History Facts About Christmas

The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.

Boxing Day is named so because it was the day that "Christmas boxes" were given to the more needy.

One town in Indiana is called Santa Claus. There is also a Santa, Idaho.

Popular belief holds that 3 wise men visited Bethlehem from the east bearing gifts. However there is no mention in the bible about the number of wise men who visited. Three gifts were brought - gold, frankincense and myrrh, but names commonly attributed t

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was invented for Montgomery Ward's Christmas promotion in 1939.

Identity crisis? About 10% of Jewish households have Christmas Trees.

Electric lights for Christmas trees were first used in 1882, when Thomas Edison's business partner Edward H. Johnson hand-wired 80 red, white, and blue bulbs and strung them around a rotating tree in his New York City home.

Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.

The typical image we have of Santa Claus dressed in red clothes with white fur trim, is an amalgamation of cultural input over many years. Some people claim the image of Santa we know today is from Coca-cola advertising, but this simply isn't true. The st

The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings traces back to legends of St. Nicholas and 16th-century French nuns who left socks filled with fruit, nuts, and coins at the homes of the poor, symbolizing the gold that Bishop Nicholas reportedly tossed through a window to save three sisters from poverty.

Christmas carols evolved from wassailing, an old English custom where people went door-to-door singing and toasting neighbours to good health and prosperity.

The twelve days of Christmas run from December 25 (Christmas Day) to January 6 (Epiphany) and commemorate the period between Jesus's birth and the arrival of the Magi (wise men from the East) who came to honor the newborn king.

The first Christmas card was designed in 1843 by J.C. Horsley.

Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.

The Queen's Christmas speech was first televised in 1957.

The English Parliament banned Christmas between 1647 and 1660, with Puritan leaders believing such celebrations were immoral and too secular for the holiest day of the year.

Christmas trees become popular in the UK from 1841 when Prince Albert erected a tree in Windsor Castle following a German tradition. Fir trees have been decorated at Christmas time in Germany since the 8th century.

The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.

The 26th of December is traditionally known as St Stephen's Day, but is more commonly known as Boxing Day. The reason it was called this is either alms boxes in church were opened and the money distributed to the poor, or alternatively it was named from the tradition of giving 'Christmas boxes' of gifts or bonuses to servants and employees on the day after Christmas.