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48 FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS:
1. Most of Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzer, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely not male, but female.
2. Norwegian scientists have hypothesized that Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system.
3. The Germans made the first artificial Christmas trees out of dyed goose feathers.
4. Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.
5.All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.
6. The “true love” mentioned in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” does not refer to a romantic couple, but the Catholic Church’s code for God. The person who receives the gifts represents someone who has accepted that code. For example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “two turtledoves” represent the Old and New Testaments.
7. In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.
8. According to the Guinness world records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.
9. The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.
10. Two weeks before Christmas is a popular time for couples to break up.
According to data analyzed from Facebook posts, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups.
11. Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates during the Christmas holiday are low. The highest rates are during the spring.
12. The world’s largest Christmas stocking measured 106 feet and 9 inches (32.56 m) long and 49 feet and 1 inch (14.97 m) wide. It weighed as much as five reindeer and held almost 1,000 presents. It was made by the Children’s Society in London on December 14, 2007.
13. Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850.
14. Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.
15. Many European countries believed that spirits, both good and evil, were active during the Twelve Days of Christmas. These spirits eventually evolved into Santa’s elves, especially under the influence of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas (1779-1863) illustrated by Thomas Nast (1840-1902).
16. Each year there are approximately 20,000 “rent-a-Santas” across the United States. “Rent-a-Santas” usually undergo seasonal training on how to maintain a jolly attitude under pressure from the public. They also receive practical advice, such as not accepting money from parents while children are looking and avoiding garlic, onions, or beans for lunch.
17. Bolivians celebrate Misa del Gallo or “Mass of the Rooster” on Christmas Eve. Some people bring roosters to the midnight mass, a gesture that symbolizes the belief that a rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus.
18. The British wear paper crowns while they eat Christmas dinner. The crowns are stored in a tube called a “Christmas cracker.”
19. In Poland, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas trees decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.
20. Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.
Oklahoma was the last state the declare Christmas a holiday.
Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.
21. Mistletoe (Viscum album) is from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings.
22. Ancient peoples, such as the Druids, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die. Druids would cut the plant with golden sickles and never let it touch the ground. They thought it had the power to cure infertility and nervous diseases and to ward off evil.
23. Evergreens (from the Old English word aefie meaning “always” and gowan meaning “to grow”) have been symbols of eternal life and rebirth since ancient times. The pagan use and worship of evergreen boughs and trees has evolved into the Christianized Christmas tree.
24. Because they viewed Christmas as a decadent Catholic holiday, the Puritans in America banned all Christmas celebrations from 1659-1681 with a penalty of five shillings for each offense. Some Puritan leaders condemned those who favored Christmas as enemies of the Christian religion.
25. A Yule log is an enormous log that is typically burned during the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25-January 6). Some scholars suggest that the word yule means “revolution” or “wheel,” which symbolizes the cyclical return of the sun. A burning log or its charred remains is said to offer health, fertility, and luck as well as the ability to ward off evil spirits.
26. Because of their pagan associations, both the holly (associated with the masculine principle) and the ivy (the feminine) and other green boughs in home decoration were banned by the sixth-century Christian Council of Braga.
27. The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was cultivated by the Aztecs, who called the plant Cuetlaxochitl (“flower which wilts”). For the Aztecs, the plant’s brilliant red color symbolized purity, and they often used it medicinally to reduce fever. Contrary to popular belief, the poinsettia is not poisonous, but holly berries are.
28. Christmas has its roots in pagan festivals such as Saturnalia (December 17-December 23), the Kalends (January 1 -5, the precursor to the Twelve Days of Christmas), and Deus Sol Invictus or Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun (December 25). The Christians church heartily disapproved of such celebrations and co-opted the pagans by declaring December 25 as Christ’s day of birth, though there is no evidence Christ was born on that day.
29. Santa Claus is based on a fourth-century bishop from modern-day Turkey
Santa Claus is based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra (also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.
30. Early illustrations of St. Nicholas depict him as stern, commanding, and holding a birch rod. He was more a symbol of discipline and punishment than the jolly, overweight elf children know today.
31. Puritan Oliver Cromwell outlawed Christmas celebrations and carols in England from 1649-1660. The only celebrations allowed were sermons and prayers.
32. Wassail is from the Old Norse ves heill, meaning “good health.”
33. Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were, therefore, doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved, however, when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their stockings with gold coins.
34. There are two competing claims as to which president was the first to place a Christmas tree in the White House. Some scholars say President Franklin Pierce did in 1856; others say President Benjamin Harrison brought in the first tree in 1889. President Coolidge started the White House lighting ceremony in 1923.
