The word 'Christmas' comes from the phrase 'The Mass of Christ' or 'Christ's Mass'.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary who was betrothed to Joseph. His parents had to travel to Bethlehem to register for the census ordered by the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus.
It was almost 300 years after the birth of Jesus, in the mid-fourth century, that December 25 was fixed as the date for celebrating Christmas.
In Hebrew, the name Bethlehem means House (beth) of bread (lehem).
Jesus is known as Jesus Christ, he did not have a surname. The word 'Christ' comes from the Greek word Christos, which means 'anointed one'.
'Jingle Bells' was written for Thanksgiving (not for Christmas) in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont and published with the title, 'One Horse Open Sleigh'.
The 'X' in 'Xmas' is for the Greek letter 'Chi' which is the first letter of 'Christ'.
Jingle Bells was the first song to be broadcast from space on December 16, 1965, sung by astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra.
One thousand copies of the first Christmas cards were sold in 1843. The idea was that of Sir Henry Cole and the cards were printed by his friend, John Calcott Horsley.