The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
28
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
113
The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
The twelve days of Christmas are the days between Christmas Day and Epiphany (6th of January) and represent the length of time it took for the wise men from the East to visit the manger of Jesus after his birth.
36
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82
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
7.6 million Christmas trees are sold each year.
100
The Christmas tree displayed in Trafalgar square in London is an annual gift to the UK from Norway since 1947. The Norwegian spruce given is a token of appreciation of British friendship during World War II from the Norwegian people.
35