100 festive events to get you ready for Christmas

100 festive events to get you ready for Christmas

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There is nothing more magical than the feeling you get when you wake up on Christmas day.

It's a refreshing sensation that makes you jump out of bed and get you ready for a day full of gifts, food and festivities!

Everyone knows the general story of Christmas now, so we won't go into that.

Instead, we've prepared a magical list of some lesser known Christmas events!

Do you know where your Christmas tradition comes from?

Maybe you want to know what is the most expensive Christmas tree in the world?

That's what we're here to find out!

But before we dig any deeper, check out this short video of our 5 favorite Christmas events from this list!

Let's start with these 100 festive facts to get you ready for Christmas!

Scientists have calculated that for Santa Claus to distribute gifts to every home in the world, he would have to travel at 4,921,200 miles per hour!

That's 7,919,904 km / h for those who like the metric system.

There are a number of factors involved in this calculation.

Give or receive, there are about 1.6 billion households around the world.

Santa will have around 42 hours to complete his duties due to the international time zone and other things.

During this time, he has to travel from house to house to send gifts, snack a cookie or two and of course go undetected.

In order to do this, Santa Claus will only stop at each household for 300 microseconds (0.0003 seconds!).

For 13 years, from 1647 to 1660, Christmas was banned by Cromwell in Britain after the British Civil War.

Our favorite Christmas tree, which doesn't need to be thrown away every year, some edible parts including needles are a source of Vitamin C.

The sap inside the wreath actually represents Jesus' Crown and the red berries represent his blood.

In 2015, the world's first Christmas card commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 sold for £ 8,469 ($ 10,513.84).

Bethlehem's star guides the sages as a comet or Uranus.

Our favorite pudding, the Christmas pudding, was originally a soup cooked with raisins and wine.

Edward Johnson invented the first electric tree lamp in 1882.

The first Christmas is believed to have been celebrated in York, UK in 521 AD.

It turned out extremely unlikely that Jesus was born in a stable!

As most of you should know, Christmas is not only a gift, but mainly to celebrate the birth of Christ.

It was long believed that Christ was born in an inn-like stables that Mary and Joseph called no room.

Christian scholars analyzed the story in great detail and found that there are no inns!

Instead, the place they visit can be a home.

During this period in Bethlehem, houses were usually built with two floors: the ground floor was used as a shelter for animals, while the upper floor was used as a real residence.

Theories go on to say that since the upper floor is already full, the lower floor (where animals are kept) is indeed the birthplace of Jesus!

The staple of the Christmas card, the red cloak, was originally a joke at the postman wearing a red tunic.

Noel is actually derived from the French phrase "les bonnes nouvelles" or "good news".

The popular song "Jingle Bells" written in 1857 was actually written in thanksgiving and is called "on the open horse sled!"

Turkey is not always a Christmas side dish, the traditional British meal chosen is actually pig head and mustard.

Santa Claus wore a variety of colors during his era including blue, green, white and red.

The word Christmas comes from the old English word meaning Christmas Lord (Cristes maesse).

The first Christmas cookies were made in London in 1847 by Tom Smith.

The term "Gift Day" is believed to stem from the money raised to the poor in church alms boxes.

The Beatles have their first Christmas numbers in 1963, 65 and 67, giving them the record for the first numbers of the Christmas season.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has only been around since 1939!

The story of Santa's sleigh pulled by reindeer goes back long, but Rudolph only joined the group in 1939.

Rudolph was created by Robert L. May for retailer Montgomery Ward, who released coloring books every Christmas.

While coming up with the initial concept, he briefly considered calling the friendly little reindeer Rollo, or even Reginald!

The story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was initially dismissed because in the 1930s a red nose was considered a sign of a drunkard!

The golden chocolate coins we receive at Christmas represent the gold that St Nicholas is said to have given to the poor.

Czechs are very superstitious, the table during Christmas must be made of even numbers or any table without a companion will die.

In 1942, Irving Berlin wrote the White Christmas.

In December 1965 Jingle Bells was the first song played in space from Gemini 6.

White Christmas is not as unlikely as we all think in the UK, October 1 is an opportunity for the traditional British White Christmas.

The image of Santa Claus flying on a sled is an image dreamed of by the person who created the headless knight, created in 1819.

Gift giving day is also considered St. Stephen's Day.

Rudolph's red nose is hypothesized to be a respiratory infection caused by parasites.

The first artificial Christmas tree was a German pine tree made of dyed goose feathers.

In the "12 Days of Christmas", all the gifts mentioned in the song amount to 364 gifts.

To be honest, if my true love gave me all the gifts mentioned in the “12 Christmas days” we would have to sit down and have a serious chat.

