Did you know…. A fun, and very simple game.

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Did you know…

The original Santa Claus was actually St. Nicholas, a Christian bishop in the 4th century. He didn’t wear the red suit that’s so famous today, but he did give all of his inheritance to the poor and needy. In Dutch, his name is Sinter Klaas, which later morphed into Santa Claus.

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Did you know…

Santa wasn’t always the jolly man in red. Older depictions of Santa from the early 1900s depicted him more sternly, and there wasn't a standardized "look" for his appearance.

The classic image of a happy and plump Santa that we all know today came in part from Coca-Cola ads, drawn in 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblom.

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Did you know…

Hanging stockings at Christmas was started by accident.

The historic St. Nicholas heard about the plight of a local man who did not have enough dowry money to marry off his three daughters.

The generous St. Nick tossed some money down the chimney that landed in the ladies' stockings that were drying by the fire. After that, the tradition stuck!

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Did you know…

Rudolph was a marketing ploy.

The beloved reindeer was created by a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store in 1939. He wrote Rudolph into a children’s story that could be given out to promote the store. It was a huge hit, with more than 2.4 million copies distributed in its first year!

In 1949 Gene Autry recorded the famous song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and in 1964 came the movie featuring the island of misfit toys.

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Did you know…

"Jingle Bells" was originally a Thanksgiving song.

Turns out, we first started dashing through the snow for an entirely different holiday. James Lord Pierpont wrote the song called "One Horse Open Sleigh" for his church's Thanksgiving concert in the mid-19th century.

Then in 1857, the song was re-released under the title we all know and love and it's still among the most popular Christmas songs today.

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Did you know…

Astronauts broadcast "Jingle Bells" from space.

Nine days before Christmas in 1965, astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford aboard the Gemini 6 told Mission Control that they saw an "unidentified flying object" about to enter Earth's atmosphere, traveling in the polar orbit from north to south.

Just as things got tense, they interrupted the broadcast with “Jingle Bells,” as Wally played a small harmonica accompanied by Tom shaking a handful of small sleigh bells.

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Did you know…

"Silent Night" is the most recorded song.

We all know the same few handfuls of Christmas songs play at stores and on the radio in a loop all season long. But one of them has been adapted more than others.

"Silent Night" is actually the most-recorded Christmas song in history.

It's had more than 733 different versions copyrighted since 1978.

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Did you know…

Celebrating Christmas used to be illegal.

The original war on Christmas was waged during the sixteenth and seventeenth century by Puritans, or Protestant Christians who believed that any kind of merrymaking was sinful.

Followers of Jesus Christ in both America and England helped pass laws making it illegal to observe Christmas. Most Americans today are unaware that Christmas was banned in Boston from 1659 to 1681.

In England, the ban on the holiday was lifted in 1660, when Charles II took over the throne.

However, the Puritan presence remained in New England and Christmas did not become a legal holiday there until 1856. Even then, some schools continued to hold classes on December 25 until 1870.

Although the change was gradual, people began to once again embrace the Christmas holiday, as we know it today complete with mistletoe, eggnog and candy canes was celebrated throughout the American colonies.

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Did you know…

It's rumored that eggnog originated in medieval Britain.

Although there's no official confirmation on who invented eggnog, most historians agree that eggnog originated in medieval Britain.

Eggnog was an upper-class luxury since they were the only ones who had access to the milk, sherry and eggs required to create the original version.

Monks in the Middle Ages added figs and eggs and called the drink"posset" while the wealthy kept with the simple recipe and used it for toasts or big events.

Research shows that eggnog most likely became associated with the holidays due to a lack of refrigeration.

It became a drink for the more common man in America because of the larger farming opportunities and more access to cows and chickens.

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Did you know…

Christmas decorating sends nearly 15,000 people to the ER.

If you've ever watched Clark Griswold decorate his house in Christmas Vacation this stat likely doesn't shock, you. 

In fact, more than an estimated 173,000 people in the United States were injured by Christmas trees, lights, and other holiday-related decorations from 2007 to 2016. 

Even visiting Santa resulted in an estimated 277 children being injured, scientists report online November 28 in Advances in Integrative Medicine. 

Researchers in Australia and Germany extrapolated from injury reports collected by hospitals that are part of the U.S. National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to estimate the number of Christmas-related injuries nationwide during the 10-year period.

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Did you know…

Santa Claus has his own postal code in Canada, "H0H 0H0" has been Santa's very own postal code since 1982. 

Approximately 1 million pieces of mail bearing that code are received by Canada Post each year, and all are answered, each in the language or form in which it was written, be it Japanese, Esperanto or Braille.

Children of all ages interested in keeping an eye on Santa's progress around the world on Christmas Night can do so through NORAD's web site for Tracking Santa:

https://www.noradsanta.org/en/

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Did you know…

Last year, the U.S. Postal Service processed more than 11.7 billion pieces of mail and packages during the holiday season.

That includes gifts for loved ones, holiday cards, Christmas letters to Santa and of course, those dreaded credit card bills from all the gift shopping.

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Did you know…

The term "Xmas" dates back to the 1500s.

Contrary to popular belief, "Xmas" is not a trendy attempt to "take Christ out of Christmas". "Christianity" was spelled "Xianity" as far back as 1100. X, or Chi, is the Greek first letter of "Christ" so "X" and back in the fourth century, Constantine the Great often referenced the shorthand version.

