98 Fun Facts About Holiday Traditions

The modern custom of decorating an evergreen tree for Christmas began in the 16th century in which country?

Germany's Lutherans were the first recorded tree decorators; one stood in Strasbourg Cathedral in 1539, and Prince Albert made the custom fashionable in England in the 1840s.

In Iceland, what do the Yule Lads leave in the shoe of a child who has misbehaved?

The Yule Lads leave a rotten potato in a misbehaving child's shoe; well-behaved children find small gifts instead, one lad arriving each night in the run-up to Christmas.

Eating twelve grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve, one per chime of the clock, is a tradition from which country?

Spain's grapes are swallowed to the chimes of the clock in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, broadcast nationwide, and the custom has spread across Latin America.

Among the German Lutherans who first told of the 'Easter Hare', what role did the animal originally play?

Much like Santa's naughty-or-nice list, the hare decided who deserved eggs; a 1572 German text already warns that if he escapes, 'we will cook the nest'.

Diwali, often called the Festival of Lights, primarily symbolizes the triumph of what?

Diwali is a significant festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.

In what year was the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade held in New York City?

The inaugural Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, originally called Macy's Christmas Parade, took place in 1924, featuring store employees, floats, and live animals.

Kwanzaa is a celebration based on seven core principles, collectively known by what Swahili term?

The seven principles of Kwanzaa, which focus on community and African heritage, are known as the Nguzo Saba: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith).

Which Jewish holiday features a Seder meal retelling the Exodus from Egypt?

Passover's Seder retells the escape from slavery; matzah is unleavened because the Israelites left too fast for bread to rise, and the bitter herbs recall the bitterness of bondage.

Which traditional English Christmas punch of hot spiced ale or cider takes its name from a toast meaning 'be in good health'?

Wassail comes from the Old English toast wes hál, 'be well'; the earliest versions were warmed mead with roasted crab apples bursting on top, a drink called lambswool.

Kissing under the mistletoe is first noted as popular among which group in late-18th-century England?

Kissing under the mistletoe was first noted as popular among servants in late-18th-century England; Washington Irving described the custom in 1820, with a berry plucked from the sprig for each kiss.

What is traditionally placed at the very top of a Christmas tree?

The most traditional Christmas tree toppers are a star, representing the Star of Bethlehem, or an angel, symbolizing the angel Gabriel from the Nativity story.

Which country has sent London a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square every year since 1947?

Norway has given the Trafalgar Square tree every year since 1947 as thanks for British support during the Second World War; the spruce is felled in the forests outside Oslo each November.

How many numbered doors or windows do most standard Advent calendars feature?

Standard Advent calendars have 24 doors, one for each day from 1 to 24 December; because Advent's first Sunday moves between 27 November and 3 December, reusable calendars simply start on 1 December.

How many Yule Lads, trolls with names like Spoon-Licker and Door-Slammer, visit Icelandic children one per night before Christmas?

13 lads arrive over the 13 nights before Christmas, leaving gifts in shoes on windowsills, or a rotten potato for naughty children; they are the sons of the ogress Grýla.

What sweet treat is commonly left out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve in many Western cultures?

Cookies and a glass of milk are the classic Christmas Eve offering for Santa in the United States; the half-eaten plate found the next morning serves as 'evidence' of his visit.

What nine-branched candelabrum is lit during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah?

The Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah, has nine branches: eight for the nights plus the shamash, the helper candle that lights the rest. The ancient Temple's menorah had seven.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by activist Maulana Karenga in the aftermath of which event?

Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 after the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles, modelling it on African harvest festivals; it runs from 26 December to 1 January.

What traditional game is played with a four-sided spinning top during Hanukkah?

The dreidel is the Hanukkah spinning top; each of its four Hebrew letters fixes the outcome of a spin—nothing, all, half, or put in—in a game played for coins or chocolate gelt.

In what season does Diwali, the Festival of Lights, typically occur?

Diwali falls in autumn, between mid-October and mid-November, because its date shifts with the Hindu lunisolar calendar; the celebrations run for five days.

What type of lamp is commonly lit as part of Diwali celebrations?

Diyas, small clay oil lamps, are lit in rows for Diwali; the Skanda Purana describes them as symbolising parts of the sun, the cosmic giver of light and energy.

Which New Year's custom do historians trace to Babylonians making promises to their gods?