To begin with, when you count all the gifts mentioned (remember that with each repeat day, the gifts from the previous days are given back) there are 364 gifts in total, a bit too much, right?

Additionally, anyone in the world could need 12 sparrows, 22 pigeons, 30 hens, 36 cheep birds, 40 gold rings, 42 geese, 42 swans, 40 maids

And the practicality of the gifts?

First, there is a question of morality - do you own all the maids, ladies, lords, etc.

The last time I checked it, the world decided that slavery was definitely not a good thing!

In America, there are 3 billion Christmas cards sold annually.

The average Christmas tree before sale will grow for 15 years.

During the holiday period, about 28 LEGO sets are sold per second.

In 1962, the first US Christmas postage stamp was sold.

Eggnog seems to be derived from "egg grog", meaning a drink with eggs and rum.

St Nicholas was originally a stern, harsh man holding a birch branch symbolizing discipline.

Milk and cookies are rooted in the ancient Dutch tradition of leaving food for St. Nicholas on a holiday.

A Yule log is literally a giant log that burned for 12 days of Christmas.

Christmas was first recognized in the United States in 1836. The first state was Alabama and the last state was Oklahoma in 1970.

In the 1950s, church leaders in Boston tried to ban the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" because it was supposed to encourage physical intimacy.

Jimmy Boyd was only 13 years old when he recorded this instant classic in 1952.

The Light Christmas Melody sold 2 million copies in its first week of release, but not everyone loves it.

Some Boston church leaders rejected the song because it mixed concepts of physical intimacy with the pure concept of Christmas, and tried to ban it.

Boyd was eventually flown to Boston, where he successfully convinced them of the song's pure intentions!

Spider web is the traditional Polish Christmas ornament, when the spiders wrap the blanket for Jesus.

Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, was the first to place a Christmas tree in the White House in 1856.

In 2013, the record was set as the fastest time to decorate a Christmas tree.

Christmas hats, or paper crowns, are only worn in the UK during Christmas.

In Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You", Santa is played by Mariah's later husband Tommy Mottola.

Many believe that Christmas is a time of high suicide rates but the truth is that spring is the worst time.

Christmas trees are grown in 50 states in America.

During the Nazi period, Hitler tried to turn Christmas into a non-religious holiday celebrating Hitler and a Christmas tree decorated with a cross.

Christmas glitter was originally made of lead until the US government persuaded manufacturers to convert it to plastic.

To make an artificial Christmas tree more eco-friendly than a real one, you need to reuse it for at least 10 years!

People have long debated about whether buying plastic Christmas trees is better for the environment than real ones, and we finally have some answers!

The deciding factor depends on which plants you buy and whether or not you treat them properly.

A 3.3-foot (2-meter) Christmas tree with its roots still attached, when processed by burning or planting it has only about 7.7 pounds (3.5kg) of carbon dioxide emissions.

A plastic Christmas tree of the same size has a much larger carbon footprint, measuring an average of 88 pounds (40kg) of carbon dioxide!

In 1901, President Roosevelt banned growing Christmas trees in the White House.

Mistletoe is derived from mistletoe which means "small tree branch" when it is spread through bird droppings.

Denny's in America has had trouble getting closer to Christmas because many restaurants are built without locks.

The middle-aged tradition is to eat a meat pie every day for twelve Christmas days as it is supposed to give you 12 months of luck.

In Columbia in 2010, the government covered trees in the light so that when guerrillas approached the lights it would light up and banners appeared asking them to disarm and reveal them.

An industrialist in Boston closed his factory on Christmas Day and gave a turkey to all workers after hearing Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

In America, during 1659-81, Puritans banned Christmas with a fine of 5 shillings for each violation.

The most expensive Christmas tree was built in 2010. It is worth £ 6,975,880 ($ 8,660,206) and is displayed at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Bicycle, a US Playing card maker, created a card for all US prisoners of war in Germany when it got wet exposing emergency exits.

In Canada, letters to Santa Claus have the zip code "H0H 0H0".

If you live in Canada and want to get a letter addressed to Santa Claus, then you're in luck - he has his very own zip code!

If you email him, be sure to send it by December 10 to make sure he has time to reply to you.

If you want to send him one, his address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.

The origin of the name Santa Claus has a moth tree.

The concept of eggnog in America appears to have been conceived in 1607 at Captain John Smith's Jameston Settlement.

The Queen's speech was first broadcast in 1957.

The world's largest stollen measures 72.10m (236.55 ft) and was reached in 2010. It was made by Lidl at Haarlem Train Station in the Netherlands and takes 2 and a half hours to cook.

