Trivia ....... shimmer

1. What American state was the first to make Christmas an official holiday? Alabama in 1836

2. What is the shape of the candy cane molded after? shepards staff/crook

3. What was the name of the dog that belonged to the Grinch in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"?
Max


4. What star led the Three Kings to Jesus? Star of Bethleham

5. What was the name os Scrooges' dead business partner in "A Christmas Carol"? Marley

6. Where did the real St Nicholas live? Turkey

7. When you go Wassailing, what is it that you are doing? Caroling

8. In the movie "It's A Wonderful Life", how do you know that an angel has received his wings? whenever a bell rings you know an angel has received his wings.

9. What was the picture on the first stamp printed for the Christmas season?  It's widely believed that the world's first Christmas stamps were issued by Canada in 1898. These two 2¢ stamps, Canada Scott 85-86, each show a map of the world, with lands claimed at the time by the British Empire highlighted in red.
It's really not much of a Christmas theme, but inscribed near the bottom of the design are the words, "XMAS 1898


10. The poem commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" was originally titled what? A Visit From Saint Nicholas

11. What year were the first electric Christmas tree lights used in? 1895, displayed in the White House

12. Good King Wenceslas was king of which country? Bohemia

13. When was Christmas first celebrated? December 25, 336

14. Why was December 25th chosen as Christmas Day?Christmas was first celebrated as a proper day, on the 25th December, in the 5th century, in the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). He first bought the Roman pagan 'sun-day' (the first day of the week) and the 'sabbath' (the Christians holy day) together to what we now call Sunday.

This date was probably chosen because the Winter Solstice and the ancient pagan Roman midwinter festivals called 'Saturnalia' and 'Dies Natalis Solis Invicti' took place in December.

The Winter Solstice is the day where there is the shortest time between the sun rising and the sun setting. It happens between December 22nd and December 25th. To pagans this meant that the winter was over and spring was coming and they had a festival to celebrate it and worshipped the sun for winning over the darkness of winter. (The Winter Solstice in Scandinavia and some other parts of northern Europe is called Yule and is where we get Yule Logs from.)

The Roman Festival of Saturnalia took place between December 17th and 23rd and honoured the Roman god Saturn. Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means 'birthday of the unconquered sun' and was held on December 25th (when the Romans thought the Winter Soltice took place). As the days grew longer from this day on, it was thought to be the birthday of the sun! The early Christians gave the festival a new meaning - to celebrate the birth of the Son of God 'the unconquered Son'!



15. What country did poinsettias originally come from? Mexico

16. How did Xmas originate as an abbreviation for Christmas? The Greek word for Christ is Xristos


17. What comes after '8 maids a-milking' in the song "The 12 days of Christmas"? 9 ladies dancing

18. When are the 12 days of Christmas? The 12 days after Christmas: December 26 to January 6


19. Of Santa's reindeer, how many are female and who? 1 Vixen

20. How many sides does a snowflake have? 6

21. Which emperor is credited with standardizing December 25th as Christmas day? Constantine in 325 A.D.

22. In Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" what identical gift was bestowed upon the bootlegger, the busdriver, the knife grinder, 2 Baptist missionaries in Borneo and the President of the US? fruit cake

23. What is holly's symbolic meaning to Christians? the berries are symbolic of Christ's blood, and the thorny leaves suggest the thorns in His crown

24. What does the bible mention as the date of Christ's birth? its never mentioned

25. What was the original reason for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (as a song) to be written, by who in what year, and who first officially performed it? an ad by Robert May in 1939 and Gene Autrey was the first one to perform it

26. What year did "A Charlie Brown Christmas" debut on CBS and has aired every Christmas since? 1965

27. What auspicious television event occurred on December 24, 1968? the crew of Apollo 8 celebrated Christmas Eve by reading from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. The event was broadcast around the world.


28. Where is Christmas Island? Indian Ocean

29. Where is America's official Christmas tree located? King's Canyon National Park in California

30. In what year did Toys for Tots begin? 1947