Interesting Christmas Facts
We found some interesting and funny facts about Christmas from all around the world. Here are our top picks.
Did you know...
* An artificial Christmas tree would have to be reused for more than 20 years to be “greener”
than buying a fresh-cut tree annually
* The people of Oslo, Norway donate the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree every year in
gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during WWII
* Japanese people traditionally eat at KFC for Christmas dinner, thanks to a successful
marketing campaign 40 years ago. KFC is so popular that customers must place their
Christmas orders 2 months in advance
* We frequently abbreviate Christmas as X-mas because of ancient tradition. X is the Greek
letter “chi” which is an abbreviation for the word “Christ” in Greek
* Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S annually
* Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is the only record to get the UK Christmas Singles Chart
Number One twice, once in 1975 and again in 1991
* Nearly all of the most popular Christmas songs including ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Chestnuts
roasting…’, and ‘I’m Dreaming of a white Christmas’ were written by Jewish people
* All letters addressed to Santa in the United States go to Santa Claus, Indiana
* Early illustrations of St. Nicholas make him out to be a stern symbol of discipline rather than the
jolly, overweight elf that children know today
* There is a village in Peru where people settle the previous year's grudges by fist fighting - they
then start the new year off on a clean slate
* Some zoos accept donated Christmas trees as food for their animals
* It is estimated that the song "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin is the best selling single in
history with over 100 million copies sold
* During the Christmas of 1914 (World War 1), a truce was held between Germany and the UK.
They decorated their shelters, exchanged gifts across no man’s land and played a game of
football between themselves.
* Paul McCartney earns nearly half a million dollars every year from his Christmas song, which
many critics regards as his worst song ever
* The Nazi party tried to turn Christmas into a nonreligious holiday celebrating the coming of
Hitler, with Saint Nicholas replaced by Odin the “Solstice Man” and swastikas on top of
Christmas trees
* Many of the perpetually open Denny’s restaurants were built without locks, which was
problematic when they decided to close down for Christmas for the first time in 1988
* In 1867, a Boston industrialist heard Charles Dickens read A Christmas Carol and was so
moved he closed his factory on Christmas Day and gave every one of his employees a turkey
* Between the 16th and 19th centuries was what is known as a "little ice age" where global
temperatures were several degrees lower than normal. It is for this reason that many Christmas
carols and songs stress a "White Christmas".
* During the Christmas of 2010, the Colombian government covered jungle trees with lights.
When FARC guerrillas (terrorists) walked by, the trees lit up and banners asking them to lay
down their arms became visible. 331 guerrillas re-entered society and the campaign won an
award for strategic marketing excellence.
* A large part of Sweden's population watches Donald Duck cartoons every Christmas Eve since
1960