HOLIDAY TRIVIA

East County News Service

December 21, 2016 (San Diego's East County) --This holiday season, if you’re looking for some safe conversation topics to liven up your next gathering with friends and family,  here are some fascinating holiday trivia facts to share:

• Candy canes are stocking stuffer traditions. But they were actually invented to keep kids quiet during church.
• In Medieval times, the main dish served at Christmas dinners was peacock—not turkey.
• Jingle Bells was originally written for Thanksgiving,  not Christmas.
• The first Hanukkah party in the White House was hosted by President George W. Bush, a tradition that continues to this day.
• Christmas trees were once considered pagan symbols. Today, 350 million of them are grown on Christmas tree farms in the U.S. , where 98% of all Christmas trees sold are sustainably raised.
• A Christmas tree grows for 15 years, on average, before it is cut.
• The world’s tallest snowman was actually a snowwoman, standing over 122 feet tall! She was built by townspeople in Bethel, Maine, with wreaths as eyes, skis for eyelashes, tires as buttons, and trees for her arms.
• According to the Bible, magi, also known as  wise men ,  brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus. The term magi derives from ancient Greece and Persia, where it meant magicians or astronomers. 
• The magi reportedly followed the Star of Bethlehem.  To this day, scientists are not sure what that star was – possibly a conjunction of two planets, a comet,  a supernova, or something else that lit up the sky.
• The first electric Christmas lights were invented by Thomas Edison.
• Hannukah is also called the festival of lights.  A menorah is lit for eight nights and traditionally placed in a window, to remind the outside world of the miracle of oil that burned for eight days after rededication of a temple in Jerusalem.
• Originally,  the only Hannukah gifts were small amounts of money known as gelt, a tradition aimed at teaching children the importance of charity.
• The most popular Christmas song of all time, White Christmas, was written by Irving Berlin—a Jewish songwriter.
• Americans spend six times more on gifts than food during the holiday season.  But they are also more apt to donate to charities at this time of year.
• Santa Claus would have to travel at over 5 million miles per hour in order to deliver presents to all of the children on earth in a single night.
• The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions was started by the ancient Babylonians –who actually celebrated the New Year in springtime. The most common resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment! 
• Roman emperor Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar that we use today, with January 1^st as the first day of the New Year.
• Today, the most common resolution is to lose weight—not surprising, since the average Christmas dinner in American contains over 7,000 calories.
• Dropping a ball in Times Square to ring in the New Year began in 1907, because fireworks had been banned as too dangerous. The ball has been a New Year’s tradition ever since—except in 1942 and 1943, when it was cancelled due to wartime restrictions.
• The first ball was made of iron and wood, adorned with a hundred light bulbs.  It weighed 700 pounds. Nowadays, the ball weighs nearly 12,000 pounds and shimmers with 2,668 Waterford  crystals. 
• All year long, visitors to Times Square in New York City write their New Year’s wishes on pieces of confetti.  At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, those wishes are included in over a ton of confetti that showers the crowd gathered to ring in the New Year.