Christmas Countdown

Scientists in the United States have calculated that Santa visits 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents ...

The Bible doesn't actually say how many wise men paid homage to baby Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew only refers ...

Santa has a lot of alternative names all over the world.

Father Christmas here in the UK, Kris Kringle in Germany, ...

Thank you, everyone, for your company and contributions throughout the year. It is you who makes this site what it ...

Christmas pudding was originally a soup made from raisins and wine.

Like mincemeat, they probably also contained meat of some description ...

Jingle bells - originally called 'One Horse Open Sleigh' - was written for Thanksgiving and not Christmas.

It was the first ...

Since 1947, Oslo in Norway has sent a Christmas tree to London, where it is displayed in Trafalgar Square. 

It is ...

In Catholic and Anglican churches, the start of a church day is sunset, so the first service after then is ...

The tradition of having gold foil-covered coins hanging on a Christmas tree comes from St Nicholas, who gave small pouches ...

Tinsel used to be made from real silver and was another German creation, first seen there in 1610. Because silver ...

There are 13 different 'Santas' in Iceland - trolls who appear one-by-one each night from the 12th December up until ...

Kissing under the mistletoe comes from another pagan tradition. Mistletoe was associated with Frigga, the Norse goddess of fertility, and ...

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a department store in America, called Montgomery Ward, to promote children's colouring books.

Although ...

There are many older names used for the festival we call Christmas: Yule - the old pagan festival of winter - Midwinter, ...

Christmas carols originated out of the old carols sung at the time of the winter solstice, during the pagan festival ...

In Medieval England, the traditional Christmas meal was a pig's head and mustard, although the rich often dined on peacock ...

In Britain, the best-selling Christmas single is Band Aid's 1984 song 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' Wham's 'Last Christmas, released ...

In Victorian England, postmen with their red tunics were affectionately known as Robins. People would eagerly await their delivery ...

All sorts of animals are associated with Christmas, from the camels and donkey of the story of the Nativity to ...

In 2008, in Bethel, Maine, the residents built a 122-foot high snow-woman called Olympia. 6,500 tons of snow were used ...

The first Christmas crackers were invented in 1847 by a sweet seller called Tom Smith, who designed them with a ...

'The Polar Express' was the first film to be made entirely using motion capture - the process of turning the ...

Mince pies are a very British invention, although the filling was brought back from the Middle East by the Crusaders ...

Parts of the humble Christmas tree can be eaten. The needles are a very good source of vitamin C!!