Making resolutions is the custom: the Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year, and the Romans later adopted the practice with their January new year.

Which bird is traditionally served as the main course for Thanksgiving dinner in the United States?

Turkey is the traditional main course for Thanksgiving dinner in the United States, a custom that has been observed for many years.

Which Easter activity did Florida's Cypress Gardens stage with a record 501,000 eggs in 2007?

An Easter egg hunt: Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida, hid 501,000 eggs for 9,753 children on 1 April 2007, the Guinness record for the largest hunt.

In Scottish Hogmanay first-footing, which visitor is preferred as the first across the threshold after midnight?

The visitor should bring gifts such as coal, salt, shortbread or whisky; one theory holds the dark-hair preference dates to Viking times, when a blond stranger at the door meant trouble.

Traditionally, what does finishing a bowl of tteokguk on Korea's Lunar New Year do?

It makes the eater a year older, which is why Koreans ask 'how many bowls of tteokguk have you eaten?' to ask someone's age; the white rice cakes stand for a clean start.

At Japan's Setsubun festival each February, families shout 'Demons out, fortune in' while throwing what at a relative in an ogre mask?

Roasted soybeans are hurled in a rite called mamemaki; afterwards you eat one bean for every year of your age, plus one more for luck.

In Mexico, whoever finds the figurine in the Rosca de Reyes must host a party on which feast day?

Finding the figurine obliges you to host the tamales party on Candlemas, 2 February (Día de la Candelaria); the hidden figure represents the Christ Child concealed from Herod during the flight into Egypt.

Colombia's Día de las Velitas on 7 December falls on the eve of which feast?

8 December is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a public holiday in Colombia; the candle custom dates from 1854, when Pope Pius IX defined the doctrine as dogma and Colombians lit candles to celebrate.

What event does Ethiopia's Timkat festival, with its tabot procession, celebrate?

Timkat is the Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany, celebrating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan; on 19 January the tabot, a model of the Ark of the Covenant, is carried to water where the liturgy is held before dawn.

The girl leading Scandinavia's Saint Lucy's Day procession wears a white robe and what else?

A crown of lit candles tops the Lucia's white robe; legend says Lucy wore candles on her head to keep both hands free while carrying food to Christians hiding in Rome's catacombs. Stockholm crowned its first newspaper Lucia in 1927.

On which date do Spain, Hispanic America and the Philippines play practical jokes?

28 December is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, commemorating the children killed on Herod's orders; the pranks played that day are called inocentadas and their victims inocentes.

The Mari Lwyd, a midwinter wassailing custom of south Wales, involves parading what from house to house?

First recorded in 1800: someone hidden under a sheet carries the skull door to door, the party sings for entry, the household refuses in verse, and the duel runs until they are let in for food and drink.

Tom Smith invented Christmas crackers in 1847 from which of his existing products?

Smith already sold sweets in a twist of paper. When sales slumped he added a friction strip that banged when the wrapper was pulled, dropped the sweet in favour of a trinket, and sold the result as the Cosaque — though the onomatopoeic name stuck instead.

Hamburg pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern created the modern Advent wreath in 1839 by fixing candles to what?

Wichern fixed small red candles for the weekdays and four large white ones for the Sundays to an old cartwheel, so the children at his Hamburg mission school could count the days to Christmas.

On the Kwanzaa kinara, what colour is the single candle that stands in the middle and represents unity?

The single black candle in the centre stands for the people and for Umoja, unity; three red candles on the left stand for struggle and three green on the right for the future.

The first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square welcomed which year?

The first drop, on 31 December 1907, welcomed 1908 with a 700-pound iron-and-wood ball lit by 100 bulbs; the drop was skipped in 1942 and 1943 under wartime lighting restrictions.

On which date in 1865 were enslaved people in Galveston, Texas told they were free?

June 19, 1865 was when Union General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas that enslaved people were free; the anniversary, Juneteenth, became a US federal holiday in 2021.

Which flower, believed to guide souls home, decorates ofrenda altars on Mexico's Day of the Dead?

The orange cempasúchil is joined on altars by sugar skulls and pan de muerto. UNESCO inscribed the tradition on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2008.

Thailand's Songkran festival is famous for what public activity symbolising cleansing?

Mass water fights: pouring water over elders' hands washes away sins and bad luck, and on the streets it becomes a nationwide soaking; UNESCO inscribed Songkran in Thailand in December 2023.

