50 Fun Facts About Christmas Eve

Which Disney character gives his name to the cartoon special that about 40% of Swedes watch every Christmas Eve?

Donald Duck is so much more popular than Mickey Mouse in Sweden that the Disney special was retitled after him. It has been shown there every Christmas Eve since 1960.

Which Colorado-based military command tracks Santa's Christmas Eve flight for children, a tradition begun in 1955?

NORAD inherited the job from its forerunner, whose Colonel Harry Shoup had the press told in 1955 that his command was tracking the sleigh. The idea began after a child's phone call reached his desk.

A marketing campaign that went nationwide in 1974 made which fast food a Christmas Eve tradition in Japan?

Fried chicken from KFC sells so heavily in Japan around Christmas Eve that those few days have brought in nearly five percent of the chain's annual revenue there.

In Catalonia, which object do children beat with sticks on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day until it 'defecates' presents?

A hollow log called the Tió de Nadal is 'fed' every night from December 8 and tucked under a blanket. Before the beating, children leave the room to pray for plenty of gifts.

On Christmas Eve 1968, the crew of which space mission read the opening verses of Genesis while orbiting the Moon?

Apollo 8 was the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon, and an estimated quarter of the people alive at the time saw the broadcast, live or delayed.

In which war did British and German troops leave their trenches around Christmas Eve to swap gifts and sing carols?

World War I's Christmas truce began when German troops set candles and trees along their trenches and sang carols, and the British answered with their own. No commander had authorised it.

Which carol was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in an Austrian village church, accompanied by a guitar?

Silent Night got its guitar part after river flooding had possibly damaged the church organ at Oberndorf. Joseph Mohr wrote the words and the schoolmaster Franz Gruber composed the tune.

A 'flood' of new releases each autumn makes which item Iceland's most popular Christmas Eve gift?

Books became Iceland's Christmas gift of choice in the 1940s because imported paper was less tightly restricted than other goods. A free catalogue of new titles goes to every household.

Which action film sees a New York detective fight terrorists in a Los Angeles skyscraper during a Christmas Eve party?

Die Hard is based on a 1979 novel, Nothing Lasts Forever, in which the hero is visiting his daughter rather than his estranged wife.

In Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, whose chained ghost visits Ebenezer Scrooge at home on Christmas Eve?

Jacob Marley, the miser's business partner, had been dead for seven years. His chains and money boxes were forged by a lifetime of greed, the fate he has come to warn his old friend about.

Which items hung up on Christmas Eve are linked to a legend of Saint Nicholas tossing gold to three poor sisters?

Stockings caught the bags of gold in one telling, because the sisters had hung theirs by the fireplace to dry. The secret gift saved the family from destitution.

Which reindeer, created in 1939 for a Montgomery Ward giveaway, leads Santa's sleigh team on Christmas Eve?

Rudolph came to his creator, Robert L. May, when thick fog off Lake Michigan blocked the view from his Chicago office. The store gave away 2.4 million copies of the tale in its first year.

Which 1946 Frank Capra film shows a despairing man on Christmas Eve what his town would be like without him?

It's a Wonderful Life became a seasonal staple only in the 1970s, after its US copyright lapsed and television stations could broadcast it without paying fees.

Which ballet, set on Christmas Eve, sees a girl's wooden doll grow to human size and fight an army of mice?

The Nutcracker was at first less successful on stage than the 20-minute concert suite Tchaikovsky had drawn from its score and premiered nine months earlier.

In which children's picture story does a boy travel north on Christmas Eve and come home with a bell from the sleigh?

The Polar Express won Chris Van Allsburg the 1986 Caldecott Medal. Its young hero rides a magical train, and his chosen present is cut by an elf from a reindeer's harness.

In Dr. Seuss's 1957 tale, the Grinch dresses as Santa on Christmas Eve to rob the homes of which town?

Whoville's noisy festivities had annoyed the Grinch for 53 years before he struck, riding down from his mountain on a sleigh pulled by his dog, Max.

In O. Henry's story The Gift of the Magi, what does Della sell on Christmas Eve to buy her husband a present?

