Did You Know: 13 interesting Christmas facts

Did You Know: 13 interesting Christmas facts

Last year, we wrote about many Christmas traditions still common today, and the history behind them.

This year, as the holidays approach, we had our researchers look into interesting Christmas facts we never knew, and we’re sure you didn’t, either!

(Image credit: dwellingsbydevore.com)

(Image credit: dwellingsbydevore.com)

Check them out:

  • If you received all the gifts from the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” you would have 364 presents, and according to a group that prices the gifts each year, the total price tag would be $116,273.
  • US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes each second to deliver all the world’s presents on Christmas Eve, while travelling at 650 miles a second.
  • 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States every year. Almost 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
  • According to data analyzed from Facebook posts, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups.
  • The world’s tallest Christmas tree – 221 feet high – was erected in a Seattle, Washington shopping mall in 1950.
  • The chances of getting a white Christmas are only 1 in 10 for the UK. Some US regions, such as northern New England, Upper Midwest, Rocky Mountains or Intermountain West have more than a 75% chance!
  • In 1999, residents of the US state of Maine built the world’s biggest snowman. He was 113 feet tall.
  • Many years ago in the UK, a traditional Christmas dinner included a pig’s head served with mustard.
  • Each year, over 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the US alone.
  • The first known decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia in 1510.
  • Since 2004, the official Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City has been topped with a 550-pound Swarovski crystal star. Since 2007, the tree has been lit with 30,000 energy-efficient LEDs powered by solar panels.
  • Christmas purchases account for a sixth of all annual retail sales in the US.
  • It is estimated that the song “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.

Have any more facts about the holidays that you want to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!

Comments

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  • T Gonzalez

    December 27, 2014

    Although no one knows for sure the exact date of Christ’s birth, the date chosen to celebrate it is related to the Roman Saturnalia festival that lasted from the 17th -21st of December. This date was chosen somewhere during the 4th century AD by the heads of the church.
    During the reformation of the 19th century there was some disfavor with Christmas and its associations with paganism. Many protestants distanced themselves from the tradition.