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DID YOU KNOW? In 1965, two astronauts broadcasted "Jingle Bells" from space for a "prank." Two astronauts aboard Gemini 6 sent an odd report to Mission Control that they saw an "unidentified flying object" about to enter Earth's atmosphere, traveling in the polar orbit from north to south. They interrupted the tense report with the sound of โJingle Bells,โ as Wally Schirra played a small harmonica accompanied by Tom Stafford on a handful of small sleigh bells they had smuggled aboard.๐พ๐๐จโ๐๐
19 days before Christmas! ๐๐๐
DID YOU KNOW? The reason we give presents at Christmas is to symbolize the gifts given to baby Jesus by the three wise men. ๐๐๐
20 days before Christmas! ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ
Christmas Countdown
DID YOU KNOW? Rudolph the reindeer was actually conceived by a department store, Montgomery Ward, as a marketing gimmick to get kids to buy holiday coloring books.
21 days before Christmas! ๐๐๐
DID YOU KNOW? The highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Jim Carrey version.
22 days before Christmas!
DID YOU KNOW? Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" holds the Guinness World Records title for the highest-charting holiday song. ๐ค๐ง
23 days before Christmas! ๐ฒ๐โจ
DID YOU KNOW? The original lyrics to "Hark! The Herald Angel Sing" were "Hark! How the Welkin rings!" Welkin is an old, English term for Heaven. A preacher later tweaked the lyric.
24 days before Christmas!
DID YOU KNOW? Boston church leaders tried to have the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" banned in the 1950s because they thought it "promoted physical intimacy." Singer Jimmy Boyd had to fly to Boston and explain to them why it wasn't obscene. ๐ฑ
25 days before Christmas! ๐ฒโจ๐
DID YOU KNOW? "Silent Night" is the most-recorded Christmas song in history, with over 733 different versions copyrighted since 1978.
27 days before Christmas! ๐๐ฒโจ
DID YOU KNOW? Though Santa Claus has worn blue and white and green in the past, his traditional red suit came from a 1930s ad by Coca Cola.
28 days before Christmas!
DID YOU KNOW? Not all Christmas characters are as...benevolent. There's also Krampus, made infamous by the 2015 horror movie of the same name, a horned, hooved demon who punishes naughty children by beating them or dragging them to Hell, according to Austrian folklore. ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ
29 days before Christmas! ๐ฒโจ๐
DID YOU KNOW? In 1914 during World War I there was a now famous Christmas truce in the trenches between the British and the Germans. They exchanged gifts across a neutral no manโs land, played football together, and decorated their shelters.
30 days before Christmas!