Interesting Facts about Christmas

Christmas Day is an annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas Day is celebrated by millions of Christians around the world, usually on December 25th.

There is no mention of December 25 in the Bible and most historians actually believe he was born in the spring.

The Christmas wreath was originally hung as a symbol of Jesus.

Jesus was actually born in a cave.

Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1907.

The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25, AD 336 in Rome.

It is also a popular holiday celebrated by non-Christians.

The popular customs of celebrating Christmas include gift-giving, sending holiday cards, Christmas trees and lights, caroling, a feast and church celebrations.

The well-known reason we give presents at Christmas is to symbolize the gifts given to baby Jesus by the three wise men.

The word Christmas originates from the words Christ's Mass.

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 letter X in Xmas is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

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

Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S

The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day. It is also the holy day of St. Stephen.

There are two islands named Christmas.  Christmas Island (formerly Kiritimati) in the Pacific Ocean and Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

CHRISTMAS pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.

 An estimated 1 of 3 people worldwide celebrate Christmas, including 2.1 Billion Christians.

There are about 7,038,044,500 people in the world, so about 23,460,148 celebrate Christmas.

The Candy Cane is one of the most familiar symbols of Christmas.

Every Christmas, 1 million letters are addressed to Santa Claus.

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

During the Christmas season, almost 28 LEGO sets are sold every second.

British people say "Happy Christmas" because in the 19th century the word "merry" also meant "intoxicated" so they wanted to separate it from public insobriety.

Interesting Facts about Christmas Trees

The first use of the term ‘Christmas tree’ in English was in 1835.

The use of evergreen trees to celebrate the winter season occurred before the birth of Christ.

A ‘Tree of Paradise’ was also used in old mystery plays to symbolise the Garden of Eden.

Apples hung on it may be the origin of tree decorations.

The most popular Christmas trees are: Scotch pine, Douglas fir, noble fir, Fraser fir, balsam fir, Virginia pine and white pine.

The first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia in 1510.

Real Christmas trees came eighth in a survey of the nation’s favourite smells in 2004, just behind the sea but ahead of perfume.

The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531.

Manufactured Christmas tree ornaments were first sold by Woolworths in 1880.

Using small candles to light a Christmas tree dates back to the middle of the 17th century.

The average Christmas tree contains about 30,000 bugs and insects.

Helicopters help to lift harvested Christmas trees from farms.

Martin Luther is credited with the idea of lights on Christmas trees.

In the United States, there are more than 15,000 Christmas tree farms.

Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons.

Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Washington, New York, and Virginia are the top Christmas tree producing states.

 England’s first Christmas tree was brought to Windsor by Charlotte, wife of George III, in 1800

Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees in 1882.

Christmas tree lights were first mass-produced in 1890.

28 million Christmas trees were sold in 2001.

An acre of Christmas trees provides the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people.

Christmas trees can remove dust and pollen from the air.

In 1856 Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, was the first President to place a Christmas tree in the White House.

In 1979, the National Christmas Tree was not lit except for the top ornament. This was done to honor the American hostages in Iran.

In 1984, the National Christmas tree was lit on December 13thwith temperatures in the 70's, making it one of the warmest tree lightings in history.

98 percent of all Christmas trees are grown on farms, while only 2% are cut from the wild.

In 2012, 46 million Christmas tree seedlings were planted by U.S. growers.

More than 330,000 real Christmas trees are sold via e-commerce or catalogs.

Almost all trees require shearing to attain the Christmas tree shape. At six to seven feet, trees are ready for harvest.

Artificial Christmas trees made largely from aluminum were manufactured in the United States, first in Chicago in 1958.

10.9 million artificial trees were purchased in the United States in 2012.

Jingle Bells Facts

Jingle Bells is one of the most well-known Christmas carols in the world.


Originally wrote in the autumn of 1857 by James Lord Pierpont, and was published under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh”.


James composed this song in 1850 at Medford, in Massachusetts.


Jingle Bells also became the very first song to be broadcast from out in space!


copyrighted under its original title September 16, 1857.


"Jingle Bells" was originally written for Thanksgiving!


Song was inspired by the popular sleigh races of 1800s.


Retitled Jingle Bells, or The One Horse Open Sleigh in 1859.


Music composed by: James Lord Pierpont


As a prank, Gemini 6 astronauts sent the following message to Mission Control on December 16, 1965:


We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit... I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit... The astronauts then produced a smuggled harmonica and sleigh bells and broadcast a rendition of "Jingle Bells".


Both instruments are now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and considered the first musical instruments played in space.


The song was so well accepted that it was again sung on Christmas day and since then became one of the most popular Christmas carols.


Jingle Bells has also been the subject of several parodies, including this one that is almost universally known by children.


Jingle Bells was intended to be a Thanksgiving song celebrating Thanksgiving in America


The song was re-published in 1857 and was given the title we all know today. Neither version made any impression on the public—it took several generations for “Jingle Bells” to become a holiday favorite.

Lyrics
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on Bobtail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing (or What fun it is to ride and sing)
A sleighing song tonight.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow,
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls along
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed bay
Two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.