Shirley... You better believe it.. We have had about 2 feet of snow so far this season and it isn't officially winter yet.. We have had about 10 or more days where the daytime temperature stayed below the freezing mark.. Nighttime temps are around the -15c mark... EDIT.... Actually it is now almost 1:00am on Saturday and the temperature is -24c .....
A diamond is the hardest natural substance on earth, but if it is placed in an oven and the temperature is raised to about 763 degrees Celsius (1405 degrees Fahrenheit), it will simply vanish, without even ash remaining.
Norwegian scientists have hypothesized that Rudolph's red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system.
Most of Santa's reindeer have male sounding names, such as Blitzer, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeer shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh are likely not male, but female or castrati.
England’s Prince Albert is credited with helping bring the Christmas tree from his native Germany to the English-speaking world, making it a well-publicized tradition in the royal household of his wife, Queen Victoria.
In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.
According to the Guinness world records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot D--o--u--g--l--a--s F--i--r that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.
A Washington State University plant pathologist is currently leading a five-year, $1.3 million research project partly aimed at helping Christmas trees retain their needles for longer.
Mistletoe (Viscum album) is from the Anglo Saxon word misteltan, which means "little dung twig" because the plant spreads through bird droppings. Ancient peoples, such as the Druids, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die. They would cut the plant with golden sickles and never let it touch the ground. They thought it had power to cure infertility and nervous diseases and to ward off evil.
In 1836 Alabama became the first state in the US to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Oklahoma became the last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1907.