Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
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.
26
Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
42
Black Friday in the UK is the Friday before Christmas. Instead of shopping, many people get very drunk!
10
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 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
16
In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. It is usually made of straw. Scandinavian Christmas festivities feature a variety of straw decorations in the form of stars, angels, hearts and other shapes, as well as t
2
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82