Happy Christmas strucker’s!! Hope Santa brought all you wished for?
We thought we’d compile a list of fun and interesting facts, so after you have pulled your cracker and tucked into your Christmas dinner (but before you’ve fallen asleep on the sofa), you can impress your loved one, friends and family with your weird and wonderful knowledge.
Right, now, pay attention, there’s a test at the end….
1. Kissing under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.
2. The speed at which Santa’s sleigh would need to travel at 2,340,000 mph if he were to reach every home in the world on Christmas Eve
3. We eat 25 million Christmas puddings in the UK every year… and 300 million mince pies. Nom nom nom!
4. We also spend £48million on Christmas puds!
5. Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
6. The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25, AD 336 in Rome.
7. Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.
8. Some parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.
9. Boxing Day was originally celebrated in England for the servants of wealthy people. After Christmas, the servants “boxed up” all the leftovers and brought them home.
10. Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.
11. The world’s tallest Christmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping centre in 1950.
12. The Beatles hold the record for most Xmas number 1 singles, topping the charts in 1963, 1965 and 1967.
13. The best-selling Christmas single ever is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, shifting over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.
14. The average Christmas dinner takes 295 days to make before it reaches our plates, according to research by Morrisons.
15. Early Christmas trees were decorated with fruits, flowers and candles, which were heavy on the tree branches. In the 1800’s German glass blowers began producing glass balls to replace the heavy decorations.
16. Hanging presents on trees may come from the Druids who believed the tree was the giver of all good things.
Remembered that little lot to make you sound like a brainbox?
Any more to add to our little list? Tell us @lovestruck
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