86 Celebrative Facts About The Biggest Festival of the Year – Christmas

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26Radioactive Toys

Radioactive Toys

American kids used to get radioactive toys for Christmas


27. 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.


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


29. 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.


30. 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.


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31BuzzWinkle

BuzzWinkle

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


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


33. 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.


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


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


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36NHL

NHL

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


37. 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.


38. 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.


39. 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.


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


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41Takanakuy

Takanakuy

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.


42. 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


43. 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.


44. Australian businessman Sidney Myer provided Christmas dinner for 10,000 unemployed people including a gift for every child during the 1930's depression.


45. Criss Angel celebrated his 46th birthday by donating $100,000 to charity, visiting a children's hospital to do magic, and then threw a Christmas Party for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.


46Dinner Turkey

Dinner Turkey

Britain's oldest Turkey is named "Dinner" despite dodging the Christmas roast for 16 years


47. We frequently abbreviate Christmas as X-mas because of ancient tradition. X is the Greek letter "chi" which is an abbreviation for the word "Christ" in Greek.


48. In 2009 a couple from the UK started a Facebook campaign to make Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" the #1 Christmas single. The song sold 500,000 copies beating the 4 year run of X-factor winners. All proceeds went to homeless charities.


49. In 2011 a Minnesota man was arrested and charged with converting a vibrator into an explosive device with the intention of giving it to his ex-girlfriend for Christmas.


50. In Iceland, books are exchanged on Christmas Eve & you spend the rest of the night reading. Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country; & new books are typically published only during the Christmas season. This frenzy is called Jólabókaflóð, or "Christmas Book Flood."

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