US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.
415
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
113
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
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82
Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
251
The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
18