Which Hindu spring festival has people drenching each other in coloured powder and water to welcome the season?

Holi falls on the last full moon of the month of Phalguna, usually in March; bonfires called Holika Dahan burn the night before, and the next day everyone is drenched in coloured powder and water.

Which instrument, made from a ram's horn, is blown during Rosh Hashanah services?

The shofar, a ram's horn, is sounded in the Rosh Hashanah service; the holiday's name means 'head of the year', and it opens the Ten Days of Repentance that end with Yom Kippur.

Chicago's tradition of dyeing its river green for St. Patrick's Day began by accident in which decade?

In 1961 plumbers using fluorescent dye to trace illegal pollution noticed the effect and pitched it to Mayor Richard J. Daley. The local plumbers union still sponsors the dyeing.

Bonfire Night marks the 1605 arrest of which man caught guarding explosives under the House of Lords?

Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellar beneath the Lords on the night of 4–5 November 1605; the Gunpowder Plot aimed to blow up James I at the opening of Parliament, and effigies of Fawkes are burned on the bonfires.

Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day ceremony takes place at which spot in Punxsutawney?

Gobbler's Knob, a wooded hill outside town, has hosted the trek since the first 'official' Groundhog Day there in 1887, a year after the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper first reported the groundhog had not seen its shadow.

Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock to explain which Christian doctrine?

The Holy Trinity: Patrick is said to have used the shamrock's three leaves on one stem to illustrate Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the story first appears in writing in 1726, though shamrocks were worn by the 1680s.

'Mardi Gras' is French for what?

Mardi Gras means 'Fat Tuesday': it is the final day of Carnival, named for the last chance to eat rich, fatty foods before the fasting season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Along with purple and green, what is the third traditional Mardi Gras colour?

Gold stands for power, purple for justice and green for faith, meanings assigned by New Orleans' Rex parade organisation in 1892.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico's 1862 victory at the Battle of Puebla over the forces of which empire?

France: the Second French Empire's army was beaten at Puebla on 5 May 1862 by General Ignacio Zaragoza, who died of typhoid months later; a larger French force took Mexico City in 1863.

The very first Oktoberfest, held in Munich in October 1810, celebrated what event?

A royal wedding: Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810, and the festival grounds were named Theresienwiese, 'Therese's Meadow', after the bride.

In which year did the fourth Thursday of November become the uniform US Thanksgiving date?

In December 1941 Congress fixed Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, after Franklin Roosevelt's 1939 move of the holiday a week earlier had split the states; the earliest possible date is 22 November and the latest 28 November.

Whose editorials prompted Lincoln's 1863 proclamation of a national Thanksgiving?

Hale edited Godey's Lady's Book, the most widely read periodical in the antebellum US, and had lobbied several presidents before Lincoln acted.

What is the star-shaped Christmas lantern hung in windows across the Philippines called?

The parol, a bamboo-and-paper star lantern representing the Star of Bethlehem, hangs in Filipino windows from September through the long Christmas season; San Fernando in Pampanga holds a giant-lantern festival each December.

What do people traditionally do during the final verse of 'Auld Lang Syne' on New Year's Eve?

Singers join hands in a circle, crossing arms at the final verse in the Scottish custom; the song became synonymous with the holiday in North America through Guy Lombardo's annual midnight broadcasts, begun on radio in 1929.

Which vegetable were 19th-century Irish and British jack-o'-lanterns most commonly carved from?

Turnips (and mangelwurzels) were the carved lanterns of Ireland and Britain before emigrants found the larger American pumpkin; the name links to the legend of Stingy Jack, doomed to roam with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.

Roller-skating to early-morning Christmas Mass is a tradition in the capital of which country?

Venezuela: in Caracas, streets are closed before dawn in the days before Christmas so residents can skate to the Misa de Aguinaldo, the early-morning carol Mass.

What is burned in the streets of Valencia on the final night of Las Fallas?

Papier-mâché effigies: the satirical fallas monuments built over the year are set alight in the cremà on 19 March, Saint Joseph's night, with one figure spared by public vote.

The Hindu spring festival Holi celebrates the love between Radha and which deity?

Krishna: Holi's colours recall the playful smearing of colour on Radha by the blue-skinned Krishna; the festival begins on the evening of the full moon of Phalguna, usually in mid-March.

