Holidays

Christmas

Holidays
Christmas
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Did you know? Many believe the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began in Victorian England, but the tradition of using the plant for good luck dates all the way back to ancient Druid rituals. elaborate

Fact 1 of 30

30 facts about Christmas

  1. 1
    During World War I, soldiers on opposing sides along the Western Front initiated an unofficial truce on Christmas Eve in 1914, emerging from their trenches to sing carols and exchange small gifts like cigarettes and chocolate.
  2. 2
    The tradition of sending Christmas cards was invented by Sir Henry Cole in 1843, simply because he was too busy to write individual letters to all his friends and family.
  3. 3
    In the 19th century, some people used to decorate their Christmas trees with lit candles, which meant they had to keep buckets of water or sand nearby to extinguish the frequent fires.
  4. 4
    Many people assume that Christmas carols have always been festive, but the term originally referred to a specific type of circle dance performed to singing.
  5. 5
    In Japan, a massive and highly successful marketing campaign in 1974 convinced millions of people that eating fried chicken from KFC is the traditional way to celebrate Christmas.
  6. 6
    The song Jingle Bells was originally written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas, and was titled One Horse Open Sleigh.
  7. 7
    Before it was associated with Christmas, the poinsettia plant was used by the ancient Aztecs to create a red dye and treat fevers.
  8. 8
    Many believe the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began in Victorian England, but the tradition of using the plant for good luck dates all the way back to ancient Druid rituals.
  9. 9
    The song White Christmas is officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the best-selling single of all time.
  10. 10
    In some parts of Austria, a scary character named Krampus is said to accompany Santa Claus to punish children who have been naughty.
  11. 11
    The star on top of a Christmas tree is traditionally meant to represent the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Wise Men.
  12. 12
    There is a town in Indiana called Santa Claus, which receives thousands of letters for Santa every year that are answered by local volunteers.
  13. 13
    A lot of people think Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was part of the original Santa legend, but he was actually invented in 1939 for a department store promotional coloring book.
  14. 14
    The very first artificial Christmas trees were made in Germany during the 19th century using goose feathers that were dyed green.
  15. 15
    In Ukraine, it is considered good luck to find a spider web on your Christmas tree, a tradition based on an old folktale about a poor widow whose tree was covered in webs that turned into gold.
  16. 16
    If Santa actually visited every home on Earth to deliver gifts, he would have to travel at roughly 1,800 miles per second to finish in 24 hours.
  17. 17
    In the 1600s, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas in England because he believed it was a time of excessive drinking and sinfulness that should be treated as a day of fasting.
  18. 18
    Christmas pudding was originally a thick porridge made with raisins, currants, wine, and spices, which was eaten to line the stomach after a long period of fasting.
  19. 19
    Many believe that Christmas is the day with the shortest period of daylight in the year, but the winter solstice actually occurs a few days before Christmas.
  20. 20
    The popular song Santa Claus Is Coming to Town was almost rejected by its writers because they thought it was too childish and sounded like a nursery rhyme.
  21. 21
    A giant straw goat, known as the Gavle Goat, is built in Sweden every year, and it has become a strange tradition for people to try to burn it down illegally.
  22. 22
    The official Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is recycled into mulch after the season ends, which is then donated to various local organizations.
  23. 23
    In Venezuela, it is considered a tradition to roller skate to early morning church services during the Christmas season.
  24. 24
    Most people think the term Xmas is a disrespectful shortening of Christmas, but the X is actually the Greek letter Chi, which has been used as a shorthand symbol for Christ for centuries.
  25. 25
    Before tinsel was made of plastic, it was originally invented in 1610 Germany as a way to mimic the shimmer of real silver, and it was often made of actual hammered silver.
  26. 26
    In the original version of The Night Before Christmas, the reindeer were named Dunder and Blixem, which are Dutch words for thunder and lightning.
  27. 27
    The song Silent Night was written in 1818 because the church organ in a small Austrian village had broken, so the priest wrote a simple melody to be played on a guitar instead.
  28. 28
    Many people believe the song Jingle Bells was written for Christmas, but it was actually composed for a Thanksgiving Sunday school program and was originally titled One Horse Open Sleigh.
  29. 29
    In Japan, a long-standing and extremely popular Christmas tradition is eating a bucket of KFC fried chicken, so much so that families place their orders weeks in advance.
  30. 30
    The tradition of putting up a Christmas tree was popularized in the United Kingdom by Prince Albert, who brought a fir tree from his native Germany to Windsor Castle in 1841.
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