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Christmas Around the World [Infographic]

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With Christmas less than two weeks away, we thought it would be fun to share this infographic chock-full of interesting facts and figures about Christmas. Just in case you didn't have enough random Christmas facts to share at the dinner table, print out this blog post or take your iPad to the table with you to share with your kids:

For the church’s first three centuries, Christmas wasn’t in December—or on the calendar at all.

  • The first Christmas: December 25, 336, is the first recorded celebration.
  • 13th Century: Christians began to sing Christmas carols.
  • By the end of the 16th Century: Christmas trees were common in Germany.
  • 1843: Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol”
  • More than 160: countries celebrate Christmas.
  • Some: Refer to the holiday as Family Day, including Angola and Uruguay.
  • Some –like Jordan and Pakistan–designate December 25th as an official holiday only for Christians.

5 VERY Strange Christmas Customs You’ve Never Heard About

  • In the Czech Republic, Slovakia: on Christmas Day, stand with your back to the door and throw a shoe over your shoulders! If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door, congratulations, you’re going to get married soon!
  • Kentucky Fried Christmas in Japan. Yup, the Japanese eat kfc for Christmas dinner.
  • Families in Finland usually visit the graves of their ancestors and relatives on Christmas Eve to light candles in memory of the deceased.
  • Instead of glittering ornaments and tinsel, Ukrainian Christmas trees are covered with an artificial spiders and cobwebs.
  • Finland again: Every Christmas Eve, people would head to their sauna, strip to their toes, and enjoy a nice, good soak, naked.

 

christmas-around-the-world infographic

Lauren Hunter
Lauren Hunterhttps://laurenhunter.net
Lauren Hunter is a writer who loves the big picture of God’s journey we are all on together. In 2007, she founded ChurchTechToday, a website for pastors and church leaders to harness technology to improve ministry. Married to her high school sweetheart, Lauren lives in Northern California with her husband and their four children. Her latest book is Leaving Christian Science: 10 Stories of New Faith in Jesus Christ. She can be found online at https://laurenhunter.net.

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