Her hair fetches $20 from a wig maker, enough for a chain for Jim's gold pocket watch. Jim, meanwhile, has sold the watch to buy her a set of jeweled combs.

Which animated family adopts a losing racing greyhound on Christmas Eve in the 1989 episode that launched their series?

The Simpsons took in the dog, Santa's Little Helper, after Homer staked his pay as a shopping-mall Santa on the 99–1 long shot. The greyhound finished last and his owner abandoned him.

Which season of the Western church calendar, opening four Sundays before Christmas, comes to a close on Christmas Eve?

Advent is a time of waiting for both the Nativity and the Second Coming. Many churches mark its end on Christmas Eve by lighting the Christ candle at the centre of the wreath.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes, a Christmas Eve seafood meal, is a tradition of which US immigrant community?

Italian Americans kept the old rule of abstaining from meat on the vigil of a feast day, then turned it into an abundance of seafood. Some families do not count the dishes at all.

Poland's Christmas Eve supper, Wigilia, traditionally begins after a day of fasting once what has been spotted?

The first star stands for the one the Magi followed, so children watch the darkening sky for it. The table is also laid with an extra place setting for an unexpected guest.

Which fish, often kept in the family bathtub beforehand, is the classic Christmas Eve dish across Central Europe?

Carp spends its last days in the tub to rid it of muddy flavours. In some regions its scales are carried afterwards for good luck and its bones are placed in fruit trees.

Danes hide what in their Christmas Eve rice pudding dessert, with a small prize for whoever finds it?

A whole almond wins its finder the mandelgave, the almond present, such as a chocolate heart or a small board game. The dessert, risalamande, is a Danish invention despite its French-sounding name.

On Christmas Eve, Scandinavian families traditionally leave a bowl of what for the nisse, the farm's household spirit?

Porridge is the nisse's favourite reward for a year of stable chores, but it must come with a pat of butter on top. Folk tales warn that a spirit served it wrongly takes revenge.

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is broadcast every Christmas Eve from the chapel of which Cambridge college?

King's opens the service with a lone treble singing Once in Royal David's City. The format itself was devised in 1880 at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall.

Misa de Gallo, the Christmas Eve midnight Mass of Spain and its former colonies, is named after which bird?

Rooster's Mass recalls the cockcrow, the hour after which a night Mass was said in Rome's Basilica of St Mary Major from the fifth century on. It is also known as the Shepherds' Mass.

Which Asian country's nine-day run of dawn Masses, Simbang Gabi, finishes on Christmas Eve?

The Philippines holds the Masses before dawn, a timing said to have let farmers worship before a day in the fields. The name is Filipino for 'night Mass'.

Which nine-night celebration, ending on Christmas Eve, re-enacts Mary and Joseph's search for an inn?

Las Posadas runs for nine nights to stand for the nine months of Mary's pregnancy. The procession sings at the door of a house chosen as the inn, and the residents sing back before letting everyone in.

Which fruit do people in China exchange on Christmas Eve because its Mandarin name sounds like the word for peace?

Apples are 'píngguǒ' in Mandarin, close to 'píng'ān', meaning peace. Christmas Eve itself is called Píng'ān yè, the peaceful night, after the Chinese title of a famous carol.

The Treaty of Ghent, signed in Belgium on Christmas Eve, ended which war between the United States and Britain?

The War of 1812 rumbled on after the signing, because news of the peace took weeks to cross the Atlantic. Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans came two weeks after the ink dried.

Which British explorer visited the Pacific atoll of Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, on Christmas Eve 1777?

James Cook was on his third Pacific voyage when he landed. The atoll's modern name, Kiritimati, is simply the English word Christmas written in Gilbertese, where 'ti' is pronounced as an s.

Which Verdi opera, commissioned by Cairo's opera house, had its premiere there on Christmas Eve 1871?

Aida opened late because its sets and costumes were trapped in Paris by the Prussian siege. Verdi skipped the Cairo premiere and disliked that only invited dignitaries were in the audience.

Which French leader survived a cart bomb in a Paris street on Christmas Eve 1800 while travelling to the opera?

Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul, was on his way to hear the first French performance of Haydn's The Creation. He and Joséphine escaped the blast, which killed several bystanders in the street.