Some say it was as early as 1021 that the abbreviation "XPmas" was used to reference the holiday, which was later shortened to "Xmas."

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Did you know…

While Christmas is a Christian holiday, hence the name, people from many different faiths take part in Christmas traditions as it has become commercialized over the years.

Christmas trees, presents, and festivals are just a few examples of how the whole community can get involved in Christmas, even those who do not believe in the religious side of things.

Overall, an estimated 45% of the world population celebrates Christmas in some way or another.

Around 31.2% of the global population follows Christianity with approximately 2.3 billion Christians total, and then there are millions more who celebrate Christmas even if it’s not in their set religious beliefs.

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Did you know…

Mistletoe is an aphrodisiac

The holiday decoration isn't just pretty. It's also an ancient symbol of fertility and virility.

The Druids considered it sexy. But Mistletoe isn't as sweet as it sounds, mistle thrush birds eat the plant's berries, digest the seed, and then help the plant germinate with their droppings. 

Mistletoe has a pagan mystique which has made it unwelcome in churches but popular at parties. 

Long considered an aphrodisiac (though the berries are toxic), the kissing bunch pre-dates by millennia the Victorians and their rituals.

The appeal of bringing mistletoe indoors during the winter solstice lies in its evergreen nature. Like spruce and holly, its living greenery reminds us that spring will come. 

During the colder months outdoors, its parasitic growing habit gives the impression of blithe green globes decorating dark, dormant trees. 

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Did you know…

Turkey outranks ham as the festive favorite.

Although Google searches for "ham" and "turkey" both spike during the month of December according to Google Trends Data.

In the past few years the bird has edged out ham as the favorite to dig into for Christmas dinner.

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Did you know…

Candy canes originated in Germany.

The National Confectioners Association says a choirmaster originally gave the red-and-white-striped candies to young children to keep them quiet during marathon church services back in 1670.

It wasn't until a German-Swedish immigrant decorated his tree with candy canes in 1847 that they became popular as a Christmas candy.

Nowadays, they're available in a wide variety of colors and flavors like cherry, green apple and watermelon.

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Did you know…

Norway provides the tree in Trafalgar Square.

Londoners and visitors alike probably know the iconic spruce that stretches to the sky in Trafalgar Square each year, but few realize it's an equally iconic holiday gift.

Since 1947, the city of Oslo in Norway has given the tree to London as a token of gratitude for Britain's support during World War II.

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Did you know…

This Christmas gift held a lifesaving secret

During World War II, the United States Playing Card Company joined forces with American and British intelligence agencies to create a very special deck of cards.

They distributed them as Christmas gifts to soldiers, but they also helped Allied prisoners of war escape from German POW camps.

When wet, individual cards peeled apart to reveal maps of escape routes.

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Did you know…

Tinsel has a celebrated history.

Tinsel was invented in 1610 in Germany. It was spun from real silver and then hammered out and was more of a luxury decoration than the cheap tree trimming it is today.

The U.S. government once banned tinsel because it used to contain poisonous lead, but no need to worry now, it's just plastic.

That said, it should still be kept away from young kids and pets since it can be a choking hazard.

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Did you know…

The NORAD Santa Tracker was created due to a child's misunderstanding.

NORAD, has been tracking Santa's journey around the world since 1958. According to their website, the innovation was set into motion in 1955 when "a young child [accidentally] dialed the unlisted phone number of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, believing she was calling Santa Claus after seeing a promotion in a local newspaper."

The commander on duty, Colonel Harry Shoup, saw an opportunity to create a little Christmas magic and assured the youngster that CONAD would guarantee Santa a safe journey from the North Pole, sparking the idea to track Santa's travels each year to the delight of children all over the world.

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Did you know…

If you gave all the gifts listed in the "Twelve Days of Christmas," it would equal 364 presents.

Sing along: "On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me / A partridge in a pear tree."

Let's keep going! "On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me / Two turtle doves, and / A partridge in a pear tree."

Sing along: "On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me / A partridge in a pear tree." Let's keep going! "On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me / Two turtle doves, and / A partridge in a pear tree."

If you continue to sing the famous festive tune and count up all of the gifts that are bestowed upon the lucky singer in the lyrics, French hens, turtle doves, and calling birds among them, you'd end up with 364 presents.

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Did you know…

The Statue of Liberty is the largest Christmas gift ever given.

Standing over 150 feet tall and weighing 225 tons, the Statue of Liberty is an impressive figure. And since it was considered a holiday gift when it was given to the U.S. by France in 1886, it's officially the largest Christmas present in the world. 

That's a lot of wrapping paper and ribbon!

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Did you know…

Thomas Edison and his business partner invented Christmas lights.

Thomas Edison has gone down in history as one of America's greatest inventors. We can thank him for the light bulb, phonograph, and even the movie camera.

According to the Library of Congress, Edison created the first strand of electric lights in 1880, which he hung outside his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, during Christmas time that year.

However, it was Johnson, his partner at Edison Illuminating Company, who, in 1882, became the first to wrap a strand of hand-wired red, white, and blue bulbs around a Christmas tree. 

And the rest, as they say, is history!

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Did you know…

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree features more than 50,000 lights.

if you visit Rockefeller Center during the Christmas season, you'll surely be blown away by the sight of the sparkling tree.

Each year, workers on scaffolding decorate the tree with over 50,000 colored LED lights, 6sqft adds.