Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
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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.
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The definition of a white Christmas in the UK is for a single snow flake (perhaps amongst a shower of mixed rain and snow) to be observed falling in the 24 hours of December 25th.
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The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
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Christmas trees become popular in the UK from 1841 when Prince Albert erected a tree in Windsor Castle following a German tradition. Fir trees have been decorated at Christmas time in Germany since the 8th century.
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The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
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Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
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