25 Christmas Facts You Might Not Know!
Peter Pizagalli
Published
12/25/2014
Happy Holidays Too All!
- List View
- Player View
- Grid View
Advertisement
-
1.
Though mostly celebrated December 25th in the United States and other countries, Christmas is also celebrated on January 7 in some Eastern Orthodox countries, such as Russia. -
2.
Though Christmas celebrates the Birth of Jesus, the real date of Jesus' birth is not known. -
3.
What is considered The Christmas story is told primarily in the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament -
4.
Even thought Christmas is considered the most popular Christian observance, Christmas is also celebrated as a secular family holiday -
5.
The word Christmas comes from the Old English phrase Cristes maesse Christ's mass. -
6.
The tradition of substituting X-mas for Christmas has its origins in the early Christian church. The first letter of Jesus Christ's name is X in the Greek language -
7.
Many of the customs and symbols that are traditionally associated with Christmas find their origins in ancient pagan festivals and winter solstice rituals -
8.
The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany in the 16th century and became popular in England by the mid-19th century. -
9.
Santa Claus was a real person named St. Nicholas who lived in the 4th century AD in the province of Lycia on the southwest coast of Asia Minor -
10.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with creating the current image of Santa Claus based on his illustrations from Harpers Weekly in 1863 -
11.
Expected holiday spending for November and December of 2014 is around 602 billion, according to the National Retail Federation, thats an increase of 4.1percent over 2013 -
12.
The United States Post Office is anticipating 450 to 470 million packages this holiday season. Thats 12 more packages than the previous year -
13.
The songs Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rockin Around The Christmas Tree, and Holly Jolly Christmas were written by Jewish songwriter Johnny Marks -
14.
The most expensively decorated Christmas tree was valued at 11,026,900 and was erected in the Emirates Palace UAE in 2010 -
15.
Talking about Christmas trees, Did you know that Christmas trees were first decorated with foods such as apples, nuts and dates -
16.
And that electric Christmas lights were first used in 1895 -
17.
Giving presents was once banned by the Catholic Church. It was believed that gift giving was connected to paganism -
18.
Thurl Ravenscroft, who sang Youre a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, was also the famous voice of Tony the Tiger, the mascot for Kelloggs Frosted Flakes. -
19.
There are two islands named Christmas. Christmas Island formerly Kiritimati in the Pacific Ocean and Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. -
20.
St. Francis of Assisi began the custom of singing Christmas carols in church in the 13th century -
21.
Jingle Bells was the first song performed in space -
22.
The traditional Christmas meal in England before turkey was mustard and a pig's head. -
23.
The world's biggest snowman was 113 feet tall and was built in Maine. -
24.
From 1659 to 1681, Christmas celebrations were illegal in New England. -
25.
Most of Santas reindeer have male-sounding names. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, which means that the reindeer pulling Santas sleigh are likely female.
8 Comments