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In September 2015, a rumor started circulating via Twitter that the Halloween celebrated on Oct. 31, 2015, would be the 666th such event in history. If we assume that Halloween celebrations are held annually, this rumor suggests that the first Halloween took place in 1350. But Halloween does not have any definitive beginning (the holiday evolved over a long period of time and was influenced by several different cultures), and there is no basis for the notion that the first Halloween was held in 1350: While Nicholas Rogers argued in his book Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night that festivals commemorating the saints as opposed to the original Christian martyrs appear to have been observed by 800, it is unclear when these festivals became what we know now as Halloween. According to various dictionaries, the word Halloween itself originated in the mid-18th century, a shortening of a term that dates to the mid-16th century: In the United States, Halloween was initially known as an occasion for playing pranks; the modern form of Halloween celebration didn't gain widespread popularity there until the early 20th century. Anoka, Minnesota, is often credited with holding the first official Halloween celebration in the United States, which took place in 1920: It's impossible to pinpoint an exact year for the first Halloween, and the rumor about 2015's seeing the 666th Halloween seems to be an offshoot of earlier joke memes claiming that in the current year Halloween would fall on Friday the 13th for the first time in 666 years.
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