The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
18
Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
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.
32
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.
5
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82
The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
273
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
Santa Claus has many different names around the world including Father Christmas in the UK, Pere Noel in France, Kriss Kringle in Germany, La Befana in Italy, Julinesse in Denmark, Dedushka Moroz (meaning Grandfather Frost) in Russia and the Three Kings i
22