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 Everyone
is waiting for Christmas to come. It is one of the most popular holidays in the world. Many
countries all over the world celebrate the joyful birth of baby Jesus. Even non-Christians celebrate
the holiday by sending Christmas cards and gifts to their loved ones.
At last, tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Christmas has a long history. It also is very
interesting records. Before we celebrate Christmas, let’s first take a look at some of the
holiday’s fun records!
 Pope Julius I, the bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the
official celebration date
for the birthday of Christ in 320 AD. Christmas wasn’t declared an
official holiday in the U.S. until June 26, 1870. Alabama was the
first U.S. state to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.
Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1907. Today,
more than 3 billion Christmas cards are
sent by people in the U.S. alone each year. In 1962, the first Christmas
postage stamp was issued
in the country.
Green, red, and gold are traditional colors of Christmas.
Green is a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ; and gold
represents light as well
as wealth and royalty. Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s
Mass.” “X-mas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas
since the mid-1500s. The letter “X” is the first letter
of Christ in Greek.
Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850. There are about
21,000 Christmas tree farms in the country. More than 30 million living Christmas
trees are sold each year in the United States. Christmas trees usually grow for about 15
years before they are sold. According to the Guinness World Records,
the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 67-meter Douglas fir. The tree was
displayed at a shopping center in Seattle, Washington in 1950. Former
president Teddy Roosevelt banned Christmas trees from
the White House in 1912 to
protect trees.
 In Poland,
spiders or spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations. This is because
Polish people consider spiders to be symbols
of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.
According to legend, a spider wove a blanket for baby Jesus. In
Bolivia, some people bring roosters to the midnight mass on Christmas
Eve. They believe that the rooster
was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus.
Christmas trees are not the only symbols during the holiday. Many
keep their presents in stockings until Christmas
Day. The world’s biggest Christmas stocking was made in London on
December 14, 2007. It measured 32.56 meters long and 14.97 meters
wide. It weighed as much as five reindeers. It was so big
that it could hold almost 1,000 presents! |
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