35. President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1912.
36. It is estimated that the single “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.
37. There are approximately 21,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States. In 2008, nearly 45 million Christmas trees were planted, adding to the existing 400 million trees.
38. The first lighted Christmas tree can be traced to Martin Luther.
The first person to decorate a Christmas tree was reportedly the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, he was so moved by the beauty of the stars shining between the branches of a fir tree, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated it with candles to share the image with his children.
39. The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.
40. Approximately 30-35 million real (living) Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S.
41. Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid 1500s.
42. In 1962, the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in the United States.
43. In Germany, Heiligabend, or Christmas Eve, is said to be a magical time when the pure in heart can hear animals talking.
44. The Viking god Odin is one precursor to the modern Santa Claus. According to myth, Odin rode his flying horse, Sleipnir (a precursor to Santa’s reindeer), who had eight legs. In the winter, Odin gave out both gifts and punishments, and children would fill their boots or stockings with treats for Sleipnir.
45. The earliest known Christmas tree decorations were apples. At Christmastime, medieval actors would use apples to decorate paradise trees (usually fir trees) during “Paradise Plays,” which were plays depicting Adam and Eve’s creation and fall.
46. Commissioned by Sir Henry Cole (1808-1883), British illustrator John Callcott Horsley (1817-1903) invented the first Christmas card in 1843.
47. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are 2,106 million children under age 18 in the world. If there are on average 2.5 children per household, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 second, which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles (20.5 billion meters) per second on each stop. The force of this acceleration would reduce Santa to “chunky salsa.”
48. Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S.
(ALL INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM:http://facts.randomhistory.com/christmas-facts.html)
10 INTERESTING FACTS:
~ What percentage of mall Santa applicants were discovered to have criminal backgrounds by Pre-emply.com?
7%
Approximate amount generated by photographs with Santa in shopping malls in the USA in dollars:
$2,255,750,000
~How many houses must Santa visit on Christmas?
842,000,000
How fast must he travel to visit all those homes?
4,796,250 Mph
~Percentage of Americans who believe Santa in the off-season drives a sports car:
4%
drives an SUV:
25%
~How many presents would you receive if you were to get every present in “The 12 Days of Christmas”?
364
How much would all those gifts cost? (according to PNC Financial Services)
$18348.87
~Percentage of Americans who finish off their Christmas Shopping on Christmas Eve:
20
~Percentage of pet owners who have their dog or cat pose and photographed with Santa Claus:
27
~Percentage of Americans who re-gift:
28
~Which type of Christmas tree is displayed more during the holiday season, artificial or real?
Artificial trees are the most popular with 40,694,463 on display in comparison to real trees at 34,335,809
~How many Barbie dolls are sold every minute around the world?
180
~How much trash is generated annually from the gift wrap and shopping bags:
4,000,000 Tons
(INFORMATION TAKEN FROM:http://www.uberreview.com/2006/12/ten-christmas-facts-that-you-didnt-know.htm)
CHRISTMAS JOKES:
THE TOP 15 *OTHER* SIGNS SANTA CLAUS IS ACTUALLY A WOMAN
15. Santa *remembers* it's Christmas. 'Nuf said.
14. Reads children's letters in office instead of in bathroom.
13. Never explains what exactly you did to deserve that coal in your stocking; if you have to ask, maybe that's the problem!
12. Employs little people in a sweatshop and co-hosts TV talk show, "Regis and Santa Lee."
11. Despite the closet full of red coats with big black belts, *still* insists she has nothing to wear on Christmas Eve.
10. "Mrs. Claus" wears work boots, has a crew cut, and drives a '68 El Camino.
9. A man simply would not care if you were naughty or nice.
8. Actually seems to shake like TWO bowls full of jelly.
7. Bowl full of jelly, my ass. It's water retention.
6. Constantly whining about equality until it's time to clean out the reindeer stalls.
5. Matching shoes and belt? Only a woman would accessorize a pantsuit like that!
4. No guy would ever name his animals Dancer and Prancer.
3. Santa never, ever observed peeing off of rooftops.
2. The North Pole Blockbuster's been out of "The Horse Whisperer" for weeks.
1. With the way they build chimneys these days you'd *have* to be Calista friggin' Flockhart just to get in!
Assorted X-mas One-Liners
~A Jewish Santa Claus came down the chimney and said: "Anyone want to buy a present?"
