 Light up the jack-o'-lanterns and hand me some candy, because it's almost Halloween. How did Halloween shed its roots as an ancient pagan holiday? Become an excuse for teens to set Detroit on fire and grow to a $9 billion industry that even U.S. presidents can't escape. Hi, I'm Natalie, and this is the bizarre history of Halloween. The history of Halloween begins over 2,000 years ago in ancient Ireland. The Celts celebrated the New Year on November 1st during a festival called Sewin, not Samhain. Anyway, Sewin was all about death. On Sewin Eve, Celts believed the line between the living and the dead was blurred, and the ghosts of the dead would come back to earth. During Sewin, the Celts built huge bonfires and would toss in crops and animals as a sacrifice to their gods. They'd also wear costumes made of animal heads and skins, which experts think were designed to confuse spirits and avoid being possessed. When Christianity reached Celtic lands in the 800s, the Pope made it his mission to override pagan holidays with Catholic ones, and Sewin was replaced with All Saints Day. Despite the Church's wild attempts to kill pagan customs, Sewin continued to be celebrated, but by a new name from the Middle English word for All Saints Day, All Hallows. Sewin was now All Hallows Eve. And now it's time for All Hallows Eve to cross the Atlantic, which, by the way, the word Halloween came into vogue thanks to a Scottish poet in 1785. Halloween finally became popular in America in the mid-1800s, thanks to the descendants of the originators of the holiday. Starting in 1845, millions of Irish and Scottish immigrants came to the U.S., and they wanted to celebrate like they had in the homeland by pulling epic pranks. In Scotland, boys would do really obnoxious sh**, like lighting a cabbage stalk on fire and shoving it into a house so it fills with smoke. And in Ireland, they'd carve faces into turnips to scare people, which, by the way, is where jack-o'-lanterns came from. American boys embraced this prank tradition with enthusiasm. City kids took it to truly heroic levels, tripping pedestrians, setting fires, even stealing dead bodies. You know, kid stuff. And when you're so committed to pranks that you're literally digging up the dead, it's no coincidence that Halloween costumes at this time were all about concealing your identity. But these disguises weren't just for body snatchers. Rather than dressing up as a character, the idea was not to be recognized. Do I know you? But back to pranks. They only got worse during the Great Depression, because what else was there to do? It was fun to do bad things. Law-abiding citizens in the U.S. were getting fed up. Some cities even considered banning Halloween. But as marketing geniuses have proven time and again, all it needed was a little rebranding. And so, Halloween becomes a family-friendly holiday. In response to the out-of-control pranking, community leaders and parents started to program organized Halloween activities, which eventually morphed into kids going trick-or-treating. Starting in the 50s, spoiled boomers wanted candy and pranks. This isn't fair. Well, is it fair that all you did was put on a cape and I gotta give you free stuff? Shut up! In the Midwest and East Coast, young people turned the night before Halloween into an unofficial holiday, Mischief Night, which started the ongoing tradition of egging houses, spraying shaving cream and teaping trees and bushes. But Mischief Night was a little more intense in Detroit and other Michigan cities. There, it was called Devil's Night, and basically an excuse for teens to set **** on fire. This reached a peak in 1984, when over 800 fires were set across Detroit. Tonight, an orgy of arson and the massive effort to fight the flames. As the 50s continued, Halloween turned into big business. Candy companies launched national ad campaigns to capitalize on trick-or-treating, and mass-produced costumes became more affordable. It's nothing more than a plastic bag and a rubber band. Kids can have a lot of fun with a toy like this. Halloween finally started to play a bigger role in pop culture. In 1951, the Peanuts Gang showed up in ghost costumes and three comic strips. The next year, Donald Duck starred in a short that showed kids all over the world exactly how to trick-or-treat. By the time we get to the 70s, adults realized they could celebrate Halloween too. Presidential masks became a thing thanks to Tricky Dick and Watergate. This scandal made Americans more wary of government, and stores started selling masks of other politicians too. And this William Shatner mask was a big seller in the late 70s and 80s, but not for the reason you would think. Halloween's costume designers spray-painted the mask white, and Michael Myers was born. Second wave feminism, the rise of gay Halloween parades, and the post-sexual revolution gave rise to costumes like sexy red riding hood, naughty nuns, and sexy swap police. Today, pretty much anything can qualify as a sexy Halloween costume. Please won't you be my neighbor. And nothing screams sexy like U.S. presidents. Since Eisenhower, every POTUS has hosted a Halloween celebration. In the 90s, the Clintons and gores really set the bar high. Keep Hillary and Bill as James and Dolly Madison, and Al and Tipper as this, and this? Every time I look at this photo, I can't help but think of that bear scene as shining. Which brings us to modern-day Halloween, which is bigger than ever. Americans spent a cool 9 billion on the holiday in 2018. At the same time, some Halloween trends, unfortunately, haven't died. We apparently haven't figured out how to stop doing racist costumes. If you're considering playing off racist stereotypes using black or brown face, or appropriating another culture, here's a tip. Justin Trudeau said he is deeply sorry. Don't. Halloween hiccup for Julian Haas. Don't. The outfit cause outrage. Don't. The point is, even though Halloween has gone through a ton of changes over the years, there's something about it that continues to fascinate us. That's partly because of its historical roots in helping us deal with our own mortality. We don't understand death. So if dressing up as Chester the Cheetah and stuffing your face with candy corn makes you feel better about your own mortality, what's the harm? Hey guys, thanks so much for watching this video. I had a lot of fun making it. If you like what you saw, check out my other episodes of Bizarre History of, which you can do right here. And please, if you have any ideas for future episodes, comment below. As always, make sure to subscribe to attention, and we'll see you next time. Thanks.