareness days , historic figures and authors birthdays, science and historic based anniversaries,  and even some spooky stuff!  If you’re looking for something seasonal and fun to include in your lesson plans, a day to celebrate, or special foods to add to your menu, this list will give you some awesome ideas!

Resources for teaching through October, including a PDF of October’s Special Days, can be found at the end of this list.

October’s Themes, Awareness, and Observances

• Adopt a Shelter Dog
• AIDS Awareness
• Animal Safety and Protection
• Arts and Crafts
• Arts and Humanities
• Audiology Awareness
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication
• Bat Appreciation
• Birds of Prey
• Bilingual Child
• Blindness Awareness
• Book
• Breast Cancer Awareness
• Bullying Prevention
• Children’s Magazine
• Chiropractic
• Church Library
• Class Reunion
• Clocks
• Computer Learning
• Co-op Awareness
• Crime Prevention
• Cut Out Dissection
• Cyber Security Awareness
• Dental Hygiene
• Depression Education and Awareness
• Domestic Violence Awareness
• Down Syndrome Awareness
• Drum
• Dyslexia Awareness
• Emotional Intelligence Awareness
• Emotional Wellness
• Energy Management
• Ergonomics
• Eye Safety
• Fair Trade
• Feral Hog
• Financial Planning
• Free Thought
• German-American Heritage
• Global Diversity
• Go On A Field Trip
• Halloween Safety
• Health Literacy
• Improve Your Home
• International Dinosaur
• Liver Awareness
• Kitchen and Bath
• Medical Librarian
• Menopause
• Orthodontic Health
• Pastor Appreciation Day
• Prescription Errors Education and Awareness
• Photographer Appreciation
• Physical Therapy
• Polish American Heritage
• Positive Attitude
• Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness
• Protect Your Hearing
• Raptor Month
• Reading Group
• Right Brainers Rule
• Roller Skating
• Sarcastic Awareness
• Self-Promotion
• Spina Bifida Awareness
• Squirrel Awareness
• Stamp Collecting Month
• Starman
• Strategic Planning
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness
• Walk To School
• Window Covering Safety
• Work and Family
• World Animal

October’s Food Themes

• Apple
• Apple Jack
• Bake and Decorate
• Caramel
• Cheese
• Chili
• Cookie
• Country Ham
• Cranberry
• Eat Better, Eat Together
• Eatable Roots
• English Pudding
• Farm to School
• Pasta
• Persimmons
• Pizza
• Popcorn Poppin’
• Pork
• Pumpkins
• Rhizomes
• Rhubarb
• Sausage
• Seafood
• Spinach Lovers
• Tackling Hunger
• Vegetarian Awareness

Daily Specials for October, 2019  (the * means that the special day does not fall on the same date each year)

Oct. 1

• CD Player Day
• President Jimmy Carter born 1924
• Fire Pup Day
• Homemade Cookies Day
• International Day of Older Persons
• Lace Day
• Less Than Perfect Day
• Model T Ford introduced 1908
• Nigeria Independence Day 1960
• People’s Republic of China National Day 1949
• Raccoon Appreciation Day
• Vegetarian Day

Oct. 2

• Balloons Around the World Day * – 1st Wed.
• Custodial Workers Day
• Farm Animals Day
• Phileas Fogg Win a Wager Day
• Mahatma Gandhi born 1869
• Guardian Angels Day
• Guinea Independence Day 1958
• International Day of Non-violence
• Comic Julius “Groucho” Marx born 1895
• Name Your Car Day
• Peanuts Comic first published 1950
• Walk to School Day * – 1st Wed.

Oct. 3

• Butterfly and Hummingbird Day
• Captain Kangaroo premier 1955
• East and West Germany Re-unification 1990
• Arthur James Herriot born 1916
• Kids’ Goal Setting Day
• Richard the Lionheart crowned King 1189
• No Salt Week begins
• SOS (distress code) established 1906
• Techie’s Day
• Blues Musician Stevie Ray Vaughn born 1954
• Virus Appreciation Day

Oct. 4

• Blessing of the Animals Day
• Cinnamon Roll Day
• Denim Day * – 1st Fri.
• Diversity Day * – 1st Fri.
• Frappe Day
• Golf Day
• President Rutherford Hayes born 1822
• Improve Your Office Day
• St. Francis Day
• Lesotho Independence Day 1966
• Sputnik launched 1957
• Story Telling Weekend * – 1st Fri.
• Author, Edward Stratemeyer born 1862
• Ten-Four Day
• World Animal Day
• World Smile Day *- 1st Fri.
• World Space Week begins

