97 Fun Facts About Holiday Season

Which two of Santa's reindeer were named differently in the original 1823 poem?

The names were altered several times over the years, with 'Donder' and 'Blitzen' appearing in the 1844 version of the poem and the German-style 'Donner' becoming standard only in the early 20th century.

Lovers are expected to kiss beneath which festive plant?

Mistletoe is the plant lovers kiss beneath; the custom became popular in 18th-century England, where sprigs were also hung to ward off witches and evil spirits.

Who is the miserly protagonist of Charles Dickens' classic 1843 holiday novella?

Ebenezer Scrooge is the central character in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," who undergoes a significant transformation after being visited by several spirits on Christmas Eve.

Which eight-day Jewish holiday is celebrated by lighting one more candle each night?

Hanukkah's menorah holds eight ceremonial lights plus the shamash, the 'attendant' candle used to light the others; the Festival of Lights commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple.

Which author is widely credited with popularizing the names of most of Santa's reindeer in his 1823 poem?

Clement C. Moore's poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas,' also known as 'The Night Before Christmas,' introduced many of the reindeer names that are now iconic parts of Santa Claus lore.

Where did Protestant families first bring decorated evergreens indoors for Christmas?

Germany and neighbouring Livonia, now Estonia and Latvia, had Protestant families bringing decorated trees into their homes by the 16th century.

Which Swahili word for 'unity' is the first of Kwanzaa's seven principles, the Nguzo Saba?

Umoja, Swahili for unity, is the first of the seven Nguzo Saba and is the principle honored on December 26, Kwanzaa's opening day.

What four-sided spinning top do children play with during Hanukkah?

The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top whose Hebrew letters nun, gimel, hei and shin stand for 'a great miracle happened there'; children play it for gelt during Hanukkah.

Which metropolis is famous for its annual New Year's Eve ball drop celebration?

New York City's Times Square ball drop has welcomed every new year since 1908, skipping only 1942 and 1943 for wartime blackouts.

Who created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for Montgomery Ward in 1939?

Robert L. May wrote Rudolph as a promotional booklet for Montgomery Ward in 1939; his illustrator friend Denver Gillen sketched the reindeer using zoo deer as models.

In which country did Boxing Day, December 26th, originate?

The United Kingdom started it, and Boxing Day is now kept on December 26 across several Commonwealth nations.

To which region is the poinsettia, the holiday plant with colourful bracts, native?

The Aztecs and Mayans grew it long before Europeans first described it in 1834.

What traditional German spiced cookie, often compared to gingerbread, is a popular Christmas treat?

Lebkuchen are traditional German Christmas cookies, rich with spices and often containing nuts and candied fruits, and are frequently enjoyed during the holiday season.

What is a common Hebrew greeting used during Hanukkah?

'Chag Sameach!' means 'happy holiday' and is the standard Hebrew festival greeting; during Hanukkah it is often expanded to 'Chag Hanukkah Sameach'.

The earliest firmly recorded Christmas tree in a church stood in Strasbourg Cathedral in which year?

Strasbourg Cathedral's tree is recorded in 1539, in the years of the city's Protestant reform; a 1521 Sélestat account book in nearby Alsace holds the earliest written mention of Christmas trees.

Which German-born British royal consort introduced a Christmas tree at a children's party in 1800?

Queen Charlotte, George III's Mecklenburg-born consort, set up a decorated yew at a children's party at Queen's Lodge, Windsor, in December 1800, decades before Victoria and Albert's 1848 tree spread the fashion.

In 1087, sailors took the bones of Saint Nicholas from Myra to which Italian city, where they remain?

Sailors from Bari took the relics from Myra in 1087 and they rest in the Basilica di San Nicola there; Venetians later carried off remaining fragments during the First Crusade.

The Jewish festival of lights begins on the 25th day of which Hebrew month?

It is the only Jewish holiday that starts in one month (Kislev) and ends in another (Tevet).

What is the 'attendant' candle that lights the others on the festival-of-lights menorah called?

The shamash, Hebrew for 'attendant' or 'servant', is the ninth candle on the hanukkiah; it lights the others and sits apart, higher or lower, because the eight Hanukkah lights may not be used for practical purposes.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by which activist?

Maulana Karenga, a Black nationalist and later Cal State Long Beach professor, created Kwanzaa in 1966 after the Watts riots, modelling it on African harvest festivals.

