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
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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.
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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.
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The first Christmas card was designed in 1843 by J.C. Horsley.
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The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
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Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
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The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
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Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
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