Oct. 5

• President Chester Arthur born 1829
• Card Making Day * – 1st Sat.
• Do Something Nice Day
• Fall Astronomy Day *
• Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend
• Frugal Fun Day * – 1st Sat.
• Physicist Robert Hutchings Goddard born 1882
• Jarrow March 1936
• Stop Bullying Day
• World Teachers Day

Oct. 6

• Animal Welfare Week * – 1st full week
• Carry a Tune Week * – week with the 7th
• Change A Light Day – * 1st Sun.
• Come and Take It Day
• Fire Prevention Week begins * – week with the 9th
• German-American Day
• Get Organized Week * – 1st full week
• Great Books Week * – 1st full week
• Inter-generation Day* – 1st Sun.
• Mad Hatter Day
• Metric Week * – week with the 10th
• Mystery Series Week * – 1st full week
• William Tyndale martyred 1536
• Inventor George Westinghouse born 1846
• Work From Home Week * – 1st full week
• World Communion Day * – 1st Sun.

Oct. 7

• First “American Bandstand” Broadcast 1952
• Physicist Niels Bohrs born 1885
• Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered Catalina Island 1542
• Child Health Day * – 1st Mon.
• Spinning and Weaving Week* – Mon. of first full week
• World Day of Bullying Prevention/Blue Shirt Day * – 1st Mon.
• World Habitat Day * – 1st Mon.

Oct. 8

• Cephalopod Awareness Days (8-10)
• Great Chicago Fire 1871
• Activist Jesse Jackson born 1941
• Pierogy Day
• Touch Tag Day
• Alvin C. York Day

Oct. 9

• Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School Day * – 2nd Wed.
• Chess Day
• Cupcake Day
• Curious Events Day
• Emergency Nurses Day * – 2nd Wed.
• Leif Erikson Day
• Fire Prevention Day
• First 2-way Telephone Conversation 1876
• International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction * – 2nd Wed.
• Musician John Lennon born 1940
• Moldy Cheese Day
• Pro-Life Cupcake Day
• Top Spinning Day * – 2nd Wed.
• Uganda Independence Day 1962
• Washington Monument opened 1888
• World Post Day
• Yom Kipper *

Oct. 10

• Angel Food Cake Day
• Cake Decorating Day
• Fiji Independence Day 1970
• Author James Marshall born 1942
• Metric Day
• Republic of China/Taiwan National Day 1949
• World Mental Health Day
• World Sight Day * – 2nd Thurs.

Oct. 11

• Apollo 7 launched 1968
• Boer War Began 1880
• Coming Out Day
• Egg Day * – 2nd Fri.
• It’s My Party Day
• Remember Forever Day
• Eleanor Roosevelt born 1884

Oct. 12

• Cookbook Launch Day
• Fossil Day
• Freethought Day
• Moment of Frustration Day
• Old Farmer’s Day
• Star Spangled Banner First Sung 1814
• Universal Music Day * – 2nd Sat.

Oct. 13

• Chestnut Week * – 2nd full week
• Clergy Appreciation Day * – 2nd Sun.
• Earth Science Week begins
• English Language Day
• Food Bank Week * – week of the 16th
• Greenwich  Mean Time established 1884
• Patriot Molly Pitcher born 1754
• School Lunch Week * – 2nd full week
• Skeptics Day
• Margaret Thatcher born 1925
• White House Construction began 1792
• US Navy Established 1775
• Wolf Awareness Week *- 2nd full week

Oct. 14

• Battle of Hastings 1066
• Be Bald and Free Day
• Canadian Thanksgiving * – 2nd Mon.
• Columbus Day * – 2nd Mon.
• Dessert Day
• President Dwight Eisenhower born 1890
• Native American Day * – 2nd Mon.
• Nuclear Science Week *
• William Penn born 1644
• Photographic Film patented 1884
• Sukkot *

Oct. 15

• 1st Manned Balloon Flight (tethered), 1783
• Grouch Day
• Face Your Fears Day * -2nd Tues.
• Handwashing Day
• I Love Lucy Premier 1951
• International Day of Rural Women
• Poetry Day
• Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day
• Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity * – 3rd Tues.
• Veterinary Technician Week begins
• White Cane Safety Day