The twelve days of Christmas are the days between Christmas Day and Epiphany (6th of January) and represent the length of time it took for the wise men from the East to visit the manger of Jesus after his birth.
36
Black Friday in the UK is the Friday before Christmas. Instead of shopping, many people get very drunk!
10
The sun sets on 24 December at 3.55pm in the UK, and rises the following morning at 8.05am.
81
English Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas between 1647 and 1660 because he believed such celebrations were immoral for the holiest day of the year.
26
The first Christmas card was designed in 1843 by J.C. Horsley.
38
The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
273
The first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria in 1937.
28
Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
33