«In 1836, Alabama became the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday. In 1907, Oklahoma became the last USA state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.

«The abbreviation of Xmas for Christmas is not irreligious. The first letter of the word Christ in Greek is chi, which is identical to our X. Xmas was originally an ecclesiastical abbreviation that was used in tables and charts. In the early days of printing, when font sizes were limited and type was set by hand, abbreviations and ditto marks were used liberally.

«Candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorate the Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided to have the ends bent to depict a shepherd's crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes.

«Early Christmas trees were decorated with fruits, flowers and candles, which were heavy on the tree branches. In the 1800's, German glass blowers began producing glass balls to replace the heavy decorations and called them bulbs.

«The actual gift givers are different in various countries:  England: Father Christmas; France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas); Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus), she is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles; Holland: St Nicholas; Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure), other parts it is Grandfather Frost; Scandinavia: A variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse; Spain and South America: The Three Kings; Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch).