The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
18
In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
103
The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
273
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 sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
'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
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
Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14