93 Interesting Facts About Christmas You Probably Didn't Know | Legacy Facts

# Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, which marks Jesus Christ's birth. The exact date and month of the birth of Jesus however are unknown.

# The term Christmas originates from the words of the Mass of Christ. It was referred to as Cristesmæsse in old English (first recorded in 1038), which literally means "Christian Mass."

# The letter X in Xmas is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

# Initially, the Christmas wreath was hung as a symbol of Jesus. The holly represents his thorn crown and the red berries represent the blood he shed.

# Most Christmas decorations have 3 traditional colors which are red, green, and gold. Red symbolizes Christ's blood, green symbolizes life and rebirth, and gold represents the light, royalty, and wealth.

# 25 December - 5 January: "Christmastide" or "Twelve Holy Days."

# The image of Santa Claus flying his sleigh began in 1819 and was created by the author, Washington Irving, who dreamed up the Headless Horseman.

# In fact, Noel comes from "Les bonnes Nouvelles" or "The good news" in French.

# In 1882, Edward Johnson invented the Christmas Lights.

# The first evidence of a Christmas tree comes from a pamphlet dating back to 1570.

# Supposedly the first decorated Christmas tree in Latvia was in 1510.

# In Germany, the first printed reference to a Christmas tree was made in 1531.

# In 1610, tinsel was invented in Germany and was once made of real silver.

# One million letters are sent to Santa Claus every Christmas under his own postal code: "H0H 0H0, North Pole, Canada."

# In the United States, all the letters addressed to Santa go to Santa Claus, Indiana.

# In 1836, Alabama was the first U.S. state to declare Christmas as a legal holiday, and in 1907 Oklahoma became the last State.

# Until 26 June 1870, Christmas was not declared an official holiday in the U.S.

#Santa Claus would have to travel at 3,000 times the speed of sound to visit every child in the world.

# Santa would have to visit 822 homes per second in order to visit all the homes on Christmas Eve.

# There are two islands named "Christmas" in the world-one in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Indian Ocean.

# The first postage stamp for Christmas was issued in the USA in 1962.

# Spiders in Poland are considered as Christmas symbols of prosperity and goodness. Spiders and spider webs are actually often used as decorations for the Christmas tree. A spider wove baby Jesus a blanket to keep him warm according to legend.

# The tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir, according to the Guinness World Records, which was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.

# In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the world's largest floating Christmas tree was 278 feet tall.

# A 122-foot, 91-year-old Douglas fir is believed to be the tallest living Christmas tree in Woodinville, Washington.

# British people say "Happy Christmas" because the word "merry" also meant "intoxicated" in the nineteenth century, and they decided to separate it from public insobriety.

# Thirteen percent of UK families will always attend church on Christmas Day.

# The popular Christmas song "Jingle Bells" was composed by James Pierpont in Massachusetts, United States. It was written for Thanksgiving and not for Christmas.

# Bing Crosby's White Christmas song is the best selling Christmas song ever. It has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

# The Montgomery Ward department store has created Rudolph the Reindeer as a marketing gimmick to encourage kids to buy their Christmas coloring books.

# For many businesses Christmas is one of the most profitable times of the year.

# Coca-Cola was the first company to use Santa Claus for promotion during the winter season.

# Nova Scotia is the leading Christmas Tree exporter in the world.

# Christmas trees generally grow approximately 15 years before being sold.

# In Catalonia (Spain), the Christmas presents are pooped out by a smiley-faced piece of wood named "Shitting Log."

# Every Christmas Eve, a large part of the Swedish population watches Donald Duck cartoons-a tradition that began in 1960.

# The first batch of American eggnog was made in 1607 in the settlement of Jamestown. Its name derives from the word "grog" which means any drink made of rum. The non-alcoholic eggnog is also popular.

# Approximately 28 LEGO sets are sold per second during the Christmas season.

# In the United States alone, over three billion Christmas cards are sent every year. The "Christmas Cards" business is huge if you're looking for one.

# In 2015, Sir Henry Cole commissioned the world's first Christmas card in 1843 sold for £8,469 ($10,513.84). A family drinking wine was pictured on the hand-colored card.

# In 1915, Hallmark introduced its first Christmas cards.

# Originally, the Christmas-card staple, the red robin, was a joke mocking postman wearing the red tunics. These postmen were called robins.

# KFC is a traditional Christmas Eve Feast in Japan.

# According to tradition, to bring good luck, you should eat one mince pie on each of the 12 Christmas days.

# Christmas Eve in Japan is a time for eating strawberry shortcake and fried chicken.

# Initially the Christmas pudding was a soup made from raisins and wine.

# In 1847, Tom Smith made the first Christmas crackers in London.

# The British wear crowns made of paper while having a Christmas dinner. The crowns are stored in a tube known as "Christmas Cracker."

# In 1991, Australia pulled the largest Christmas cracker which was 45.72 m in length and 3.04 m in diameter.

# There's a website called Christmas.com. However, this website is a web-based commercial space. You can shop a variety of stuff and products related to this giant festival celebrated in different parts of the world.

# The Christmas candy cane originates as straight white sticks in Germany 250 years ago.

# Children are given gifts on December 6, rather than on Christmas Day in some European countries.

# The average American family spends around $1,000 on Christmas gifts every year.

# The Statue of Liberty was gifted by France to the United States in 1886 on Christmas day. It weighs 225 tons and you can, therefore, consider it the world's biggest Christmas gift.

