Evergreen trees were used to celebrate winter well before the birth of Christ.
In Italy, not Santa, but La Befana, a cheerful old woman, rides a broomstick down the chimney to deliver gifts into the stockings of children.
She arrives on the eve of the festival of Epiphany, on January 6.
For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense
Command (CONAD,) have tracked Santa by radar.
Christmas trees for sale are grown in all 50 states, with Oregon the leading producer.
Over one million acres of land are planted with Christmas trees throughout the U.S.
From 1887 to 1933, a fishing schooner called the “Christmas Ship” docked in Chicago to sell
spruce trees from Michigan for use as Christmas trees.
Almost all trees require pruning to create the traditional Christmas tree shape.
In 1856, Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the U.S., was the first president to erect a Christmas tree in the White House.
Recycled trees can be used to create sand and soil erosion barriers and can provide fish shelter in ponds.
Every year since 1947, the people of Oslo, Norway, have presented a Christmas tree to Westminster, England,
in gratitude for Great Britain’s help during World War II.
The use of small candles to decorate Christmas trees dates back to the middle of the 17th century.
Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, had the idea of electric lights in 1882; Electric lights were first sold in 1890.
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