Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
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In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas morning, it is believed to be a harbinger of good luck! There once lived a woman so poor, says a Ukrainian folk tale, that she could not afford Christmas decorations for her family. One Ch
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'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".
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Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
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The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
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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 sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
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Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.
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