~Hear about Santa and his reindeer landing on top of an outhouse? Santa looked around for a moment, then hollered "No no, Rudolph! I said the SCHMIDT house!"
~I hope Santa brings me that mistletoe belt I asked for!
~I think that Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live.
~No one in the history of the world has ever purchased a fruitcake for themselves.
~No parent in their right mind would give a 6-year-old a drum set, therefore Santa exists!!
~The 3 stages of man: He believes in Santa Claus. He doesn't believe in Santa Claus. He is Santa Claus.
~Q: Do you know why Santa dosen't have any children ??? A: he only comes once a year and thats down a chimney ...
~Why is Santa Claus always so happy? Because he knows where all the naughty girls live.
~What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic.
~Why was Santa's little helper depressed? Because he had low elf esteem.
~What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite.
~When you stop believing in Santa Claus is when you start getting clothes for Christmas.
WHY IS A CHRISTMAS TREE BETTER THAN A MAN
A Christmas tree is always erect.
Even small ones give satisfaction.
A Christmas tree stays up for 12 days and nights.
A Christmas tree always looks good - even with the lights on.
A Christmas tree is always happy with its size.
A Christmas tree has cute balls.
A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you break one of its balls.
You can throw a Christmas tree out when it's past its 'sell by' date.
You don't have to put up with a Christmas tree all year.
10 Things that Sound Dirty at Christmas, But Aren't
10. Did you get any under the tree?
9. I think your balls are hanging too low.
8. Check out Rudolph's Honker!
7. Santa's sack is really bulging.
6. Lift up the skirt so I can get a clean breath.
5. Did you get a piece of the fruitcake?
4. I love licking the end till it's really sharp and pointy.
3. From here you can't tell if they're artificial or real.
2. Can I interest you in some dark meat?
1. To get it to stand up straight, try propping it against the wall.
THIS IS HILARIOUS TO ME:
Is there a Santa Claus? - a physicist view
Consider the following:
1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical).
This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.
Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.
This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man- made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight.
On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that 'flying reindeer' (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine.
We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each.
In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second.
Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.> In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.
(ALL INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM: http://www.dancentury.com/xmas.html#.UMT12o7N7zI)
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3.....
2......
1.......
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THIS IS ALL FOR NOW......
SO I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A FEW PICTURES LIKE ALWAYS.....
48 FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS:
1. Most of Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzer, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely not male, but female.
2. Norwegian scientists have hypothesized that Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system.
3. The Germans made the first artificial Christmas trees out of dyed goose feathers.
4. Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.
5.All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.
6. The “true love” mentioned in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” does not refer to a romantic couple, but the Catholic Church’s code for God. The person who receives the gifts represents someone who has accepted that code. For example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “two turtledoves” represent the Old and New Testaments.
7. In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.
8. According to the Guinness world records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.
9. The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.
10. Two weeks before Christmas is a popular time for couples to break up.
According to data analyzed from Facebook posts, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups.
11. Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates during the Christmas holiday are low. The highest rates are during the spring.
12. The world’s largest Christmas stocking measured 106 feet and 9 inches (32.56 m) long and 49 feet and 1 inch (14.97 m) wide. It weighed as much as five reindeer and held almost 1,000 presents. It was made by the Children’s Society in London on December 14, 2007.
13. Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850.
14. Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.
15. Many European countries believed that spirits, both good and evil, were active during the Twelve Days of Christmas. These spirits eventually evolved into Santa’s elves, especially under the influence of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas (1779-1863) illustrated by Thomas Nast (1840-1902).
16. Each year there are approximately 20,000 “rent-a-Santas” across the United States. “Rent-a-Santas” usually undergo seasonal training on how to maintain a jolly attitude under pressure from the public. They also receive practical advice, such as not accepting money from parents while children are looking and avoiding garlic, onions, or beans for lunch.
17. Bolivians celebrate Misa del Gallo or “Mass of the Rooster” on Christmas Eve. Some people bring roosters to the midnight mass, a gesture that symbolizes the belief that a rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus.
18. The British wear paper crowns while they eat Christmas dinner. The crowns are stored in a tube called a “Christmas cracker.”
19. In Poland, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas trees decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.
20. Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.
Oklahoma was the last state the declare Christmas a holiday.
Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.
21. Mistletoe (Viscum album) is from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings.
22. Ancient peoples, such as the Druids, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die. Druids would cut the plant with golden sickles and never let it touch the ground. They thought it had the power to cure infertility and nervous diseases and to ward off evil.