The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase meaning what?

Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili 'matunda ya kwanza', meaning 'first fruits'; an extra 'a' was added so the name would have a symbolic seven letters, one per principle.

Which diarist mentioned tradesmen collecting 'Christmas boxes' in an entry from 19 December 1663?

Samuel Pepys wrote on 19 December 1663 of giving money to his shoemaker's 'boys' box against Christmas'; such Christmas boxes for tradesmen and servants gave Boxing Day its name.

Which two famous Australian sporting events begin on Boxing Day?

Boxing Day may also trace to alms boxes opened on the Feast of Saint Stephen.

Japanese Buddhist temples ring their bells how many times at midnight on New Year's Eve?

Each ring represents one of the 108 worldly desires in the Joya no Kane ritual.

The first commercially available Christmas card was commissioned in 1843 by whom?

Cole had helped launch the Penny Post three years earlier, so he had a stake in people posting more.

Who is sometimes called the 'father of the American Christmas card'?

Louis Prang, a Boston lithographer, began selling Christmas cards in the United States in 1874, a year after trying them in England, and is often called the father of the American Christmas card.

What did the Keller Machine, patented by a Catholic priest in 1957, automate?

Father Gregory Keller's machine automated twisting and cutting candy canes for Bobs Candies in Albany, Georgia, run by his brother-in-law Bob McCormack, cutting breakage and making mass production possible.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the 'nog' in eggnog was originally what?

The OED records 'nog' as a strong beer brewed in East Anglia, attested from the 1690s; a rival theory derives it from 'noggin', a small wooden mug.

The kissing plant of the holidays is what kind of plant, botanically speaking?

Mistletoe (Viscum album) is a hemiparasite: it taps host trees for water and minerals through a haustorium yet keeps green leaves and photosynthesises on its own.

Which two names did the creator of the red-nosed reindeer consider before settling on Rudolph?

Rudolph's creator rejected Rollo and Reginald before settling on the name; Montgomery Ward gave away 2.4 million copies of the booklet in 1939.

How was Johnny Marks, who turned Rudolph into a 1949 hit song, related to the story's author?

Johnny Marks was the brother-in-law of Rudolph's creator, having married his sister Margaret; Gene Autry's 1949 recording of the song sold millions.

Which confectioner is traditionally credited with inventing the Christmas cracker in the 1840s?

Tom Smith, a London sweet-maker, developed the cracker in the 1840s from French bon-bon wrappers, adding the snap; his son Walter later introduced the paper hats.

The 2015 record for the longest Christmas cracker-pulling chain involved how many people?

The Harrodian School in London set the record with 1,081 people pulling crackers simultaneously on 10 December 2015.

US Advent calendar demand surged after Newsweek printed a 1953 photo of whose grandson with one?

Newsweek's 1953 photo of President Eisenhower's grandchildren opening a Sellmer Advent calendar sparked American demand; Stuttgart publisher Richard Sellmer had won permission from US occupation authorities to print them in 1946.

In the English tradition, a portion of the Yule log is burned each evening until which date?

Twelfth Night, 6 January, closed the twelve days of Christmas; a piece of the log was then saved to kindle the next year's, and sparks were counted to tell fortunes.

The Elf on the Shelf book was self-published in 2005 by Carol Aebersold and whom?

Carol Aebersold wrote the book with her daughter Chanda Bell and self-published it in 2005; Chanda's twin Christa Pitts handled marketing, and the cardinal rule is never to touch the elf.

Which city was recognised as the 'Gingerbread Capital of the World' in the 17th century?

Nuremberg's Lebkuchen bakers won their own guild in 1643, and the city's spice-trade wealth made it famous as the gingerbread capital; Lebkuchen bakers are recorded there as early as 1395.

In the Christmas stocking legend, Saint Nicholas threw bags of gold for how many daughters?

The legend tells of a poor man's three daughters; Saint Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold for each, and one landed in a stocking drying by the fire.

Which newspaper owner organised the first Times Square ball drop on December 31, 1907?

Adolph Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, staged the first ball drop from the Times Tower on 31 December 1907 after the city banned his earlier New Year fireworks.

Which crystal maker built the Times Square ball unveiled for the 2000 millennium celebration?

Waterford Crystal built the millennium ball dropped on 31 December 1999; the 12-foot, 11,875-pound ball introduced for 2009 also used Waterford crystal triangles.

