Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
33
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
The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
273
Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
251
The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
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
'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
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