The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
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Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
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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
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Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
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The definition of a white Christmas in the UK is for a single snow flake (perhaps amongst a shower of mixed rain and snow) to be observed falling in the 24 hours of December 25th.
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The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.
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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 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.
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