At which US military academy did cadets riot on Christmas Eve 1826 after whiskey was smuggled in to make eggnog?

West Point court-martialled 20 cadets after the eggnog riot. One reveller who escaped trial was Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederate States.

Which famous photograph of our planet above the lunar horizon did astronaut William Anders take on Christmas Eve 1968?

Earthrise has been called the most influential environmental photograph ever taken. Anders first had to find a roll of 70 mm colour film before he could capture the scene.

Who is usually credited with the 1823 Christmas Eve poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, first printed anonymously?

Clement Clarke Moore claimed the poem in 1837, fourteen years after a friend had sent it to the Troy Sentinel. Some argue that Henry Livingston Jr. was the real author.

Which band's 1987 duet with Kirsty MacColl follows an Irish immigrant in a New York drunk tank on Christmas Eve?

The Pogues were held at number two that Christmas by the Pet Shop Boys' cover of Always on My Mind. Fairytale of New York has returned to the UK chart every December since 2005.

Which Pennsylvania city was given its name by Moravian settlers gathered there on Christmas Eve 1741?

Bethlehem was christened by Nicolaus Zinzendorf, a Moravian bishop, after the biblical birthplace of Jesus. The mission village later grew into one of America's great steel towns.

In Icelandic folklore, the giant Yule Cat eats anyone who has not received which gift before Christmas Eve?

New clothes were what farm workers earned by finishing the autumn wool before Christmas, so the monster served as a threat aimed at the idle.

In the Czech Republic, people who fast all day on Christmas Eve are said to be rewarded with a vision of what?

A golden pig is a symbol of good luck, said to appear to anyone who holds out until dinner. The fast behind the tale is a medieval tradition that is also kept in Slovakia.

In which Finnish city, the country's oldest, is the Declaration of Christmas Peace read at noon each Christmas Eve?

Turku was Finland's capital before Helsinki, and its Old Great Square hosts the oldest of several such readings. The custom has its roots in 13th-century Swedish law.

Which author's 1832 tale Christmas Eve opens with the devil stealing the moon above a Ukrainian village?

Nikolai Gogol set the tale in Dikanka, where the devil wants revenge on a blacksmith who paints religious art in the church. The moon ends up hidden in the devil's pocket.

Which North African country became independent on Christmas Eve 1951 with Idris I as its monarch?

Libya emerged as a unified kingdom after British and French administration. The monarchy lasted until a bloodless coup in September 1969.

Which meat pie of minced pork, veal or beef is a traditional part of the late-night Christmas Eve feast in Quebec?

Tourtière anchors the réveillon, a long dinner whose name comes from the French for 'waking', because the guests stay up until morning.

Thomas Hardy's Christmas Eve poem The Oxen recalls an English folk legend that farm animals do what in their stalls?

Kneel, said the legend: cattle were believed to go down in homage on the anniversary of the Nativity. Hardy first published the poem in The Times in December 1915.

Medieval plays staged on December 24 honoured the name day of which biblical pair with a decorated 'paradise tree'?

Adam and Eve shared December 24 as their name day in various countries. The fruit-hung tree used on stage in plays about them has been linked to the modern Christmas tree.

In which region of France does the Christmas Eve 'big supper' end with a ritual spread of thirteen desserts?

Provence counts thirteen for Christ and the twelve apostles, and the sweets stay on the table for three days. Four of them, the 'beggars', stand for orders of friars.

Which sweet dish of wheat berries, poppy seeds and honey is essential to Ukraine's Christmas Eve Holy Supper?

Kutia is the first of the supper's twelve dishes to be tasted, and one of only two ritual dishes that the meal cannot do without.

Which US state is famous for lining roofs and walkways on Christmas Eve with luminarias, candles set in paper bags?

New Mexico treats the lanterns as a hallmark of its Pueblo and Hispano heritage. In the north of the state they are called farolitos, and 'luminaria' can mean a small bonfire instead.

Churches that keep Christmas Eve on January 6, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, still follow which calendar?

The Julian calendar runs 13 days behind the Gregorian one, so its December 25 lands on January 7 and the vigil on the evening before.