Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
14
Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.
20
Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
196
Louis Prang, a Bavarian-born lithographer who came to the USA from Germany in the 19th century, popularized the sending of printed Christmas cards. He invented a way of reproducing color oil paintings
, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a car
, the "chromolithograph technique", and created a car
1
Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
62
The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
'Klaxon' is a name that does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer. A klaxon is actually a powerful electric horn. Its name comes from a German word meaning "shriek".
3
Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
42