When : Always October 30th
Mischief Night is today, errrr tonight! It is an evening when people traditionally participated in harmless (please) mischief. We stress harmless or innocent mischief. Other forms of mischief can lead to big trouble. Even seemingly harmless mischief can be the source of problems.
This night is discouraged by law enforcement organizations. The mischief is sometimes less than funny, and can even lead to vandalism or destructive.
Important: We neither encourage, nor endorse participation in this day. Why risk getting in trouble??
Historically, some common forms of mischief on this has included:
Egging houses and cars
Tossing a few rotten tomatoes
Toilet papering house trees, etc.
Knocking on doors, then running away
Have a happy, safe, and harmless Mischief Night.
Origin of Mischief Night:
Mischief Night appears to have roots in England back to the nineteenth century. Some documentation and readings has it occurring on Halloween night. Other, references, has is on the 30th.
This Day in History October 30th
Ballet of Chestnuts – a banquet held by Cesare Borgia in the Papal Palace where fifty prostitutes or courtesans are in attendance for the entertainment of the guests. (1501)
Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Ocho Rios during the Anglo-Spanish War. (1657)
Believing he is facing a much larger force, Prussian Lieutenant General Friedrich von Romberg, commanding 5,300 men, surrendered the city of Stettin to 800 French soldiers commanded by General Lassalle. (1806)
In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history. (1831)
Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch". (1864)
The Ottoman Empire signs an armistice with the Allies, ending the First World War in the Middle East. (1918)
The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney. (1920)
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States. (1938)
World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves U.S. $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations. (1941)
1,500 Jews from Pidhaytsi (in western Ukraine) are sent by Nazis to Belzec extermination camp. (1941)
Lt. Tony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier and canteen assistant Tommy Brown from HMS Petard board U-559, retrieving material which would lead to the decryption of the German Enigma code. (1942)
Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. (1944)
Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier. (1945)
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is founded. (1947)
Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat. (1953)
Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 50 megatons of yield, it is still the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise. (1961)
Vietnam War: Just miles from Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by wave after wave of Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. (1965)
In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War. (1970)
The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire. (1974)
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission. (1985)