23. Evergreens (from the Old English word aefie meaning “always” and gowan meaning “to grow”) have been symbols of eternal life and rebirth since ancient times. The pagan use and worship of evergreen boughs and trees has evolved into the Christianized Christmas tree.
24. Because they viewed Christmas as a decadent Catholic holiday, the Puritans in America banned all Christmas celebrations from 1659-1681 with a penalty of five shillings for each offense. Some Puritan leaders condemned those who favored Christmas as enemies of the Christian religion.
25. A Yule log is an enormous log that is typically burned during the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25-January 6). Some scholars suggest that the word yule means “revolution” or “wheel,” which symbolizes the cyclical return of the sun. A burning log or its charred remains is said to offer health, fertility, and luck as well as the ability to ward off evil spirits.
26. Because of their pagan associations, both the holly (associated with the masculine principle) and the ivy (the feminine) and other green boughs in home decoration were banned by the sixth-century Christian Council of Braga.
27. The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was cultivated by the Aztecs, who called the plant Cuetlaxochitl (“flower which wilts”). For the Aztecs, the plant’s brilliant red color symbolized purity, and they often used it medicinally to reduce fever. Contrary to popular belief, the poinsettia is not poisonous, but holly berries are.
28. Christmas has its roots in pagan festivals such as Saturnalia (December 17-December 23), the Kalends (January 1 -5, the precursor to the Twelve Days of Christmas), and Deus Sol Invictus or Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun (December 25). The Christians church heartily disapproved of such celebrations and co-opted the pagans by declaring December 25 as Christ’s day of birth, though there is no evidence Christ was born on that day.
29. Santa Claus is based on a fourth-century bishop from modern-day Turkey
Santa Claus is based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra (also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.
30. Early illustrations of St. Nicholas depict him as stern, commanding, and holding a birch rod. He was more a symbol of discipline and punishment than the jolly, overweight elf children know today.
31. Puritan Oliver Cromwell outlawed Christmas celebrations and carols in England from 1649-1660. The only celebrations allowed were sermons and prayers.
32. Wassail is from the Old Norse ves heill, meaning “good health.”
33. Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were, therefore, doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved, however, when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their stockings with gold coins.
34. There are two competing claims as to which president was the first to place a Christmas tree in the White House. Some scholars say President Franklin Pierce did in 1856; others say President Benjamin Harrison brought in the first tree in 1889. President Coolidge started the White House lighting ceremony in 1923.
35. President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1912.
36. It is estimated that the single “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.
37. There are approximately 21,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States. In 2008, nearly 45 million Christmas trees were planted, adding to the existing 400 million trees.
38. The first lighted Christmas tree can be traced to Martin Luther.
The first person to decorate a Christmas tree was reportedly the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, he was so moved by the beauty of the stars shining between the branches of a fir tree, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated it with candles to share the image with his children.
39. The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.
40. Approximately 30-35 million real (living) Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S.
41. Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid 1500s.
42. In 1962, the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in the United States.
43. In Germany, Heiligabend, or Christmas Eve, is said to be a magical time when the pure in heart can hear animals talking.
44. The Viking god Odin is one precursor to the modern Santa Claus. According to myth, Odin rode his flying horse, Sleipnir (a precursor to Santa’s reindeer), who had eight legs. In the winter, Odin gave out both gifts and punishments, and children would fill their boots or stockings with treats for Sleipnir.
45. The earliest known Christmas tree decorations were apples. At Christmastime, medieval actors would use apples to decorate paradise trees (usually fir trees) during “Paradise Plays,” which were plays depicting Adam and Eve’s creation and fall.
46. Commissioned by Sir Henry Cole (1808-1883), British illustrator John Callcott Horsley (1817-1903) invented the first Christmas card in 1843.
47. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are 2,106 million children under age 18 in the world. If there are on average 2.5 children per household, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 second, which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles (20.5 billion meters) per second on each stop. The force of this acceleration would reduce Santa to “chunky salsa.”
48. Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S.
(ALL INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM:http://facts.randomhistory.com/christmas-facts.html)
10 INTERESTING FACTS:
~ What percentage of mall Santa applicants were discovered to have criminal backgrounds by Pre-emply.com?
7%
Approximate amount generated by photographs with Santa in shopping malls in the USA in dollars:
$2,255,750,000
~How many houses must Santa visit on Christmas?
842,000,000
How fast must he travel to visit all those homes?
4,796,250 Mph
~Percentage of Americans who believe Santa in the off-season drives a sports car:
4%
drives an SUV:
25%
~How many presents would you receive if you were to get every present in “The 12 Days of Christmas”?
