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
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Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
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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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'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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The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
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The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
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The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
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