Christmas Facts

Sure, most of us believe we know a lot about Christmas, but here are some interesting facts about this delightful holiday.

• Pope Julius I declared Christ’s birthday as December 25th sometime during the 4th century.
• Christmas trees received their first written acknowledgement in Germany in 1531.
• The tradition of hanging stockings over the fireplace derived from Dutch children placing their shoes next to the fireplace on Christmas Eve. Stockings later replaced the shoes.
• Until the turkey, a goose was the most popular fare served at a Christmas meal.
• The popular Christmas carol Silent Night was written by an Austrian priest named Joseph Mohr in 1818 as a result of a broken church organ.
• Santa has a calculated 31 hours to thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west.
• Christmas trees such a Douglas fir and Evergreen are grown in all 50 states of America.
• The abbreviation of Christmas to Xmas partially comes from the Greek letter ‘chi’, the first letter of the word ‘Christos’, meaning ‘Christ’.
• Australian priests suggest saying “Happy Christmas” instead of Merry Christmas since “merry” often referred to drinking alcohol.
• Bing Crosby’s Christmas classic “White Christmas” is the best-selling Christmas song of all time.
• Alabama was the first state in America to proclaim Christmas day as a legal holiday in 1836.
• Oklahoma was the last state to proclaim Christmas day as a legal holiday in 1907.
• Poet Clark Moore is credited with naming Santa’s reindeer; Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Doneder, Prancer, and the most famous reindeer, Rudolph.
• The colours in Santa Claus’ suit, red and white, were the creation of artist Haddon Sundblom. Sundblom was commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company to redesign Santa Claus, although, Thomas Nast was the first artist to illustrate Santa Claus.
• Austria issued the first Christmas stamp in 1937.
• The first United States President, Franklin Pierce, was the first in 1856 to decorate a Christmas tree in the White House.
• While working for inventor Thomas Edison, Edward Johnson had lights crafted especially for his Christmas tree leading to the popularization of Christmas tree light.
• The red stripe in the candy cane was intended by the inventor as the blood of Christ.
• Mistletoe myth states should a woman appearing under the mistletoe not receive a kiss, she will not marry the following year.
• The first Christmas card was designed by John Horsley in 1840 but was not sold until 1843.
• Christmas wreaths of holly and berries are believed to represent Christ’s thorns and blood.
• In Mexico, the poinsettia plant is called “Flower of the Holy Night”.
• Tinsel became a popular Christmas tree adornment after a mythical spider created sprawling webs from branch to branch. It is believe the Christ Child changed the webs to a silver colour.