364
How much would all those gifts cost? (according to PNC Financial Services)
$18348.87
~Percentage of Americans who finish off their Christmas Shopping on Christmas Eve:
20
~Percentage of pet owners who have their dog or cat pose and photographed with Santa Claus:
27
~Percentage of Americans who re-gift:
28
~Which type of Christmas tree is displayed more during the holiday season, artificial or real?
Artificial trees are the most popular with 40,694,463 on display in comparison to real trees at 34,335,809
~How many Barbie dolls are sold every minute around the world?
180
~How much trash is generated annually from the gift wrap and shopping bags:
4,000,000 Tons
(INFORMATION TAKEN FROM:http://www.uberreview.com/2006/12/ten-christmas-facts-that-you-didnt-know.htm)
CHRISTMAS JOKES:
THE TOP 15 *OTHER* SIGNS SANTA CLAUS IS ACTUALLY A WOMAN
15. Santa *remembers* it's Christmas. 'Nuf said.
14. Reads children's letters in office instead of in bathroom.
13. Never explains what exactly you did to deserve that coal in your stocking; if you have to ask, maybe that's the problem!
12. Employs little people in a sweatshop and co-hosts TV talk show, "Regis and Santa Lee."
11. Despite the closet full of red coats with big black belts, *still* insists she has nothing to wear on Christmas Eve.
10. "Mrs. Claus" wears work boots, has a crew cut, and drives a '68 El Camino.
9. A man simply would not care if you were naughty or nice.
8. Actually seems to shake like TWO bowls full of jelly.
7. Bowl full of jelly, my ass. It's water retention.
6. Constantly whining about equality until it's time to clean out the reindeer stalls.
5. Matching shoes and belt? Only a woman would accessorize a pantsuit like that!
4. No guy would ever name his animals Dancer and Prancer.
3. Santa never, ever observed peeing off of rooftops.
2. The North Pole Blockbuster's been out of "The Horse Whisperer" for weeks.
1. With the way they build chimneys these days you'd *have* to be Calista friggin' Flockhart just to get in!
Assorted X-mas One-Liners
~A Jewish Santa Claus came down the chimney and said: "Anyone want to buy a present?"
~Hear about Santa and his reindeer landing on top of an outhouse? Santa looked around for a moment, then hollered "No no, Rudolph! I said the SCHMIDT house!"
~I hope Santa brings me that mistletoe belt I asked for!
~I think that Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live.
~No one in the history of the world has ever purchased a fruitcake for themselves.
~No parent in their right mind would give a 6-year-old a drum set, therefore Santa exists!!
~The 3 stages of man: He believes in Santa Claus. He doesn't believe in Santa Claus. He is Santa Claus.
~Q: Do you know why Santa dosen't have any children ??? A: he only comes once a year and thats down a chimney ...
~Why is Santa Claus always so happy? Because he knows where all the naughty girls live.
~What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic.
~Why was Santa's little helper depressed? Because he had low elf esteem.
~What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite.
~When you stop believing in Santa Claus is when you start getting clothes for Christmas.
WHY IS A CHRISTMAS TREE BETTER THAN A MAN
A Christmas tree is always erect.
Even small ones give satisfaction.
A Christmas tree stays up for 12 days and nights.
A Christmas tree always looks good - even with the lights on.
A Christmas tree is always happy with its size.
A Christmas tree has cute balls.
A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you break one of its balls.
You can throw a Christmas tree out when it's past its 'sell by' date.
You don't have to put up with a Christmas tree all year.
10 Things that Sound Dirty at Christmas, But Aren't
10. Did you get any under the tree?
9. I think your balls are hanging too low.
8. Check out Rudolph's Honker!
7. Santa's sack is really bulging.
6. Lift up the skirt so I can get a clean breath.
5. Did you get a piece of the fruitcake?
4. I love licking the end till it's really sharp and pointy.
3. From here you can't tell if they're artificial or real.
2. Can I interest you in some dark meat?
1. To get it to stand up straight, try propping it against the wall.
THIS IS HILARIOUS TO ME:
Is there a Santa Claus? - a physicist view
Consider the following:
1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical).
This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.
Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.
This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man- made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight.
On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that 'flying reindeer' (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine.
We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each.
In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second.
Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.> In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.
(ALL INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM: http://www.dancentury.com/xmas.html#.UMT12o7N7zI)
I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ALL HAVE BEEN MISSING MY TYPICAL BLOGS......SO GUESS WHAT? MERRY CHRISTMAS....YOU GET ONE ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS TO KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES.
