Did you know pumpkins weren't the original carving vegetables of choice?
Gourds, turnips, and beets were originally used for carving jack-o-lanterns as Halloween decorations. But since pumpkins are more common in the Americas, they eventually replaced the other vegetables, thanks to European immigrants.
That's just one of the many facts in this week's Halloween-themed video from our sister site, Mental Floss. Some of the other interesting facts include candy corn's original name, "chicken feed," which was advertised with the slogan that it was "something worth crowing for." And to make the video even more entertaining, host John Green dons a variety of (slightly terrifying) animal masks throughout the episode. --Meghan DeMaria
The Week
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