It beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and you know what that means... It's time for some interesting facts about this period!
1.'Jingle Bells' was the first song played in space.
On the 16 December 1965,the song 'Jingle Bells' made history by becoming the first song to be played in space during NASA's Gemini 6A space flight. 2.It was Princess Charlotte who popularized Christmas trees in England.
Usually when we think about Christmas trees,we think about Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's consort) popularizing them in England but the first known Christmas tree was set at Queen's Lodge Windsor in December 1800 by Princess Charlotte.
3.Coca-Cola is not actually responsible for how we perceive Santa Claus
The Coca- Cola company is often credited with creating the red coated modern image of Santa Claus we know and love today but this isn't true! Most of his image were put together in by Thomas Nast in 1870s.
4.Legend has it, candy canes were created to make choirboys quite
The legend tells that candy canes date back to 1670 when a choirmaster gave out sugar sticks to the choirboys to keep them quite during services. The hook was meant to sympolize a shepherd's crook for the Christmas occasion but other people think the hook exists so they can easily be hung from trees.
5.In Japan,a traditional Christmas dinner is to go to KFC
Christmas in Japan is a secular holiday with less than 1% of the Japanese population identify as Christian. When KFC launched their "Kentucky for Christmas" marketing campaign in 1974,it was instant hit and now KFC is popular choice for Christmas dinners in Japan.
6.The song 'We wish you a Merry Christmas' was originally used as a threat
The song was often sung by crowds of lower class servants as they demanded alcohol from their masters during the festive period. The lyric 'We won't go until we get some' was used to get their point across.
7.Children who write to Santa Claus in the US have good chance of getting a reply
In the United States, campaigns such as 'Operation Santa' have been running for decades with hundreds of volunteers around the country having the responsibility of replying to letters from children that are addressed to Santa Claus. This allows children who write to Santa to get a response from old Saint Nicholas!
8.In Austria instead of getting coal if you've been bad,you get Krampus
Krampus is a half man,half goat creature that punishes naughty children at Christmas time by chasing them around or even dragging them to hell and is the Austrian equivalent of getting coal in your stocking from Saint Nicholas. In some parts of Austria, adults will still dress up as Krampus every year and scare children into behaving.
9. Celebrating Christmas used to by illegal for 260 years in US
You might be aware that Oliver Cromwell banned the Pagan holiday of Christmas for 12 years from 1647 in the UK, but did you know that the ban was only lifted in Oklahoma USA in 1907? This means in some parts of US Christmas was banned for over 260 years!
10. Queen Victoria sent the first official Christmas card
Queen Victoria was the first official person to send a Christmas card, but the first commercial card came in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole produced 1000 and sold them for one shilling each. There are currently only 12 of these cards left in the world with one going up for auction a couple of years ago for £30,000.
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Content created and supplied by: Tmayor (via Opera News )
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