October 26 is National Pumpkin Day, both in the states and in the UK. Technically a fruit, the pumpkin is a winter squash which is believed to have originated in North America about 9,000 years ago. The word “pumpkin” itself originates from “peopon,” meaning “large melon” in Greek, this evolved to “pompon” in French and “pumpion” in Britain, and finally “pumpkin” in the United States. Pumpkins are a beloved symbol of all things autumn and Halloween, and have been since the 19th century, when Irish immigrants brought their Halloween tradition of using vegetables to scare spirits away across the pond. Here, they discovered pumpkins were easier to carve than their traditional turnips.