Christmas is one of the most important Christian festivals, celebrated with great fanfare worldwide. Christmas is the time of the year when everyone is kept busy with gifting, party invites, holiday accommodations, last minute work as well as shopping. There are many interesting facts about Christmas that are little known –

• 25th December is the day for the Christmas celebration, which was first celebrated by the Christian Church in 440 ADs.
• The word Christmas is derived from the Old English word “Cristes mæsse” and Modern English word “Christemasse”.
• Christmas day is the 359th day of the year.
• Caesar Augustus told Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem.

• Jesus was born in Bethlehem. After his birth, Jesus was placed in a Manger (feeding trough).
• The name of Jesus’s mother was Mary.
• In United States, the first state which declared Christmas day as a holiday is Alabama, while the last state to declare it as a legal holiday is Oklahoma.
• The word X-mas is derived from the Greek mythology, where ‘X’ represents Christ.
• St. Nicholas whom many consider to be the inspiration for modern Santa Claus, was born in Patara (present day in Turkey) around 275 ADs.
• The first Christmas card was invented in the year 1843, a period of Victorian Era.
• Christmas stockings were first hung in Southern Europe.
• In 1895, many people started to make use of electric lights for the decoration of Christmas tree.
• The legendary reindeer of Santa, Rudolph, was a creation of Montgomery Ward.
• In 1950, the world’s tallest Christmas tree was erected in America, which was 76 m (254 ft) tall.
• Banana trees are decorated at Christmas time in some parts of the world.
• Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.
• The twelve days of Christmas are the festive days that begin from 25th of December and last till the morning of 6th January.
• Coco Cola was the first company to create Santa’s modern image.
• The name Santa Claus was derived from a Dutch legend Sinterklaas.
• The address of Santa Claus in Canada is – Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.
• Name of the Santa’s reindeers are – Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen.