Did you know?

• The tradition of putting up a Christmas tree dates back to 16th century Germany.
• In Ukraine, it is customary to hang spider web decorations on the Christmas tree as a symbol of good luck.
• The first Christmas card was sent in 1843 in England.
• The tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace originated in the Netherlands.
• The world's largest snowflake on record fell in Montana in 1887 and was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.
• The world's tallest Christmas tree was a 221-foot Douglas fir erected in Seattle, Washington in 1950.
• In Iceland, the Christmas season includes 13 "Yule Lads" who visit children on each of the 13 nights leading up to Christmas Eve.
• In Greece, the traditional Christmas meal is a roast pork or lamb.
• In Mexico, the Christmas season includes a nine-day celebration called Las Posadas, which reenacts Mary and Joseph's search for a place to stay before the birth of Jesus.

Interesting stuff about Christmas songs!

• "Jingle Bells" was originally written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas.
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was created by Montgomery Ward department store in 1939 as a way to save money on their Christmas coloring books.
• The song "Silent Night" was first performed in 1818 in Austria, with guitar accompaniment because the church's organ was broken.
• "O Come, All Ye Faithful" was originally written in Latin as "Adeste Fidelis" and is believed to have been composed in the 18th century.
• "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin is the best-selling Christmas song of all time, with over 100 million copies sold worldwide.
• "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was originally a counting game for children, with each day representing a gift.
• Mariah Carey's hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was released in 1994 and has since become a modern-day Christmas classic.
• "Feliz Navidad" by José Feliciano is one of the few popular Christmas songs that has been written in a language other than English.
• "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid was recorded in 1984 by a group of British musicians to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
• The melody for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" dates back to the 16th century, while the lyrics were likely added in the 19th century.