The poinsettia is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, who held which post?

Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US Minister to Mexico from 1825, sent cuttings of the plant home to South Carolina in 1828, and it took his name in English.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has been an annual tradition since which year?

Workers put up an unofficial tree in 1931; the first official Rockefeller Center tree followed in 1933, starting the annual tradition, and the trees, usually Norway spruces, are milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity afterwards.

Pope Innocent VIII's 1490 'Butter Letter' permitted the use of butter in which Christmas bread?

The most famous version is Dresdner Stollen, sold at Dresden's Striezelmarkt.

In the 1950s, Austria's government handed out pamphlets warning that which folk figure 'Is an Evil Man'?

Krampus, the horned companion of Saint Nicholas, punishes naughty children with birch rods; a 1953 Austrian pamphlet titled 'Krampus Is an Evil Man' tried to discourage the figure.

Which cookery writer published the first recipe for a dish called 'Christmas pudding', in 1845?

Eliza Acton's 'Modern Cookery for Private Families' (1845) gave the first recipe under the name 'Christmas pudding'; the dish was long called plum pudding, 'plum' then meaning a raisin.

In Aberdeenshire, the town of Stonehaven marks Hogmanay with what fiery custom?

The chicken-wire balls, stuffed with rags and paper, are cast into the harbour at the end.

In the orchard-visiting form of wassailing, why do people sing to the trees?

Orchard wassailers sing, bang pots and pour cider on the roots to promote a good harvest for the coming year; the custom is strongest in the cider counties of Somerset, Devon and Herefordshire.

Panettone, the tall Christmas sweet bread, is associated with which Italian city?

The name comes from the Milanese dialect word panattón, an augmentative of 'bread'.

In 'It's a Wonderful Life', what is the name of George Bailey's guardian angel?

Clarence Odbody is an 'angel second class' who has to save George to finally earn his wings. Frank Capra called the 1946 film his favourite of all he directed.

In 'Home Alone', Kevin's family flies off without him to which city?

Paris was the plan; the Miami trip came in the 1992 sequel, when Kevin boarded the wrong plane to New York.

In 'Die Hard', the Christmas Eve party is held in which corporation's Los Angeles tower?

Nakatomi Plaza was really Fox Plaza, the studio's own new Los Angeles headquarters. The film entered the US National Film Registry in 2017.

In the 1964 'Rudolph' TV special, the misfit elf Hermey dreams of becoming what?

Hermey the elf dreams of being a dentist, and his ambition pays off when he pulls the teeth of the Abominable Snow Monster in the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion special.

The storylines of 'Love Actually' converge at which London airport?

Richard Curtis's 2003 directing debut opens and closes on the arrivals hall, where real reunions were filmed with hidden cameras.

In which year did the famous Christmas truce take place on the Western Front?

1914's widespread truce was not repeated: commanders issued strict orders afterwards, and later Christmases saw only scattered ceasefires.

The 'X' in 'Xmas' is the first letter of 'Christ' in which alphabet?

Chi (Χ) begins Χριστός, and 'X' was used as a scribal shorthand for Christ in English as early as 1100. 'Xmas' itself is attested from 1721.

Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks use which landmark as their main focal point?

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the centrepiece of the midnight display; the idea of firing pyrotechnics from the bridge was borrowed from the Brooklyn Bridge's 1983 centenary celebrations.

In 'Gremlins', Gizmo spawns more mogwai when he comes into contact with what?

Water makes Gizmo spawn new mogwai; the three rules are no bright light, no water, and no food after midnight. Chris Columbus wrote the 1984 film before directing Home Alone.

The words of 'Auld Lang Syne' come from a 1788 poem by which Scottish poet?

Robert Burns admitted he 'took it down from an old man'; a 1711 ballad called 'Old Long Syne' shares its first verse and chorus.

On Saint Lucy's Day, Scandinavian girls playing Lucy wear what on their heads?

The girl playing Lucia wears a crown of candles set in a wreath of lingonberry twigs; her white dress stands for a baptismal robe and the red sash for martyrdom.

Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night 1776 to attack which town?

Washington's army surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton on the morning of 26 December 1776, taking about 900 prisoners, then recrossed to Pennsylvania before returning to win at Princeton on 3 January.

Trafalgar Square's Christmas tree has been an annual gift from which city since 1947?

