Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor. It was a forerunner of modern Christmas puddings. It is linked in legend to the Celtic god Dagda, who stirred a porridge made up of all the good things of the earth.
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Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
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Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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'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".
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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.
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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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