1 - Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.
2 - All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.
3 -“Hot cockles” was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. “Hot cockles” was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era.
4 - Speedy Santa
US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world’s presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.
5 - Three Wise Men?
DESPITE the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number. Matthew’s Gospel refers to merely “wise men”.
6 - The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.
7 - The Many Names of Santa
SANTA has different names around the world – Kriss Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France and Deushka Moroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia.
8 - Santa’s sleigh doesn’t travel at the speed of light
Despite what you might think about Santa’s ability to visit every good boy and girl’s home in the world in one night (and if you’re over the age of 10 and still scratching your head about it, you might want to evaluate your priorities), it’s not as astronomical of a feat as you might think.
9 - Christmas Pudding
CHRISTMAS pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.
10 - Cracker Design
LONDON sweetmaker Tom Smith created the first Christmas crackers in 1847, based on the sweet wrapper design.
5 - Three Wise Men?
DESPITE the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number. Matthew’s Gospel refers to merely “wise men”.
6 - The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.
7 - The Many Names of Santa
SANTA has different names around the world – Kriss Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France and Deushka Moroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia.
8 - Santa’s sleigh doesn’t travel at the speed of light
Despite what you might think about Santa’s ability to visit every good boy and girl’s home in the world in one night (and if you’re over the age of 10 and still scratching your head about it, you might want to evaluate your priorities), it’s not as astronomical of a feat as you might think.
9 - Christmas Pudding
CHRISTMAS pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.
10 - Cracker Design
LONDON sweetmaker Tom Smith created the first Christmas crackers in 1847, based on the sweet wrapper design.
