Merry Christmas From iLocalNews

Today is a pretty special day.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

We’re all familiar with the story told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but the Bible doesn’t specifically say the baby Jesus was born on December 25.  Different dates were debated, until 320 A.D., when Pope Julius I finally decreed December 25 as the official date for the celebration of Christ’s birth.  There’s reason to believe that he may have wanted to co-opt the popular pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun, that featured parties, feasts and gift-giving.  Whatever.  It’s still an important day to most of us.

Charles Dickens had that old humbug Scrooge promise:  “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year,” and we certainly agree with that sentiment.  As Garrison Keillor once said:  “A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.”

So, in the spirit of the season, your Louisville iLocalNews provides you with the following trivial information about this most beloved of holidays:

The first decorated Christmas trees in homes date to 1605 in Germany.  In England, they became popular after Queen Victoria's husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of the celebrations at Windsor Castle.  Each year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.  The first electric Christmas tree lights were sold by General Electric in 1903.

Bing Crosby’s rendition of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” recorded in 1942, sold some 50 million copies — the best-selling single in history.  “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is the second best selling song.

Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his character in "A Christmas Carol," three other alliterative names were considered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam.

Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition.

In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Festivities were banned by Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry, on what was supposed to be a holy day, to be immoral. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660.  From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.  Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.

In an effort to solicit cash to pay for a charity Christmas dinner in 1891, a large crabpot was set down on a San Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.

American kids look forward to a visit from Santa Claus, but the gift givers are different in various countries:

England: Father Christmas

France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas)

Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus) She is a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of candles.

Holland: St Nicholas.

Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch)

Spain and South America: The Three Kings

Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure) in other parts it is Grandfather Frost.

Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen.  Note, it’s not “Donner”: that’s the name of stranded party of pioneers who celebrated Christmas with a most unusual feast.  “Donder und Blitzen” is Dutch for “thunder and lightning.”

Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time.

The first Christmas card was created in England on December 9, 1842; designed by London artist John Calcott Horsley.  He was hired by a wealthy British man to design a card that showed people feeding and clothing the poor with another picture of a Christmas party. The first Christmas card said, "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you." Of the original one thousand cards he printed for Henry Cole, only twelve exist today.

The poinsettia, traditionally an American Christmas flower, originally grew in Mexico; where it was known as the "Flower of the Holy Night". It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1828.  Contrary to common belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic, but holly berries are poisonous.  And mistletoe isn’t toxic either:  The Swiss use it to brew tea to drink at Christmastime.

Who else was born on Christmas Day?

1642 - Sir Isaac Newton (mathematician)

1821 - Clara Barton (nurse: founder of American Red Cross)

1899 - Humphrey Bogart (Academy Award-winning actor)

1907 - Cab (Cabell) Calloway (bandleader, singer)

1924 - Rod Serling (scriptwriter: The Twilight Zone)

1932 - Little Richard (Penniman) (singer: Good Golly Miss Molly)

1937 - O'Kelly Isley (singer: The Isley Brothers)

1945 - Ken Stabler (football: Oakland Raiders quarterback)

1946 - Jimmy Buffett (songwriter, singer)

1946 - Larry Csonka (Pro Football Hall of Famer)

1948 - Barbara Mandrell (CMA Entertainer of the year)

1949 - Sissy (Mary) Spacek (Academy Award-winning actress)

How do they say “Merry Christmas” in other languages?

Afrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees

Albanian: Gezur Krislinjden

Arabic: Milad Majid

Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!

Bengali: Shubho borodin

Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan

Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito

Croatian: Sretan Bozic

Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok

Danish: Glædelig Jul

Dutch: Zalig Kerstfeast

English: Merry Christmas

Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!

Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon

Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi

Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad

Finnish: Hyvaa joulua

Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar

French: Joyeux Noel

Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!

German: Froehliche Weihnachten

Greek: Kala Christouyenna!

Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka

Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova

Hindi: Baradin ki shubh kamnaaye

Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket

Icelandic: Gledileg Jol

Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah

Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie

Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto

Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha

Lao: souksan van Christmas

Latin: Natale hilare

Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus

Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu

Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa

Maori: Meri Kirihimete

Navajo: Merry Keshmish

Norwegian: God Jul

Polish: Boze Narodzenie

Portuguese:Feliz Natal

Romanian:  Craciun Fericit

Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom

Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou

Serbian: Hristos se rodi

Slovakian: Vesele vianoce

Spanish: Feliz Navidad

Swedish: God Jul

Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko

Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai

Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym

Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho

Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh

Welsh: Nadolig Llawen

Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic

 

Sing Along With iLocalNews:

 

Angels We Have Heard On High

(Click HERE for midi music)

Angels we have heard on high,

Sweetly singing o'er the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains. Gloria...

Chorus:

Gloria, In Excelsius Deo

Shepherd why this jubilee,

Why your joyous strains prolong

What the gladsome tidings be,

Which inspire your heavenly song?

 

Come to Bethlehem and see,

Him whose birth the angels sing

Come adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord the newborn king.

 

See him in a manger laid,

Whom the choirs of angels praise

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

While our hearts in love we raise.

 

 

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire

(Click HERE for midi music)

 

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like Eskimos

 

Ev'rybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe

Help to make the season bright

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow

Will find it hard to sleep tonight

 

They know that Santa's on his way

He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh

And ev'ry ------'s child is gonna spy

To see if reindeer really know how to fly

 

And so I'm offering this simple phrase

To kids from one to ninety-two

Although it's been said many times, many ways,

"Merry Christmas to you."

 

 

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

(Click HERE for midi music)

 

God rest you merry, gentlemen,

Let nothing you dismay,

Remember Christ our Savior

Was born on Christmas day,

To save us all from Satan's pow'r

When we were gone astray;

 

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

 

From God our heavenly Father

A blessed angel came.

And unto certain shepherds

Brought tidings of the same,

How that in Bethlehem was born

The Son of God by name:

 

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

 

"Fear not," then said the angel,

"Let nothing you affright,

This day is born a Savior,

Of virtue, power, and might;

So frequently to vanquish all

The friends of Satan quite";

 

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

 

The shepherds at those tidings

Rejoiced much in mind,

And left their flocks a-feeding,

In tempest, storm, and wind,

And went to Bethlehem straightway

This blessed babe to find:

 

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

 

But when to Bethlehem they came,

Whereat this infant lay

They found him in a manger,

Where oxen feed on hay;

His ------ Mary kneeling,

Unto the Lord did pray:

 

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

 

Now to the Lord sing praises,

All you within this place,

And with true love and brotherhood

Each other now embrace;

This holy tide of Christmas

All others doth deface:

 

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

 

 

Oh Holy Night

(Click HERE for midi music)

 

Oh holy night!

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

 

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

 

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

 

Fall on your knees

Oh hear the angel voices

Oh night divine

Oh night when Christ was born

Oh night divine

Oh night divine

 

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand

 

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming

Here come the wise men from Orient land

 

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger

In all our trials born to be our friend.

 

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace

 

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name all oppression shall cease

 

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.