Just For Fun - More Christmas Fun Facts!

Christmas is just a couple weeks away, so I thought it would be fun to look up and share some more Christmas "fun facts" which you could share with your family and friends as you celebrate Christmas! Did you know . . . 

• Where X-Mas came from? X means Christ in Greek so to shorten the word Christmas we sometimes use X-Mas.
• In 1836 Alabama became the first state in the US to declare Christmas a legal holiday. 
• Oklahoma became the last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1907.
• In June of 1970 Christmas became a federal holiday in the US.
• Christmas trees were first decorated with food such as apples, nuts, and dates.
• In the 18th century Christmas trees began being decorated with candles.
• Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895.
• Giving presents were once banned by the Catholic Church.  It was believed gift giving was connected to paganism. 
• It is said that candy canes were invented by a candy maker in Indiana.  He wanted to use them to spread the name Jesus around the world.
• Why we say the Twelve Days of Christmas?  It is believed it took the three kings 12 days to find baby Jesus.
• The song Jingle Bells was written by James Pierpont in 1857.  It was originally called “One Horse Open Sleigh” and was made for Thanksgiving.
• Many years ago in England a traditional Christmas dinner included a pig head served with mustard.
• The tradition of naughty children getting a lump of coal in their stocking comes from Italy. 
• Tinsel was once made of real silver! It was invented in Germany in 1610. 

Did you know any of these? Which one is the most interesting or surprising to you? I found the one about tinsel being made of real silver very interesting . . . you would definitely not want to throw real silver tinsel away! Merry Christmas!