During which Jewish festival do families eat meals in a temporary hut roofed with branches?

Sukkot: for seven days families eat, and some sleep, in a sukkah whose roof of cut branches recalls the shelters of the Israelites' forty years in the wilderness.

Which US president started the White House Easter Egg Roll in 1878 after Congress banned it from the Capitol grounds?

Rutherford B. Hayes opened the South Lawn to the children in 1878 after Congress's 1876 Turf Protection Act banned the egg rolling that was wrecking the Capitol's lawns.

Which number is avoided in Chinese New Year red envelope money because it sounds like 'death'?

Amounts ending in 8 are favoured instead, because 'ba' sounds like 'fa', meaning prosperity.

Whose famous diary entry of 19 December 1663 mentions tradesmen collecting 'Christmas boxes'?

Samuel Pepys wrote on 19 December 1663 of paying his shoemaker and giving 'something to the boys' box against Christmas'; the custom ties to the older practice of sending servants home on 26 December with a box of gifts.

Japan's hatsumōde, in the first days of January, is the year's first visit to what?

A Shinto shrine (or Buddhist temple): millions queue at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine in the first three days of January to pray for the year, buy amulets and draw omikuji fortunes.

Which date did John Adams predict in 1776 would be America's 'great anniversary festival'?

July 2: Congress voted for independence that day by passing the Lee Resolution, and Adams wrote to Abigail that it would be 'the most memorable epocha'; the Declaration was adopted two days later, and 4 July stuck.

Under what title was the song now known as "Jingle Bells" first published in 1857?

'The One Horse Open Sleigh' was James Lord Pierpont's 1857 title; the tune later became one of the first songs played from space, when the Gemini 6 astronauts performed it on harmonica and bells in December 1965.

Swedish lussekatter, the buns baked for Saint Lucy's Day, are coloured with which spice?

Saffron gives lussekatter their golden colour; the S-shaped buns, dotted with raisins, are served with coffee and glögg on 13 December, Saint Lucy's Day.

It's a Wonderful Life became a television Christmas staple in the 1970s largely because of what?

The 1974 lapse let any local station air the film for free, and years of repeated broadcasts turned a modest 1946 release into a holiday institution.

Which Swedish town has built a giant straw Yule Goat each December since 1966?

Gävle's 13-metre straw goat, first raised in 1966, is a national fixture partly because arsonists have burned it dozens of times, most famously on its 2021 return after four safe years.

Which horned figure of Alpine folklore accompanies Saint Nicholas to punish naughty children?

Krampus, half-goat and half-demon, roams Austrian and Bavarian towns on 5 December, Krampusnacht, rattling chains and threatening to carry bad children off in his basket.

In which 1942 film did Bing Crosby first sing "White Christmas"?

Holiday Inn (1942) introduced Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas', which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song; Crosby's recording is estimated to have sold more than 50 million physical copies.

What is the traditional flavour of a red-and-white striped candy cane?

Peppermint is the classic flavour; the striped canes were made by hand until Gregory Harding Keller, a Catholic priest, patented a machine that automated twisting the stripes and cutting them to length.

What does the oil used to fry Hanukkah latkes and doughnuts commemorate?

The Temple's oil lasting eight days: after the Maccabees rededicated the Second Temple, a single day's supply of pure oil is said to have burned for eight, which is why latkes and sufganiyot are fried in oil.

The Hebrew letters on the four-sided spinning top used at Hanukkah form an acronym for what phrase?

Nun, gimel, hei, shin stand for Nes Gadol Haya Sham, 'a great miracle happened there'; most tops sold in Israel swap the last letter to pe so the phrase reads 'happened here'.

In which Austrian village was 'Silent Night' first performed on Christmas Eve 1818?

Oberndorf, near Salzburg: Franz Xaver Gruber set Joseph Mohr's words to guitar, and the two sang it at St Nicholas church's midnight Mass on 24 December 1818.

Why did President Franklin D. Roosevelt move Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939?

Roosevelt moved it to give merchants a longer Christmas shopping season in a year when November had five Thursdays; the change split the states between two Thanksgivings until a federal law fixed the fourth Thursday.

The customs of Halloween are usually traced back to which ancient Gaelic festival?

Samhain marked the end of the harvest in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, a night when the boundary to the otherworld was thought to thin.

Which two Declaration signers, both later presidents, died on July 4, 1826?

