The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.
42
The definition of a white Christmas in the UK is for a single snow flake (perhaps amongst a shower of mixed rain and snow) to be observed falling in the 24 hours of December 25th.
32
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
113
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82
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.
415
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
The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
28
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196