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Christmas Factoid | Back To Main Factoid Page
We hope you enjoy this month's freshly gathered facts
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Christmas Factoids — December 1999
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1. My friend is from Mexico and around Christmas he celebrates "Poinsettia." What does this mean?
In Spanish, Poinsettia means, "Flower of the Holy Night." It is the same as Christmas Eve.
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2. How long does it take for a Christmas tree to grow?
It can take up to 15 years to grow, but on average, it takes about 7 years.
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3. Who wrote the Christmas song "Silent Night?"
In 1818, an Austrian priest by the name of Joseph Mohr was saddened because the church organ broke on Christmas Eve. He could not imagine a Christmas without music, so he wrote "Silent Night" which was sang later that night.Independence Day is September 16th. Mexicans celebrate it in America as
well as in Mexico.
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4. What's better to get, a fake Christmas Tree or a real one?
A real Christmas tree is the way to go. Real trees are recyclable. Plastic Christmas trees are made from non bio-degradable plastics and metals.
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5. Why do some people write Xmas instead of Christmas?
It's just an abbreviation actually. The letter X in Xmas came from the first letter in the Greek spelling of Christ, which is the Greek letter Chi. The letter Chi in Greek is identical to X.
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6. So when was Christmas actually declared a holiday?
In 1836, Alabama declared Christmas a legal holiday. They were the first state to do this. The last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday was Oklahoma, in 1907.
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7. When did the Christmas card come into existence?
In 1843, Sir Henry Cole from England was extremely busy and wanted to save time writing his Christmas letters so he printed up 1,000 copies of a Christmas card. He later sold them at 1 shilling each.
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8. What is the biggest selling Christmas single of all time?
The biggest selling Christmas single is White Christmas by Bing Crosby.
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9. Was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ever called by another name?
Yes. In 1939, a man named Robert May wrote a poem called Rollo the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The Montgomery Ward in Chicago liked it a lot but they didn't like the name Rollo so they changed it to Rudolph instead.
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10. Was there ever a postage stamp for Christmas?
Yes. Actually, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was printed in 1937 in Austria.
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