1. Christmas used to be celebrated on January 7th.
Well, to be more precise, until the mid 18th century, most of the European world used the Julian Calendar. When the new and improved Gregorian Calendar was introduced, it set the world 'ahead' by about 13 days. A lot of people were less than thrilled with this new change, and while the entire world eventually agreed on a mutual calendar, a few churches decided to keep the Julian Calendar. That's why Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January in some countries, including Russia, Serbia, and the Republic of Georgia. While it may seem strange to celebrate Christmas nearly two weeks behind, if you ask someone from Russia, technically they're celebrating it on the 25th on the Julian Calendar; you're just two weeks ahead!
2. Queen Victoria made Christmas trees a 'thing'.
Her hipster husband, Prince Albert, came from Germany where they had Christmas trees before they were even cool. One year he decided to put up a tree in Windsor Castle, and the queen loved it. Pretty much everyone in England was obsessed with copying her, so pretty soon the tradition spread through England and soon enough, to the rest of the world. I think the lesson we can take away from this is, stop bashing hipsters. Without them, we wouldn't have Christmas trees.
3. The real Santa Claus was Turkish.
Santa Claus, or 'Jolly Old Saint Nick', originated from a 3rd-century saint from Turkey, Saint Nicholas. He was renown for his generosity. According to one of the most famous stories about him, he wanted to save the three daughters of a poor man from being sold into prostitution or slavery, but he was too humble to give it to them in person, so he threw it through the window and ran away. There are more detailed accounts of this story, but this is basically where we get the idea of Santa Claus as the stealthy gift giver. The legend has evolved through cultures and over time, but the heart of the story is the same.
4. Kentucky Fried Chicken is a staple Christmas food... in Japan.
Weird as it may seem, there are major lines outside of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan on Christmas Eve. Apparently, it started with a very successful add in the seventies, and now it's tradition. Considering that Christmas is a relatively new holiday in Japan, it's fitting that they have new traditions, isn't it?
5. X-Mas isn't actually "taking Christ out of Christmas".
A lot of people think that 'X-Mas' is just a secular and commercialized version of Christmas. It's actually kind of funny how many people have been unnecessarily offended by this abbreviation. It actually originated in the 16th century from the Greek word for Christ, Χριστός, which for hundreds of years, had often been abbreviated to the letter X, or 'chi'. So the next time someone gets offended by Xmas just share this with them. Merry Xmas!
