December 24, 2010

30 Christmas Facts

I'm compiling 30 Christmas Facts from many sources here. So that you can enjoy it in one simple blog. Enjoy.

1. The word Christmas is Old English, a contraction of Christ's Mass.

2. Germany made the first artificial Christmas trees. They were made of goose feathers and dyed green.

3. Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.

4. Rudolph" was actually created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930's for a holiday promotion. The rest is history.

5. Jingle Bells" was first written for Thanksgiving and then became one of the most popular Christmas songs.

6. Mistletoe was chosen as Oklahoma's state flower in 1893 and later changed to the state floral emblem.

7. In 1843, "A Christmas Carol" was written by Charles Dickens in just six weeks.

8. In Mexico, wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve is said to bring new love in the upcoming year.

9. Clearing up a common misconception, in Greek, X means Christ. That is where the word "X-Mas" comes from. Not because someone took the "Christ" out of Christmas.

10. Christmas became a national holiday in America on June, 26, 1870.

11. The Nutcracker" is the most famous Christmas ballet.

12. Santa Clause gets his origins from St. Nicholas a generous man from the 4th Century A.D. who helped children and the poor and often threw gifts threw children's windows to make them happy. The story was brought to America by Dutch immigrants who called the man "Sinter Klaas."

13. Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa Clause for a winter promotion.

14. Christmas trees are edible. The needles on pines, spruces and firs are actually a good source of Vitamin C and the pine cones are a good source of nutrition. So forget about the orange juice and go munch on your Christmas tree.

15. There are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children. They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December 12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.

16. In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.

17. Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.

18. The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.


19. The first Christmas card was designed in 1843 by J.C. Horsley.

20. 'Klaxon' is a name that does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer. A klaxon is actually a powerful electric horn. Its name comes from a German word meaning "shriek".

21. In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas morning, it is believed to be a harbinger of good luck!

22. In 1949, Gene Autry sang a musical version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

23.Once, it was against the law in the state of Massachusetts to celebrate Christmas.

24. Santa Clause was born in Turkey.

25. Henry Cole was the director of the Victoria and Albert museum in London and in 1843 he forgot to send out his usual Christmas letters so he designed a card with a Christmas wish and sent it to all his friends and started a trend.

26. In 16th-century Germany fir trees were decorated, both indoors and out, with apples, roses, gilded candies, and colored paper.

27. How many houses must Santa visit on Christmas? 842,000,000 houses!

28. How fast must he travel to visit all those homes? 4,796,250 Mph

29. Artificial trees are the most popular with 40,694,463 on display in comparison to real trees at 34,335,809

30. Mistletoe was used by Druid priests 200 years before the birth of Christ in their winter celebrations. They revered the plant since it had no roots yet remained green during the cold months of winter.

And I'll post some pictures you can use for you display picture and all during Christmas. Check it out.








And I wanna say Merry Christmas to you, and may you have a blessed and joyful Christmas! Thanks for reading :)

Sources:
http://www.christmas-celebrations.com/trivia.htm
http://media.www.smsuspur.net/media/storage/paper514/news/2007/12/05/Commentary/Twenty.Fun.Christmas.Facts-3137399.shtml
http://www.funtrivia.com/en/World/Christmas-11334.html
http://www.funfactz.com/christmas-facts/
http://www.allthingschristmas.com/traditions.html
http://www.uberreview.com/2006/12/ten-christmas-facts-that-you-didnt-know.htm

Photos:
http://mycommentcodes.com/comments/merry-christmas/cute-christmas-cat.gif
http://www.psdeluxe.com/images/stories/webtuts/x_mas_wallpapers/merry-christmas-wallpapers.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29h1WAQjI7xSwddmpwolvQGGga3YFzMO2XMTIavypl8PnO6ySEXWOnuIXRGc2t-KgjU-Bw21zu-LN37Qsn5BN2d9LAXOXuGdj5I1Grk2cwaE00uYKAv6G0Gu0EtuFCQU9z4lhodlbfvw/s1600/cute-santa-cartoon-wallpaper.jpg
http://www.supershareware.com/images/screenshot/ALTools_Christmas_Desktop_Wallpaper-24039.jpg
http://www.software-dungeon.co.uk/images/566_ALTDTW_Christmas_thumb_320x384.jpg
http://459.fauxball.com/christmas/Dog_Christmas_cartoon.jpg
http://item.slide.com/r/1/187/i/v2UPsvEB5T9QVhk1UstxGSftnyIldRjZ/

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