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on 4 July 1826, the Declaration's 50th anniversary; James Monroe, another Founding Father, died on 4 July five years later.

In Japan, on which date do men give reciprocal Valentine's gifts on "White Day"?

March 14, a month after Valentine's Day: Japan's confectionery industry launched White Day in 1978 as an 'answer day', and the return gift is expected to be worth two to three times the original.

Which 1382 poem is the earliest known link between Saint Valentine's Day and romantic love?

Chaucer's The Parliament of Fowls, a dream vision written around 1382 and often linked to Richard II's engagement to Anne of Bohemia, imagines birds gathering on 'Seynt Valentynes day' to choose their mates.

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker score famously introduced which bell-like keyboard instrument to ballet audiences?

The celesta, invented in Paris in 1886, gives the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance its chime; the ballet premiered in Saint Petersburg in December 1892 and became an American Christmas staple after George Balanchine's 1954 staging.

What do Swedish families traditionally watch on television at 3 pm on Christmas Eve?

Donald Duck cartoons: 'Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul', a Disney compilation, has aired on SVT at 3 pm on 24 December since 1960 and draws millions of viewers each year.

The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase meaning what?

'First fruits': the name comes from the Swahili matunda ya kwanza, and founder Maulana Karenga added an extra 'a' so it would have seven letters, one for each of the holiday's principles.

What is baked into a Greek vasilopita, the cake cut at New Year?

A coin: the vasilopita, named for Saint Basil whose feast is 1 January, is cut at midnight, and whoever finds the coin in their slice is promised luck for the year.

At which American institution did the drunken 1826 "Eggnog Riot" take place?

Twenty cadets were court-martialled; in Puerto Rico the holiday drink takes a gentler form as coquito, made with rum and coconut milk.

Which two of Santa's reindeer take their names from a Dutch oath meaning thunder and lightning?

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.

Which Mexican plant with red bracts became the classic Christmas pot plant?

Poinsettia: named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico, who sent cuttings home in the 1820s; the red 'petals' are bracts, modified leaves around tiny yellow flowers.

Which tall, dome-shaped sweet bread from Milan is an Italian Christmas staple?

Panettone, from Milan, is a tall domed sweet bread with candied fruit and raisins, leavened over days with a sourdough starter; Verona's rival pandoro is star-shaped and fruit-free.

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 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.

Which Jewish festival features costumes, noisemakers and a public reading of the Book of Esther?

Purim: the Megillah of Esther is read aloud and the crowd drowns out Haman's name with graggers (rattles); costumes, hamantaschen pastries and gifts of food mark the day.

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.

What is the traditional German spiced Christmas cookie often compared to gingerbread?

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

In Italian folklore, on which night does the witch-like Befana deliver gifts to children?

Epiphany Eve, 5 January: the Befana flies on her broomstick to fill stockings at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas; legend says she declined to join the Magi and has searched for the Christ Child ever since.

By what means does Sinterklaas traditionally arrive in the Netherlands each year?

By steamboat from Spain: the pakjesboot's televised arrival in mid-November opens the season; he then rides a white horse, the long-serving Amerigo having been replaced by Ozosnel in 2019.

In Catalonia, how do children make the Tió de Nadal log 'deliver' its Christmas presents?

Children beat the log with sticks while singing 'Caga tió' so it 'excretes' nougat and sweets; from 8 December it is 'fed' nightly and covered with a blanket to keep it warm.

In which year did KFC Japan launch its nationwide 'Kentucky for Christmas' campaign?

1974 was the year 'Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii' (Kentucky for Christmas) went nationwide; manager Takeshi Okawara had begun selling 'party barrels' as a turkey substitute at his Nagoya store in 1970.

Simbang Gabi, the Filipino series of dawn Masses leading up to Christmas, runs over how many days?

Nine days, from December 16 to 24, sometimes starting as early as 2:30 a.m.; completing all nine is said to earn a wish.

The Scandinavian Yule goat is often linked to which Norse god, whose chariot was pulled by two goats?

Thor's chariot was drawn by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, which he could eat and resurrect; modern Scandinavian Yule goats are made of straw.

The French word 'réveillon', for a long Christmas or New Year's Eve dinner, derives from a word meaning what?

Waking: réveillon comes from réveiller, 'to wake', because diners stay up through the night; New Orleans keeps the custom through its French-Creole heritage.