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
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The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
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Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
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The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
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The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
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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.
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Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
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