'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Everywhere you go!' Jingling of the bells, lighting of the Christmas trees, smell of the delicious plum pudding cake. It's the holiday season, so here's a little something about the Christmas Holiday. Here are 10 mind blowing facts that you probably didn't know about the joyous holiday we all know and love: Christmas.
1. December 25th (AKA Christmas Day) is most likely NOT Jesus's birthday.
There is no mention in the Bible about when Jesus Christ was born, and in fact, most historians believe he was born in spring. The whole story about shepherds abiding their flocks the day Jesus was born could not have been possible if he was born in winter. Shepherds do not watch their flocks during the winter, because they have to shelter their sheep(mind=blown). It is more likely that Jesus was born towards the end of September, because the Bible hints at his birth happening towards the beginning of fall. So why is it all of a sudden in the winter? The Church wished to replace this once pagan holiday with a Christian holy day.
2. The holly jolly, red-suited man that comes down our chimneys once a year to deem us naughty or nice wasn't always the man in the red suit. Coca-Cola invented the modern day Santa Claus look.
Santa didn't always have his infamous red coat. He was actually known to wear different colored suits during different times of the year. It wasn't until the 1930's when the Coca-Cola Company came out with a commercials starring the Santa Claus that we all recognize today!
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3. Christians once banned Christmas.
Don't worry, you read that right. The creators actually banned their own holiday at one point in history. Christian Puritans believed that it was an insult to associate Jesus to ancient paganism, and so Christmas was outlawed in Massachusetts (Plymouth Colony). It was a criminal offense to dance, have seasonal plays, and sing. In fact, Christmas was so unimportant after the Revolutionary War, that Congress actually held their first session on Christmas.
4. The origin of stockings, laundry, and marriage go hand in hand.
The story of the origin of hanging stockings above your fireplace actually comes from the story of an poor man and his three daughters. The man couldn't afford to have all three of his daughters married. One night, St. Nicholas (original Santa Claus) dropped a bag of gold down the chimney so the man could get his eldest daughter married; it accidentally fell into a stocking that was drying by the fireplace.
5. Christmas has had its perks during war, especially during WWI.
On Christmas Eve, the troops places on the western front started singing carols to one another across the battlefield. The next morning, German troops approached the allied powers, saying "Merry Christmas" in English. Happily, it wasn't a battle strategy. Both sides left their trenches and greeted each other with cigars and whatever little military rations they had. Today this meeting was known as the Christmas Truce of 1914.
6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer was thought to be an alcoholic.
When Rudolph was introduced the public, he was meant to appeal to the children through advertisements for booklets. However, it ended up being used in several alcohol commercials. The public didn't realize that his nose was red because of a cold; people thought he had a chronic alcoholism.
7. 'Jingle Bells' was originally a Thanksgiving Holiday.
The song was written by James Lord Pierpont, who wrote the song in the 1850s to play for his Boston Sunday school class during Thanksgiving as a way to commemorate the famed Medford sleigh races. It eventually changed into a Christmas song.
8. The first artificial Christmas trees used to be made of toilet brushes.
No explanation needed here!
9. Looks like Santa is giving Usain Bolt a run for his money!
Scientists have concluded that Santa has to cover about 822 houses a second, traveling 650 miles per second to cover all the houses in the world. Looks like he really does need those cookies!
Who would've known? Hope you enjoyed reading about these cool Christmas facts! Make sure to share them with your friends and family on Christmas. Merry Christmas!
