10 fun Christmas facts to get you in the festive spirit!

The famous song, which was written by James Lord Pierpont and which was originally published with the title ' The One Horse Open Sleigh'(1857), became the first song to be broadcast from space, during NASA's Gemini 6A space flight.

On 16 December 1965, the Gemini 6A crew got into the festive spirit and made history when they sent this report to Mission Control:

C6: Gemini VII, this is Gemini VI. We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, up in a polar orbit. He's in a very low trajectory traveling from north to south and has a very high climbing ratio. It looks like it might even be a ... Very low. Looks like he might be going to reenter soon. Stand by one ... You might just let me try to pick up that thing. (Music – Jingle Bells – from Spacecraft VI) P7: We got the too, VI. C6: That was live, VII, not tape. CC: You're too much, VI.

After producing a smuggled tiny harmonica and sleigh bells, astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford, broadcast a rendition of 'Jingle Bells' and earned the jolly jingle the Guinness World Record for being the first song ever played in space!

While Coca-Cola did not create the legend of Santa Claus, one of the beverage company's  advertising campaigns undoubtedly helped to shape and popularise the jolly, red-cheeked, white-bearded man that we know today. Before the 1930s, there were many depictions of Santa Claus around the world, including an elf, a grotesque old man with a large mask, a scary, ghostly apparition and a pious, stick-thin man with a walking stick. In 1931, Coca-Cola commissioned Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa for magazine advertisements. The illustrator, drawing inspiration from Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem 'A visit from St. Nicholas', depicted Father Christmas as  a warm, happy character with human features, who was dressed in a red and white suit and had rosy cheeks, a white beard, twinkling eyes and laughter lines. Thanks to Sundbloom's work and Coca-Cola's popular campaign, kids no longer have Santa-themed nightmares!

These beautiful red and green plants with star- shaped leaves, flower during the Christmas season have been associated with Christmas for over a century. They are traditionally gifted around Christmas time, as a symbolism of good will and community spirit. The shape of the poinsettia flower is thought to symbolise the Star of Bethlehem, while the red leaves symbolise the blood of Christ.

The plant is native to Mexico and gets hims name from the 19th century physician, botanist and politician Joel R. Poinsett, who was the American minister to Mexico. In 1828, Poinsett brought a poinsettia home to America from his post down south and after sending samples to his greenhouse in South Carolina, he introduced the plant to the United States. Over time, the popularity of poinsettias grew and stores in New York began to sell them at Christmas in 1870. By the 20th century, poinsettias had become a universal symbol of love, hope  and goodwill during the festive season.

The world famous copper statue, which was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and which features a metal framework built by Gustave Eiffel, was officially unveiled on October 28, 1886. Lady Liberty, who is 151 feet tall and weighs 225 tons is an impressive figure. She was considered a holiday gift when it was given to the United States from the people of France in 1886 and she is officially the largest Christmas present in the world! Talk about a gift that just keeps on giving!

Have you ever wondered why we hang up stockings on the fireplace on Christmas Eve only to wake up in the morning to find them filled with gifts?

It is thought that the tradition, which dates back to at least 1823, originates from the tale of a poor widower, who feared that he would not be able to marry of his three daughters due to lack his of wealth. According to the Smithsonian, St. Nicholas was wandering through the town where the man lived with his daughters when heard villagers discussing the family's unfortunate situation. He wished to help but knew the man would refuse any kind of charity.Instead, he decided to help in secret; one night, he slid down the chimney of the family's house and filled the girls' freshly laundered stockings, which had been left to dry by the fire, with gold coins. And then he disappeared. In the morning, the family found the gifts, and they were of course, overjoyed. The girls were finally able to get married and and live happily ever after. 

We first learnt about Santa's 'miniature sleigh' and 'eight tiny reindeer' when the poem 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas' was published anonymously in the daily paper Troy Sentinel in Troy, New York in 1823. More than a century later, Rudolph, the famous red-nosed reindeer, was introduced in a children's book by Robert L. May distributed by the Montgomery Ward department store as a promotion.

Since the 1823 poem was first published, the names of Santa's mystical flying chaffers have evolved, as have some of their attributes.In particular, Donner and Blitzen were once instead Dunder and Blixem, which is a Dutch way to refer to 'thunder and lightning.' Donner and Blitzen, translate as thunder and lightning in German.

In 1982, some big-hearted Canadian Post Office workers started writing back to children and even set up a special postal code for Santa! If you wish to become pen pals with Santa Claus and send him a letter via the Canada Post mail system, you can address your letter to: Santa Claus, NorthPole, HOH OHO, Canada. Don't be surprised when you get a letter back!

During World War 2, the United States Playing Card Company joined forces with the American and British Intelligence Agencies to create a very special deck of cards, known as the ' Map Deck'. 

The cards were distributed as Christmas gifts, but also helped allied prisoners of war escape from German POW camps. When wet, individual card layers peeled apart to reveal maps of top-secret escape routes and help prisoners find their way to safety.

The 'Map Deck' was a closely guarded secret for many years after the war ended and even today, no one really knows how many were produced or how many have survived. 

According to Guinness World Records, the world's first mass produced Christmas card was a lithographed illustration depicting a multigenerational family enjoying a Christmas party. The side panels of the card were showing charitable scenes with people clothing and feeding the poor and it was hand-coloured by the London illustrator John Calcott Horsley. Today, there are only 12 of the original 1,000 cards still in existence and one of the cards, which was sent by the Bath-born businessman Sir Henry Cole to his grandmother in 1843, was sold at auction in Devizes, Wiltshire, U.K for £20,000 on 24 November 2001.

The current Guinness world record for the most expensive decorated Christmas tree is held by the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi,UAE. It was located in the hotel's lobby and was displayed from 16 to 29 December 2010. It was valued at $11,026,900 US (£6,975,880).

The artificial evergreen tree, was 13.1 metres tall and was decorated with silver and gold bows, ball shaped ornaments and small white lights. The tree itself was about $10,000  but Its million dollar value was due to the necklaces, earrings and other pieces of  jewellery draped over its branches. The 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones decorating the tree were valued at $11.4-$11.5 million.

In December 2019, the  Kempinksi Hotel Bahia near Marbella, Spain, treated its guests to the sight of another very expensive tree, which was estimated to be decked with $15 million of jewels. According to CNN, the tree was adorned with white, pink, red and black diamonds as well as jewellery from the Bulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Chanel. The tree was also embellished with 3D-printed chocolate peacocks, feathers, ostrich eggs and bottles of perfume.