Friday, December 18, 2009

Christmas Holiday Trivia


* The word Christmas is Old English, a contraction of Christ's Mass.

* The first president to decorate the white house Christmas tree in the United States was Franklin Pierce.

* Germany made the first artificial Christmas trees. They were made of goose feathers and dyed green.

* Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.

* The first Christmas cards were vintage and invented in 1843, the Victorian Era.

* "It's a Wonderful Life" appears on TV more often than any other holiday movie.

* "Rudolph" was actually created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930's for a holiday promotion. The rest is history.

* "The Nutcracker" is the most famous Christmas ballet.

* "Jingle Bells" was first written for Thanksgiving and then became one of the most popular Christmas songs.

* If you received all of the gifts in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," you would receive 364 gifts.

* The poinsettia plant was brought into the United States from Mexico by Joel Poinsett in the early 1800's.

* Holly berries are poisonous.

* Contrary to common belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic.

* Mistletoe was chosen as Oklahoma's state flower in 1893 and later changed to the state floral emblem.

* In 1843, "A Christmas Carol" was written by Charles Dickens in just six weeks.

* The first state to recognize the Christmas holiday officially was Alabama.

* Christmas became a national holiday in America on June, 26, 1870.

* An angel told Mary she was going to have a baby.

* Clearing up a common misconception, in Greek, X means Christ. That is where the word "X-Mas" comes from. Not because someone took the "Christ" out of Christmas.

* Traditionally, Christmas trees are taken down after Epiphany.

* More diamonds are sold around Christmas than any other time of the year.

* In Mexico, wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve is said to bring new love in the upcoming year.

all this according to http://www.christmas-celebrations.com/trivia.htm

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