Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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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.
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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.
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Popular belief holds that 3 wise men visited Bethlehem from the east bearing gifts. However there is no mention in the bible about the number of wise men who visited. Three gifts were brought - gold, frankincense and myrrh, but names commonly attributed t
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In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
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Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
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Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
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The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
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