 |
20 Christmas Facts
- According to rumor, “Silent Night” was originally written in 1816 for the guitar because the local church’s piano was broken.
- The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony was started in 1923 by President Calvin Coolidge.
- In 1963, the National Christmas Tree was not lit until Dec 22 in honor of a 30-day mourning period for President Kennedy.
- Santa Claus wasn’t portrayed as human-sized until Coca-Cola did in 1931. Before that, he had been shown as an elf.
- How did Christmas get abbreviated to Xmas? The first letter of Christ in Greek is chi, which is portrayed as an “X.”
- Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and California are the top Christmas tree producing states.
- The Christmas tree industry employs more than 100,000 people each year in the U.S.
- The temperature in the North Pole almost never rises above freezing.
- The first company to make Christmas tree lights was Edison General Electric Co.
- SantaCon is an event where large numbers of people dress up in Santa costumes and parade the streets and bars of a city. The tradition was started in San Francisco in 1994.
- Christmas cards were originated in England and first sent in the 1840s.
- Every year Norway sends a large Christmas tree over to England.
- Over five miles of lights are used to decorate the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center each year.
- In Germany, Santa doesn’t do the whole chimney bit—he just comes in the front door.
- The shape of a candy cane is supposed to represent a shepherd’s crook.
- Christmas was made a Federal holiday in the US on June 26 1870.
- Christmas carols were started as a way to tell people who couldn’t read about the nativity story.
- Charles Dickens’ 1843 story “A Christmas Carol” has been made into film over 200 times.
- Recycled Christmas trees are used as sand and soil erosion barriers.
- The US postal system offered its first Christmas stamp in 1962.
Comments
Post a Comment