Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.
20
Black Friday in the UK is the Friday before Christmas. Instead of shopping, many people get very drunk!
10
'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".
3
The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
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
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! There once lived a woman so poor, says a Ukrainian folk tale, that she could not afford Christmas decorations for her family. One Ch
26
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