'Klaxon' is a name that does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer. A klaxon is actually a powerful electric horn. Its name comes from a German word meaning "shriek".
3
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 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
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
The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
18
The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
82
In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
103
Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
33