In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
103
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
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
Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
74
Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
42
At Christmas, it is traditional to exchange kisses beneath the mistletoe tree. In ancient Scandinavia, mistletoe was associated with peace and friendship. That may account for the custom of "kissing beneath the mistletoe".
27
Louis Prang, a Bavarian-born lithographer who came to the USA from Germany in the 19th century, popularized the sending of printed Christmas cards. He invented a way of reproducing color oil paintings
, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a car
, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a car
1
One town in Indiana is called Santa Claus. There is also a Santa, Idaho.
122