Oslo first sent a Norwegian spruce in 1947 in thanks for Britain's wartime support, and the gift became annual; a forerunner arrived in 1942, cut on a commando raid and smuggled to King Haakon VII in London.

What is the nickname of the first prize in Spain's famous Christmas lottery?

'El Gordo', the fat one, is the top prize of the Sorteo de Navidad, which dates to 1812 in Cádiz; the winning numbers are sung aloud by pupils of Madrid's San Ildefonso school.

'Carol of the Bells' is based on 'Shchedryk', a New Year song from which country?

Mykola Leontovych built the piece on a four-note folk motif; the original tells of a swallow promising a household a bountiful year.

How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children one by one in the nights before Christmas?

There are 13 Yule Lads; the first arrives on 12 December and the last on Christmas Eve, each staying 13 days. Their names describe their mischief: Spoon-Licker, Door-Slammer, Sausage-Swiper.

Which Swedish town's giant straw goat has been burned by arsonists most years since 1966?

The Gävle Goat, a 13-metre straw Yule goat first built in 1966, burned that New Year's Eve and the culprit was convicted of vandalism; it was destroyed in more than half the years that followed.

Under what title was 'Jingle Bells' first published in 1857?

The One Horse Open Sleigh took decades to become a Christmas staple; an 1889 Edison cylinder of it is believed to be the first Christmas record.

Irving Berlin wrote 'White Christmas' for which 1942 film?

Irving Berlin wrote 'White Christmas' for Holiday Inn, where Bing Crosby sang it; the song won the 1942 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Crosby's recording sold over 50 million copies.

Bob Geldof co-wrote Band Aid's 1984 charity single with which musician?

Midge Ure, the Ultravox frontman, also produced the track, recorded in a single day at Sarm West Studios; it raised £8 million within a year.

Who voiced the Grinch and narrated the 1966 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!' TV special?

Engineers stripped the high frequencies from Karloff's voice to get the Grinch's gravelly grunt. Thurl Ravenscroft, uncredited, sang 'You're a Mean One'.

Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' score is famous for its use of which bell-like instrument?

The celesta gives the Sugar Plum Fairy her shimmer. The full ballet flopped at its 1892 premiere compared with the 20-minute suite Tchaikovsky had released months earlier.

Thomas Nast's influential 1863 Santa Claus illustration appeared in which publication?

That first Santa wore the Stars and Stripes and held a puppet labelled 'Jeff' for Jefferson Davis. Nast may also have invented Santa's North Pole address.

NORAD's Santa tracking began in 1955 after which store's ad invited kids to phone Santa?

A 1955 Sears ad in Colorado Springs gave children a number to phone Santa that rang Colonel Harry Shoup's CONAD operations desk; he played along, and NORAD inherited the tracker in 1958.

Apollo 8's Christmas Eve 1968 broadcast included a reading from which book of the Bible?

The astronauts took turns reading Genesis 1:1–10 while orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968, a broadcast that was at the time the most watched television program ever.

In the Catalan Tió de Nadal custom, children beat a log with sticks so it will do what?

Children beat the log while singing so it will 'poop out' presents and sweets; families 'feed' it for days beforehand and cover it with a blanket, and it is popularly called Caga Tió.

Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation followed lobbying by which magazine editor?

Hale, who also wrote 'Mary Had a Little Lamb', petitioned several presidents before Lincoln agreed after Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

The Filipino 'Simbang Gabi' dawn Masses run for how many days before Christmas?

They run from 16 to 24 December, and vendors sell bibingka and puto bumbong outside the churches afterwards. The country's season begins as early as September.

Snegurochka, who accompanies the Slavic gift-bringer Ded Moroz, is his what?

The Snow Maiden helps deliver gifts under the New Year tree. Russia has even run GLONASS Tracks Ded Moroz as a rival to NORAD's Santa tracker.

The Welsh wassailing figure Mari Lwyd is built around the skull of which animal?

A horse's skull is carried on a pole under a sheet; the party sings rhyming challenges, the pwnco, at each door until the householders give up and let them in for ale.

Iceland's Yule Cat is said to eat anyone who did not receive what before Christmas Eve?

The Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn) devours anyone who has no new clothes by Christmas Eve; the threat, tied to the ogress Grýla's household, was a handy way to get the autumn wool spun.

Which act kept the Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' off the 1987 UK Christmas number one?

