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
Christmas trees become popular in the UK from 1841 when Prince Albert erected a tree in Windsor Castle following a German tradition. Fir trees have been decorated at Christmas time in Germany since the 8th century.
20
The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196
Black Friday in the UK is the Friday before Christmas. Instead of shopping, many people get very drunk!
10
The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, or "Christ's Mass." There is no set date for his birth in scripture and it wasn't celebrated on any particular day. However Christmas was first celebrated on the 25th of December in Rome in 336AD with an aim t
16
In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
103
Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14