100 Interesting Facts About Christmas

The voice of Charlie Brown from the original Christmas Special was sentenced to a year in jail for threatening and stalking his ex-girlfriend. The judge told him, "Don't be a blockhead".

27. For Christmas, Catalan children "feed" a hollowed-out log with a painted face, then later sing a song and beat the log with a stick until it defecates presents. The first line of the song is "Sh*t, log!"

28. Santa Claus is a Marvel character. He has powers that include teleportation and the ability to shape-shift, and he once saved the X-Men on Christmas Eve.

29. In the famous Christmas song 'Twelve days of Christmas' all the gifts total up to 364 presents, nearly one for every day of the year.

30. A struggling young Harper Lee once received one year's wages as a gift from a friend with the note: "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas." She used her time off to write "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Norwegians pay half tax in November, so everyone has more money for Christmas.

32. Christmas tradition dictates that a man is allowed to kiss any woman standing underneath mistletoe and that bad luck will befall any woman who refuses the kiss. With each kiss, a berry is to be plucked from the mistletoe and the kissing must stop after all the berries have been removed.

33. American kids used to get radioactive toys for Christmas

34. The Paddington Bear stuffed toy was created by a business run by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson's parents. Jeremy and his sister were given prototypes as Christmas presents. Jeremy later became a salesman for his parents' business, selling the stuffed toys.

35. J. R. R. Tolkien hand wrote and illustrated letters to his children from Father Christmas every year for 20 years.

Jewish composer Irving Berlin struggled to pen a Christmas song for the film Holiday Inn. Finally finishing "White Christmas", he supposedly said, "Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote!" Bing Crosby's 1947 record is the bestselling single...of ALL TIME.

37. Band of Horses' The Funeral meaning is really about the singer's Ben Bridwell dread of birthday and Christmas, where there is so much pressure to please, impress, get gifts, pretend to be excited and get together for dinner. He likened the idea of these occasions to funerals.

38. BuzzWinkle, a moose from Anchorage, Alaska who frequently roamed the city drunk from eating fermented crab apples and more than once was found ripping down Christmas lights with his antlers or passed out in the street downtown

39. Artificial Christmas tree would have to be reused for more than 20 years to be "greener" than buying a fresh-cut tree annually

40. In World War 2, the US Army asked Americans to loan their dogs to the war effort. The dogs' handlers even sent letters home to their owners for Christmas and to inform them of their dog's performance throughout the war.

According to Icelandic legend, if you don't receive new clothes for Christmas, there is a giant Yule Cat that will eat you

42. Coca-Cola sales in Sweden often drop more than 50% during Christmas, due to the tradition of drinking Julmust.

43. The NHL has a 9-day trade moratorium during the holidays to prevent players from being moved to a different city during Christmas.

44. Mail carriers are NOT permitted to accept cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards. Carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas.

45. When Charles Manson didn't receive any gifts for Christmas one year he responded by stealing all of his classmate's toys and burning them.

2 days before Christmas 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson paid a visit to Pope Paul VI where they exchanged unique gifts. While LBJ received a stunning 15th-century painting from Pope Paul VI, the Pope himself received a foot high, bronze bust of Johnson's head.

47. The 2015 Raspberry Award for worst screen combo went to "Kirk Cameron and his ego'' for the movie Saving Christmas.

48. On Dec 25th (Christmas), a town in Peru celebrates 'Takanakuy'. Men, women, and children settle grudges from the past year with a fist fight in the town center. After the fight, fighters will drink alcohol to numb the pain and bring in the New Year.

49. Nicolae Ceaușescu, the Stalinist dictator of Romania was captured and put on trial on Christmas morning after a few days, given ten minutes to prepare his defense with his counsel, convicted by the afternoon and executed at 4 PM the same day

50. The first Troll doll was created by a Danish fisherman who could not afford to give his daughter a Christmas gift. When the other children saw it they all wanted one as well.