Christmas Facts

There has only been 7 white Christmases in the twelfth century. Snow fell Christmas day 1938 and 1976. (The met office define a white Christmas as one flake falling onto the roof of The London office)

Christmas turkey was imported to France by the Jesuits and it is still known as a 'Jesuite'

Christmas pudding was first made soup like mixture with raisins and wine in it

 Christmas Pudding originates from a Celtic dish known as frumenty

Frumenty is a spiced porridge it originates from the legend of the Celtic harvest god Dagda who made a porridge from all the god things on earth

The abbreviation of Christmas to Xmas comes from the Greek letter ‘chi’, the first letter of the word ‘Christos’, meaning ‘Christ’

"Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas" was preferred by Australian priests because of the association with drinking alcohol

In 1836 Alabama became the first American state to declare Christmas as an official holdall

In 1907 Oklahoma became the last state to declare Christmas as an official holiday

Clark Moore is thought to have named the reindeer

On Christmas Eve 1914 the Germans stopped firing from the trenches and a brass band played Christmas Carols. They approached the allied trenches wishing them Merry Christmas. After realizing it was not a trick the allied got out of the trenches and shook hands with them. The truce lasted a few days when gifts were exchanged, songs sung and a game of soccer played

The largest Christmas Cracker was 45.72 metres long and 3.04 metres in diameter. It was created by Ray Price and international rugby player in New South Wales, Australia. It was pulled on 9th November 1991 in a carpark at Westfield Shopping Town in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia

Goose was the traditional meal until Henry VIII decided on turkey

A lump of coal is traditionally given to naughty children

The Norse God Woden rode through the sky with reindeer and 42 ghostly huntsmen

The traditional flaming Christmas pudding dates to 1670 in England

According to British tradition a wish made on the Christmas pudding will only come true if the mixture is stirred clockwise

A British tradition states that if you eat a mince pie on the 12 days of Christmas then the following 12 months will be lucky for you

According to British tradition Christmas Pudding mixture must be stirred clockwise in order for wishes to come true

The first Christmas turkey appeared in England in the 16th century

Tom Smith from London invented Christmas crackers after he visited France and found sweets wrapped in paper in the 1840s