| Interesting Christmas Facts: |
|---|
| 👍 The word Christmas originates from the words Christ’s Mass. In old English (first recorded in 1038) it was referred to as Cristesmæsse, which literally means ‘Christian Mass’. |
| 👍 A common figure known throughout the world and associated with Christmas is Santa Claus. Other popular Christmas figures include Christkind, Saint Nicholas, and Father Christmas. |
| 👍 Anglo-Saxons referred to the holiday as ‘midwinter’ or ‘nativity’. |
| 👍 The word Noel entered the English language in the late 1300s. It originated from the Latin word ‘natalis’ which means ‘day of birth’. |
| 👍 Christmas decorations that are popular today include Christmas trees, Christmas lights, wreaths, garland, holly, mistletoe, and nativity scenes. |
| 👍 Christmas lights were invented in 1882 by Edward Johnson. |
| 👍 The first evidence of a Christmas tree is from a pamphlet that dates back to 1570. |
| 👍 In order for Santa to visit all the homes on Christmas Eve he would have to visit 822 homes each second. |
| 👍 The tradition of hanging stockings comes from a Dutch custom. They would leave shoes full of food for St. Nicolas’ donkeys and St. Nicholas would then leave small gifts in return. |
| 👍 12th century nuns left socks full of nuts, fruit and tangerines at the doors of the poor. This is where the tradition of putting tangerines in stockings came from. |
| 👍 The three wise men who visited Mary and Joseph when Jesus was born brought gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts. Some believe that Jesus was born in a cave and not a stable. |
| 👍 The tradition of Christmas caroling began as an old English custom. It was originally called wassailing and was a toast to long life. |
| 👍 St. Francis of Assisi began the custom of singing Christmas carols in church in the 13th century. |
| 👍 There are approximately 60 million trees grown in Europe each year. |
| 👍 The letter X in Xmas is a Greek abbreviation for Christ. |
| 👍 In 1950 the world’s largest Christmas tree was placed in a Washington Mall. It was 221 feet high. |
| 👍 Jingle Bells was originally written by James Pierpont in 1857, for Thanksgiving not Christmas. It was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh. |
| 👍 The traditional Christmas meal in England before turkey was mustard and a pig’s head. |
| 👍 The world’s biggest snowman was 113 feet tall and was built in Maine. |
| 👍 The Christmas wreath is symbolic of Jesus. The red berries symbolize his blood and the holly represents the crown of thorns. |
| 👍 In Germany they call Santa Kriss Kringle; in Italy they call him Le Befana; in France they call him Pere Noel. |
| 👍 The best-selling Christmas song ever is White Christmas by Bing Crosby. It has sold more than 50 million copies around the world. |
| 👍 Christmas is one of the most profitable times of year for many businesses. |
