- The origin of the Christmas celebration is the Roman tradition of Saturnalia, where Romans would honour the god of agriculture – Saturn, during the winter solstice.
- Gift giving traditionally took place at New Year, but as Christmas became increasingly important during the Victorian era gifts were exchanged on 25 December in the United Kingdom.
- The term ‘x-mas’ has been in use since the 16th century and the ‘x’ actually stands for the Greek letter ‘Chi’ – the first letter of the Greek word for Christ.
- Christmas cards were started in 1843 by British civil servant Henry Cole. Approximately 1,000 original Christmas cards were produced, and today these are worth thousands of pounds.
- The history of Rudolph is far more recent than Saint Nick himself. He was created in 1939 in Chicago as a way to sell children’s Christmas colouring books. The names ‘Rollo’ and ‘Reginald’ were both also considered.
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