1. Pumpkins are actually giant fruit! Because pumpkins develop from a flower and contain seeds on the inside, botanists classify them as fruit—specifically a type of large, hard-skinned berry called a pepo!

2. They are 90% water. Even though a pumpkin feels super solid and heavy, its thick flesh is made up of about 90% water, placing it in the same hydration category as watermelons and cucumbers.

3. The heaviest pumpkin weighed over 2,700 pounds! Giant-pumpkin growers compete every year to raise massive gourds. The world record holder, grown in Minnesota, weighed a staggering 2,749 pounds (1,247 kg)—heavier than a small sports car!

4. Every pumpkin has about 500 seeds. Inside a average-sized pumpkin, you'll find hundreds of slick, flat seeds! When baked in an oven with a little salt, pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas) make a crunchy, nutritious snack packed with zinc and magnesium.

5. The word "pumpkin" comes from the Greek word for "large melon." The word evolved from the ancient Greek term pepon (meaning a large, sun-ripened melon), which the French changed to pompon, the English to pumpion, and early American colonists finally to pumpkin!

6. They grow on every continent except Antarctica. Native to Central America and Mexico, pumpkins are adaptable squash plants grown all over the world today—every single continent except icy Antarctica produces them!

7. Morton, Illinois, is the Pumpkin Capital of the World. Over 80% of all the canned pumpkin sold across the entire United States is processed in a single town: Morton, Illinois, home to the massive Libby's pumpkin packing plant!