Christmas Facts

White Christmas
England has only known seven white Christmases in the entire twentieth century. According to the records of the Meteorological Office in London, snow fell on Christmas Day only in 1938 and 1976. (The definition of a white Christmas in England is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre.)
Christmas Food
An old wives' tale says that bread baked on Christmas Eve will never go mouldy.
The Christmas turkey was imported to France by the Jesuits and it is still known in some French dialects as a 'Jesuite'.
Christmas pudding was first made as a kind of soup with raisins and wine in it. Christmas Pudding originates from an old, Celtic dish known as 'frumenty'.
Christmas Day
December 25th was not celebrated as the birthday of Christ until the year AD 440.
The Queen's Christmas speech was televised for the first time in 1957.
Christmas crackers were invented by Thomas Smith. He had imported some French novelties to sell as Christmas gifts, but these were not popular until he wrapped them up and added a snapper.
Decorations
Each year between 34-36 million Christmas trees are produced to cope with the holiday demand.
Electric tree lights were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison has his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees in 1882. His lights were a huge hit. It took quite a few years, however, before they would be made available to the general public.
In 1895 Ralph Morris, an American telephonist, invented the string of electric Christmas lights similar to the ones we use today. The actual strings of lights had already been manufactured for use in telephone switchboards. Morris looked at the tiny bulbs and had the idea of using them on his tree.
Christmas Banned
In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral. Anybody caught celebrating Christmas was arrested. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660.
Christmas Cards and Christmas Post
In 1843, the first Christmas card was created on the instructions of an Englishman, Sir Henry Cole. J.C. Horsley designed the card and sold 1000 copies in London.
Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins". This was because their uniforms were red. Victorian Xmas cards often showed a robin delivering Xmas mail.
In the nineteenth century, the British Post Office used to deliver cards on Christmas morning.
The first Christmas stamp was released in Canada in 1898.
Father Christmas
Father Christmas has two addresses, Edinburgh and the North Pole. Letters addressed to 'TOYLAND' or 'SNOWLAND' go to Edinburgh, but letters addressed to 'THE NORTH POLE' have to be sent there because there really is such a place!
Father Christmas' reindeers are called Rudolph - the leader who lights the way with his bright red nose - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Donder, Blitzen, Cupid and Comet. (Donder is also known as Donner.)
Christmas Carols
St Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas Carols to formal church services.
The word comes from the ancient Greek choros, which means "dancing in a circle," and from the Old French word carole, meaning "a song to accompany dancing."
The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was a guitar.
The popular Christmas song "Jingle Bells" was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called "One-Horse Open Sleigh." It was actually written for Thanksgiving, not Xmas.
Twelfth Night

It is not until Twelfth Night that the figures of the Three Kings are supposed to be added to the Christmas crib.
In Germany, Twelfth Night is known as 'Three Kings Day'.
The "Twelve Days of Christmas " gifts: A partridge in a pear tree, two turtledoves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese laying, seven swans swimming, eight maids milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming. There are 364 gifts altogether, one for everyday of the year.
The poem commonly referred to as "The Night Before Christmas" was originally titled "A Visit From Saint Nicholas." This poem was written by Clement Moore for his children and some guests, one of whom anonymously sent the poem to a New York newspaper for publication.