OCTOBER 2010 International holidays and observances

              October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Latin "octo" meaning "eight") after July and August, after Julius and Augustus Caesar respectively, when the calendar was originally created by the Romans.
October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.
 October Symbols

• October's birthstone is the opal. The opal is thought to have the power to predict illness. This is because the opal responds to heat. Sickness increases body temperature before signs of illness appear. The increased body heat causes the opal to lose its shine, leaving it dull and lacking color. It is also said that the opal will crack if it is worn by someone who was not born in October.
• Its birth flower is the calendula. 

The Zodiac sign for those born in this month is either Libra or Scorpio, depending on which day you were born.

Ocber International  Observance:

• First Monday of October - World Habitat Day, recognized by the UN

• October 1 - International Day of Older Persons, recognized by the UN

• October 1 - World Vegetarian Day

• October 2 - International Day of Non-Violence, recognized by the UN, observed on M.K. Gandhi's birthday 

Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in modern social and political activism,
considered these traits to be the most spiritually perilous to humanity.