BUT........GUESS WHAT??? YOU GET ANOTHER BIG SURPRISE...... THIS SHOULD INTEREST YOU WAYYYYYYY MORE AND WAYYYYYYYYYY LONGER..... SO THERE IS THIS AMAZING CUTE, HOTTIE THAT I HAD THE PLEASURE OF SHOOTING FOR HER FIRST HOPEFUL SET EVER.....YEP THAT IS RIGHT..... I WILL BE THE ONE TO DEBUT HER, INTRODUCE HER TO THIS SITE AND TAKE HER UNDER MY WINGS. SHE IS SUCH A FUN, CUTE GIRL AND I KNOW YOU ALL WILL LOVE HER......THIS ALSO MEANS.....MY FIRST SET BEING A PHOTOGRAPHER HERE FOR YOU.....SO TWO DEBUTS.... I JUST HOPE YOU ALL LOVE HER AS MUCH AS I DO......WANT TO SEE A TEASER?
OK THIS IS ALL U GET.....BECAUSE I AM NOT RUINING ANY SURPRISES.....
GET EXCITED:
WAIT FOR IT:
3.....
2......
1.......
HOW EXCITED ARE U????? IM TALKING BRAND NEW TO THE SITE....WE ARE PICKING OUT HER SG NAME TODAY AND SHE IS APPLYING TO BE A HOPEFUL WITH THIS SET. AS SOON AS SHE GETS A PAGE SET UP HERE YOU KNOW I WILL LET U ALL KNOW SO U CAN ADD HER AND GET TO KNOW ONE OF THE CUTEST, SEXIEST, SWEETEST GIRLS EVER.
I ADORE HER, SO I KNOW YOU ALL WILL TOO. SHE HAS THE INNOCENT SHY SUPER YOUNG LOOK GOING ON.....BUT THEN BAM!!!! FULL OF SEX APPEAL!
OK OK...ILL STOP GOING ON AND ON ABOUT HER....
THIS IS ALL FOR NOW......
SO I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A FEW PICTURES LIKE ALWAYS.....
So here I am!!! New profile pic in all! I am so excited about that by the way. I love when my pic updates...especially when it happens to be from my new set coming out in 4 DAYS!!! YEP YOU HEARD RIGHT 4 DAYS.... DO NOT FORGET.
LAVONNE KRAVEN COLABORATION!!! STAY TUNED!!! It's a little country... a little summery outdoor fun, a little mellow and a whole lotta sexyyyyyyy!
I also thought I would update you all and let you know my testing was normal....nothing was found during either...but they did take biopsies, so I am still waiting for the results of those. So good news is.... this ruled out bad things such a colon cancer.... crones....etc....but now we are back to figuring out another test. One day soon they will figure this out hopefully.
Picture updates:
Lots of Cupcakes:
And popsicles:
Ring Pops:
Kitty Cuddles:
Sometimes I Brush My Teeth...hahah ok All The Time:
And Sometimes I laugh:
After Work.... I Sometimes Play In The Children's Play Place:
And Take Random Pics:
Apparently Strawberry Crush Is For Hookers???
Puppy Bath:
Bella Likes To Sleep:
Dex Likes To Be Crazy:
Thank you Thank you!!! Josh for sending me this off my wishlist!!!!! I now have something to read.... I have been saying I need to go buy a new series....so thanks for hearing me!!
LAVONNE KRAVEN COLABORATION!!! STAY TUNED!!! It's a little country... a little summery outdoor fun, a little mellow and a whole lotta sexyyyyyyy!
I also thought I would update you all and let you know my testing was normal....nothing was found during either...but they did take biopsies, so I am still waiting for the results of those. So good news is.... this ruled out bad things such a colon cancer.... crones....etc....but now we are back to figuring out another test. One day soon they will figure this out hopefully.
Picture updates:
Lots of Cupcakes:
And popsicles:
Ring Pops:
Kitty Cuddles:
Sometimes I Brush My Teeth...hahah ok All The Time:
And Sometimes I laugh:
After Work.... I Sometimes Play In The Children's Play Place:
And Take Random Pics:
Apparently Strawberry Crush Is For Hookers???
Puppy Bath:
Bella Likes To Sleep:
Dex Likes To Be Crazy:
Thank you Thank you!!! Josh for sending me this off my wishlist!!!!! I now have something to read.... I have been saying I need to go buy a new series....so thanks for hearing me!!