Christmas candies that originated 250 years ago in Germany are straight white sticks.

Originally “Hark!

"Millionaire Crackers" are Christmas biscuits that contain a monolithic silver box with a jewelry inside.

At first, the finely-chopped scones were actually filled with meat and were oval in shape to symbolize the manger of Jesus.

The highest-grossing Christmas movie actually is Jim Carrey's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

The tradition in Sweden is to watch the cartoon Donald Duck on Christmas Eve.

Every country has its own unique Christmas tradition and Sweden is no exception!

Every year since 1959, the main Swedish broadcaster, TV1, has been broadcasting a Disney special hour-long Christmas theme, featuring short clips from various Disney Cartoons.

Over time, this tradition has evolved to the point where many Swedish families stop everything they're doing to sit down and watch the same cartoons each year.

In 1918, Canada sent a Christmas tree to Boston to express gratitude for their help in the 1917 Halifax explosion. This gesture has been continued in recent times.

There is an argument that we actually give gifts at Christmas to commemorate the Pagan tradition of giving to the gods, not the three wise men.

Supposedly the Christmas pickles were the last decoration on the tree.

Some zoos around the world use donated Christmas trees as food for their animals.

In Japan there is a tradition, thanks to a marketing campaign over 40 years old, KFC is consumed by the vast majority of the population on Christmas Eve.

In November 2014, Birra Forst SpA created the world's largest jewelery 15ft (4.58m) in diameter and 1060 lb (481kg) in weight.

Turkey is not just for Christmas.

The idea of a White Christmas comes from the works of Dickens.

The first decorated Christmas tree is said to be in 1510 in Latvia.

The first electric string of Christmas tree lights was created in 1882.

Until the 20th century, Christmas trees were lit by candles, which was understandably quite dangerous!

The first electric Christmas tree lights were created by Edward H. Johnson, business partner and friend of Thomas Edison in 1882.

The costs involved in making lamps and installing them were so high that they weren't suitable for the general public until a few decades later.

It can be said that Johnson's Christmas tree has been declared "the most beautiful Christmas tree in America".

As of Christmas 2014, the world's most expensive Christmas basket is £ 85,605!

Rockefeller's Christmas tree is located on top, as of 2004, with the Swarovski Crystal star weighing 550 pounds (249.48 kg).

Calennig is a Welsh tradition, like carolling, where children will walk around the theater with an ornate apple.

The tradition of Christmas biscuits has its roots in an old French custom of giving gifts of sugar-coated almonds.

Turkey replaced Swans on the Royal Christmas menu in 1851.

In Scandinavia, the holly tree is called Christ Thorn.

One superstition about the Christmas pudding is that it cannot contain more than 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples.

In Dublin 1742 Handel's Messiah's been shown for the first time.

Traditionally, there is a variety of jewels left in the Christmas pudding including the "bachelor's button" (if found by a single man he will be single next year), "Spinsters Thimble

The "X" in X-Mas doesn't mean what you might think!

There is a common misconception that replacing Christ with the X in the word Christmas is an attempt to separate the concepts of Christ and Christmas, eliminating the religious aspect of the holiday.

It turns out that this couldn't be wrong!

In the Greek alphabet, the letter “chi” is written as “X, and it is actually used by Christian scholars as an abbreviation for the name of Christ.

So, really, X-Mas really means Christ-Mas, and as such it makes no difference!

At churches in the UK, the biggest church bells are ringed an hour before midnight, at midnight all other bells are ringed in commemoration.

In America, there are 2 places called Santa Claus and Santa, they are in Indiana and Idaho, respectively.

Since 1991, sales of real Christmas trees have fallen sharply compared to artificial ones.

The Christmas carols "Silent Night" originated in Austria, it was played on a guitar because the organ was too rusty.

Coca-Cola's big red Christmas truck, a modern emblem of Christmas, has its own twitter account @ChristmasTruck;

The Christmas biscuits were originally called "cosaques" and are believed to be named after the Cossack Soldiers, who would fire guns into the air on horseback.

As of Christmas 2011, 6.8 million iOS and Android devices were activated.

In 2013, 1.7 million people sent letters to Santa Claus, the highest percentage of more than 8 million letters sent worldwide.

The traditional Christmas Eve meal in Armenia consists of a portion of fried fish, some lettuce and spinach.

Michigan has no state songs other than an old song written for the Christmas song "O Tannenbaum" which contains the lyrics of "Michagan, My Michigan".

Well, 100 facts about your festival, is it better?

We hope that you are not only entertained but also informed!

Now, the next time the Christmas party table is awkwardly quiet, you can draw one of the fun facts about this festival to make your family admire.