Fascinating Facts and Trivia

During the mid 1880s, aluminium was more valuable than gold.

December 25th is supposedly the day of the birth of Jesus, but there’s actually no mention of this day in the Bible. Religious historians believe Jesus was probably born in the spring. One theory is that the date was set to coincide with the ancient pagan festival of Saturnalia, which celebrated agricultural abundance with gift-giving, parties, and gambling. It actually wasn’t until the year 350 AD that Pope Julius I declared December 25th as the official birthday of Christ.

Bringing a whole new meaning to the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, people used to believe that this plant was an aphrodisiac. Mistletoe, now commonly used as a holiday decoration, was believed by the Druids to be a symbol of fertility and virility. On a slightly less arousing note, the name mistletoe comes from the Anglo-Saxon word mistletan, which translates essentially as “dung on a twig” because the plant was commonly spread via bird droppings.

It takes 225 million years for our sun to travel around the galaxy.

The human brain is the most complex object in the known universe.

Final stuff from me tonight:
It was a commonly held belief throughout Europe that both good and evil spirits were active during the “twelve days of Christmas.” Prior to the 1900s, there was a tradition of telling scary ghost stories on Christmas Eve. Many think the idea of Santa’s elves evolved from these early beliefs, helped along by Clement C. Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” more commonly referred to as The Night Before Christmas, which refers to Santa as “a jolly old elf.”

Moore’s poem was also the origin of Santa’s eight reindeer—named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. (The last two are German words for thunder and lightning, and later were changed to Donner and Blitzen).

The plants of Holly and Ivy have been used inside homes as decoration as far back as the 9th century, representing Christian notions of everlasting life. The red berries symbolize the blood of Christ and the holly, his crown of thorns.

There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice. It is rebuilt every year.

If a female ferret does not have sex for a year she will die.

(19-12-2018 20:29 )Carl_HoneyLover Wrote:  There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice. It is rebuilt every year.

As well as in Norway & Iceland. The Norwegian one; Sorrisniva; is mentioned in an advert for some prize thingy right now.

The human body contains enough fat to make seven bars of soap.

The cornea is the only part of the body with no blood supply, it gets its oxygen directly from the air.