Pet Shop Boys' synth cover of 'Always on My Mind' was the 1987 Christmas number one, leaving the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl stuck at number two; the Pogues' song re-entered the UK top 20 every Christmas from 2005 to 2020.

Which act scored five consecutive UK Christmas number ones from 2018 to 2022?

LadBaby, YouTubers Mark and Roxanne Hoyle, topped the chart every year from 2018 to 2022 with sausage-roll novelty songs for the Trussell Trust food bank charity, then bowed out of the race.

KFC Japan's 'Kentucky for Christmas' campaign went nationwide in which year?

The 'Kentucky for Christmas' campaign launched nationwide in 1974; manager Takeshi Okawara had begun selling 'party barrels' in 1970 as a stand-in for turkey in a country with few Christmas traditions.

The name of Finland's gift-bringer, Joulupukki, literally means what?

Joulupukki means 'Yule goat' (joulu, Yule; pukki, goat); the figure descends from the nuuttipukki, men in goat masks and fur who toured villages after Christmas demanding leftover food and drink.

The first royal Christmas broadcast (George V, 1932) was scripted by which author?

Rudyard Kipling wrote the short script; George V, wary of radio, read it from a temporary studio at Sandringham after BBC chief John Reith had first pitched the idea a decade earlier.

Which US president sponsored the first electrically lit White House tree, in 1895?

Grover Cleveland's family had a tree lit by electric bulbs in 1895; Benjamin Harrison's 1889 tree, the first recorded at the White House, was lit by candles.

St Francis of Assisi staged the first live nativity scene in 1223 in which Italian town?

At Greccio in the Rieti valley, Francis set up a manger in a cave with a live ox and donkey for Christmas Mass 1223; Saint Bonaventure described it about forty years later in his life of Francis.

Pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern built the first Advent wreath in 1839 from what object?

Wichern made the wreath from an old cartwheel, fixing 20 small red candles and four large white ones to it so the children at his Hamburg Rauhes Haus mission could count the days to Christmas.

Kwanzaa's communal feast, the Karamu Ya Imani, is typically held on which date?

The Karamu Ya Imani, the feast of faith, is held on December 31, the sixth of Kwanzaa's seven days, which honors Kuumba (creativity).

In Greece, what is left out to distract the kallikantzaroi goblins at Christmastide?

A colander is left on the doorstep; the kallikantzaroi stop to count its holes but cannot count past two, since three is holy. The rest of the year they saw at the tree that holds up the earth.

'Miracle on 34th Street' was first released in the UK under what title?

British audiences saw the 1947 film as 'The Big Heart'; it won three Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for Edmund Gwenn's Kris Kringle.

When Boston outlawed Christmas observance in 1659, the fine was how many shillings?

Massachusetts' 1659 law set a fine of five shillings for anyone found feasting or forbearing labour at Christmas; the ban was repealed in 1681, and England's Parliament had outlawed the festival in 1647.

Berrien Springs, the self-styled 'Christmas pickle capital', is in which US state?

Berrien Springs, in southwest Michigan, styled itself the Christmas pickle capital; the hidden-pickle ornament is sold as a German custom, but a 2016 YouGov poll found 91% of Germans had never heard of it.

Edward H. Johnson's pioneering electric Christmas tree of 1882 carried how many bulbs?

Johnson, a vice president of Edison's electric light company, strung 80 walnut-sized red, white and blue bulbs, made specially for him, on the tree at his New York home in December 1882.

Captain William Mynors named Christmas Island on Christmas Day of which year?

Mynors, commanding the East India Company ship Royal Mary, sailed past and named the island on 25 December 1643; Richard Rowe of the Thomas had sighted it first, in 1615.

On which date did the Roman festival of Saturnalia begin each year?

Saturnalia opened on 17 December with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn in the Forum and a public banquet; by Cicero's day the festivities ran for seven days, to 23 December.

The earliest known words to the 'partridge in a pear tree' carol are in which 1780 book?

'Mirth Without Mischief', a London children's book of about 1780, printed the earliest known text, with 'four colly birds' (colly meaning coal-black); the song was a memory game with forfeits for slip-ups.

Which American candy company produced the first chocolate Hanukkah gelt, in the 1920s?

Loft's, a New York candy company, produced the first chocolate Hanukkah gelt in the 1920s, selling foil-wrapped coins in mesh pouches shaped like money bags.