# In November, Norwegians pay half tax, so everybody gets more money for Christmas.

# A survey found that during the holiday season, 1 in 3 Jews in the United States put up a Christmas tree in their house.

# If you don't get new clothes for Christmas, according to Icelandic legend, there's a giant Yule Cat that'll eat you.

# “White Christmas”, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Winter Wonderland”, “The Christmas Song” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” plus the melody for “O Holy Night” were all written or co-written by Jews.

# The city of Boston has received a giant Christmas tree from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia as a gift since 1918. During their 1917 explosion and subsequent fire disaster, Boston provided significant support to the City of Halifax.

# Back in the 1930s, a British toilet brush company invented artificial Christmas trees. To make the trees, the company used the same machinery and bristles as they used in make their toilet brushes.

# The town of Gavle, Sweden, erects a giant straw goat for Christmas every year since 1966, and it is burned almost every year by vandals.

# People called "Mummers" dress up in crude disguises during Christmas in Newfoundland, and go from house to house dancing and playing music while the hosts try to identify them.

# A Peruvian village settles its grudges on Christmas Day by fist fighting, then go drinking and start the New Year on a clean slate.

# Every year, the Christmas tree at Trafalgar Square is donated to the people of London by the people of Oslo, Norway, in thanks for their assistance during WW2.

# In 2010, the most expensive Christmas tree was built. It was valued at £ 6,975,880 ($8,660,206), and was on display in Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace. It was adorned with 181 pieces of jewelry.

# Approximately 200 Christmas trees catch fire across the United States every year.

# Santa Claus is a Marvel character. He has powers that include teleportation and shape-shifting ability, and on Christmas Eve he once saved the X-Men.

# Some cities spray trees with fox urine during Christmas time to punish tree thieves who illegally cut down trees. It freezes on them and is odorless outside, but if brought indoors, it would stink up your entire house; the smell is "eye-watering."

# The Catholic Church endorsed Christmas ham, originally a pagan tradition, as a test of truthful conversion from Judaism.

# South Korean Christians set up a visible Christmas tree from the North Korean border in 2014. North Korea responded and threatened to bomb it by calling it a "psychological warfare tool."

# Every year in Anchorage, Alaska, a giant snowman called Snowzilla is made. The city tried to stop Snowzilla's creation in 2008, and there were sign-carrying snowmen "protesting" that attempt in front of the city hall on Christmas morning.

# In 1999, Maine state residents in America created the biggest ever snowman in the world. He stood 113 ft in height.

# In Japan, unmarried women were called "Christmas Cakes" in their late 20s because "they aren't good after the 25th."

# New Zealand bans all advertising on television on Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, and ANZAC Day.

# The US Air Force has airdropped gifts over the islands of Micronesia every Christmas since 1952, making it the oldest ongoing Defense Department mission and the world's longest-running humanitarian airlift.

# President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up by one week so that the Christmas shopping season could start earlier.

# In 1901, president Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House.

# In 1980, the Rubik was the most-selling Christmas toy. It sold for $1.99 at that time and is retailing for $10 today.

# American children used to get Christmas radioactive toys.

# The weeks before Christmas, according to data analyzed from Facebook, is the most popular time for couples to break up.

# During the late 1300's the term Noel entered the English language. It came from the Latin word "Natalis," meaning "birthday."

# Until 1836, Christmas was illegal in the United States since it was considered an Ancient Pagan Holiday.

# After the English Civil War, Christmas was banned in the United Kingdom by Cromwell for 13 years, from 1647 to 1660.

# SpaceX and Tesla were literally hours from bankruptcy on Christmas Eve in 2008 until Elon Musk managed to secure $20 M from investors in those final hours. Two days later, SpaceX signed a $1.6B contract with NASA.

# The big red Christmas truck from Coca-Cola, a modern Christmas icon, has its own twitter account @ChristmasTruck; this has been tweeted more than 57 million times in 2013.

# Two extremely wealthy entrepreneurs, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller sent each other gag Christmas gifts. Rockefeller sent a cardboard vest for Carnegie to make fun of his poor childhood. Carnegie, in return, sent Rockefeller a fine whiskey, a devout Baptist who had given up drinking.

# "Jingle Bells" – was the first song sung in space on 16 December 1965 by astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra.

# There's a pill called "Father Christmas" that makes your farts smell like chocolate.

# The word "Boxing Day" is meant to come from the money collected in church alms-boxes for the poor.

# The US Army asked Americans to loan their dogs to the war effort during WW2. The handlers of the dogs even sent letters for Christmas to their owners and to inform them of the performance of their dog throughout the war.

# Tim Burton stopped Disney from making a Nightmare Before Christmas sequel because it wouldn't have been made using stop motion animation. Instead, Columbus made Home Alone; the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time.

# Tim Burton stopped Disney from making a Nightmare Before Christmas sequel because it wouldn't have been made using stop motion animation.

# In National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the actress who played Aunt Bethany was the same lady who provided the voice for Betty Boop and Olive Oyl.

If you are interested then check out our "Facts About Valentine's Day"

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