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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7.6 million Christmas trees are sold each year.
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Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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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
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Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
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One town in Indiana is called Santa Claus. There is also a Santa, Idaho.
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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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The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
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