Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
74
Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.
42
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
There are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children. They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December 12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.
191
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196
The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
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