Know why people carve pumpkins on Halloween night?

People carve pumpkins or turnips into jack-o’-lanterns and light them on Halloween night because of an old tradition that originated in the British Isles. According to an Irish legend, a man named Stingy Jack tricked the Devil and was cursed to wander the earth with only a burning coal inside a hollowed turnip to light his way. The Irish called him Jack of the Lantern, or Jack O’Lantern for short.

On Halloween, the Irish and the Scottish would carve scary faces on turnips, potatoes, or beets and place them in windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other evil spirits. They also believed that the lanterns would guide the souls of their ancestors on Samhain, a Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.

When Irish immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve than turnips. They soon adopted the pumpkin as their preferred lantern for Halloween. The tradition spread across the country and became a symbol of the spooky holiday.