Christmas

Christmas is probably the holiday that is looked forward to the most. All year long, children dream of the treasures that will be under the tree Christmas morning and adults look forward to finding the perfect gift that will generate wide smiles on the face of loved ones.  From childhood memories of Christmases past to creating traditions of your own, Christmas is a magical time of gathering, feasting and gift giving. Most people know about  Christmas in the conventional sense: the Baby in the manger, flying reindeer, and Santa Claus in the North Pole. Here are some interesting facts about Christmas that you may not know.

Fun Facts

Scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world’s presents on Christmas Eve, traveling at 650 miles a second.

The abbreviation Xmas isn’t non religious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

The world’s tallest Christmas tree was 221 feet high. It was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.

In 1999, residents of Maine built the world’s biggest snowman standing 113 feet tall.

Many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten. The needles are a good source of Vitamin C.

The holly in a wreath symbolizes Christ’s crown of thorns while the red berries symbolize drops of his blood.

The long shopping period before Christmas began when relatives of soldiers overseas in the Second World War were encouraged to mail gifts early  to get them to the soldiers in time for Christmas.

“Jingle Bells” was the first song broadcasted from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.

The bestselling Christmas single ever is Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas," selling over 50 million copies worldwide since 1942.

Kissing under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.

Avid Christmas shoppers will statistically be elbowed at least three times while shopping this Christmas season.

If you counted all the gifts that were given in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” you would find that the number of gifts being given were 365 in total, so in actuality, there is a gift for each day of the year.

DID YOU KNOW:
Thomas Edison was known for his wacky publicity stunts, but during the Christmas of 1880 he went for the sentimental rather than shock value. That year, instead of electrocuting an elephant, he brought us the first electric Christmas light display.
-www.gizmodo.com

Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circles (The word carol originally meant to dance to something). The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around December 22nd. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has
really survived.
-www.whychristmas.com

Pink Staff's Top 10 Favorite Crazy Christmas Songs
Dominick the Donkey (1960)
Christmas Don't Be Late (1958)
I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas (1955)
Grandma Got Run Over By A
    Reindeer (1979)
I Want A Hippopotamus For
    Christmas (1953)
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
    (1952)
Blue Christmas (Porky Pig's rendition;
     1950)
The Chanukah Song (1994)
Mele Kalikimaka (1949)
Santa Baby (1953)

Top 10 U.S. Christmas Light Displays
www.americasbestonline.net
Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland
    West Knoxville and Bristol, TN
Silver Dollar City
    Branson, MO
Oglebay Festval of Lights
    Wheeling,WV
Smokey Mountain Winterfest
    Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge & Sevierville, TN
Trail of Lights
     Austin, TX
Magical Night of Lights
    Lake Lanier, GA
Holiday Festival of Lights
    Charleston, SC
Enchanted Garden of Lights
    Chattanooga, TN
Louisville MEGA Cavern
    Louisville, KY
Southern Lights
    Lexington, KY

Top 5 Famous Christmas Trees
Biltmore Estate, NC
Galleria, Dallas TX
Toledo Zoo, OH
Coeur d’Alene, ID
Rockerfeller Center, NY