English Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas between 1647 and 1660 because he believed such celebrations were immoral for the holiest day of the year.
26
Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
74
In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of straw. Scandinavian Christmas festivities feature a variety of straw decorations in the form of stars, angels, hearts and other shapes, as well as t
2
Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
The twelve days of Christmas are the days between Christmas Day and Epiphany (6th of January) and represent the length of time it took for the wise men from the East to visit the manger of Jesus after his birth.
36
The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
18
Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
33