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Show Compiled by the Editors of Funk & W agnails Dictionary . , . Fascinating facts about Christmas , 'Tis said Christmas cookies are a survival of the giving of confections to the Roman senators. During the Xmas-time Xmas-time festivities In the early ages ... There Is an old saying that if you quarrel on Christmas Day, things will go bad for you the rest of the year . . . Bethlehem and Nazareth (in Pennsylvania) are 8 miles from each other ... You want to know the names of the three wise men? They were Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar . . . December 25 was originally a Mithraic feast date. The birthday of the unconscious Sun of Philocalus . . . In Finland, Father Christmas Is dressed as a Yule goat ... . Christmas Island in the Pacific got its name because Captain Cook landed there Xmas Day (1777) . . . History records some great events happening on Christmas Christ-mas Day. Among others: The crowning of Henry II of England (1154); the time the barons forced King John to sign the Magna Charta (1214) ; the establishment of the Order of the Garter (1346) ; and the victory of General George Washington over the Hessians when he crossed the Delaware (1776) ... The French call Christmas Noel, the Scotch Yule, the Scandinavians Juletide, the Dutch Kerstmisse, the Welsh Nadoliq, the Italians II Natale, the Germans Welhnachten, the Polish Boze Navodzenie, the Bohemians Bozic, the Slovaks Vianoce, and the Spanish Navidad . . . There are only four hours of daylight in Iceland on Christmas Day which means that Icelanders spend their entire holiday attending church services . . . December 25 was a holiday in Britain long before the days of Christianity. 'Twas known as neodranecht or mother's night. In Italy, the giving of Xmas gifts Is advanced ad-vanced to Epiphany (the 12th night after Christmas) . . . There is a passage in the Bible that says Jesus was born on Wednesday, December 25 (in the 42nd year of Augustus). Augus-tus). 'TLs in Hippolytus' commentary in Daniel . . . Legend has it that when the Virgin Mary bound her Infant Son with swaddling clothes and laid him In the manger, the dry straw and hay with which It was filled were restored to freshness and life ... The first official mention of December 25 as Christmas is in the Calendar of Philocalus (354 A.D.) ... In the Balkans, the Croats and Serbs on Christmas Day go into the forest before sunrise and fell a tree. If it burns brightly in the home fireplace, prosperity (they be-, lieve) is in store for the year to come . . . Danish children have no Santa Claus. Instead a Christmas brownie called "Nisson" . . . The first Christmas pies were baked in the form of a cradle, with strips of pastry laid over the pie representing represent-ing the manger . . . Epiphany is often called "Little Christmas." It's the day the Magi arrived... they were not kings, but astrologers . . . American Indians had a superstition that deer kneel and look up to the Great Spirit on Christmas Eve ... Santa Claus became a toymaker because poor children could not afford to buy toys, and he vowed he would make toys for them . . . |