Some Christmas facts… Some interesting… Others, not so much…

All right. Here are some thing you probably never considered about the Holidays. Or maybe you did. But here they are anyway.

• Did you  know that scientists in Norway actually spent their valuable time hypothesising that Rudolph’s red nose was probably the result of a parasitic infection. Good grief!
• Most of Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzen, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely not male, but female or castrati. We didn’t make this up.
• In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ. Doesn’t look like those Wise Men were travelling in the dead of winter after all.
• According to data analyzed from Facebook posts, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups. The day after Christmas, nobody has a clue.
• Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates during the Christmas holiday are low. The highest rates are during the spring. Evidently April showers bring an onset of depression.
• Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850. Landfills have never been the same.
• Bolivians celebrate Misa del Gallo or “Mass of the Rooster” on Christmas Eve. Some people bring roosters to the midnight mass, a gesture that symbolizes the belief that a rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus. After they return the rooster to their abodes, we wonder if they eat it.
• Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836. So we have that going for us.
• Mistletoe (Viscum album) is from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings. So, if you kiss somebody under a sprig, keep your lips closed.
• In Germany, Heiligabend, or Christmas Eve, is said to be a magical time when the pure in heart can hear animals talking. Today, if somebody claims to hear animals talking, they are taken to a doctor.