Joyeux Noel, Frohe Weinachten, Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale or Merry Christmas. Call it whatever you may. We all love Christmas!Are you looking for some conversational ammunition this holiday season? Well, you are in the right company. Welcome to ‘Nutty’s Infortainment. YAYS!’Although Christmas is all about traditions, there are plenty of very interesting and sometimes even weird things about this holiday.The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 AD in Patara in modern Turkey.Santa has different names around the world – Kris Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France, DeushkaMoroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia and Kanakaloka in Hawaii. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) arrives from Spain, not from the North Pole. Sinterklaas has his little helpers, but not like adorable hard-working elves. They are black-faced boys and girls who can steal your kids if they misbehave, and bring them back to Spain which is, according to the Dutch, a severe punishment.In Germany, Poland and Ukraine, finding a spider or a spider’s web on a Christmas tree is believed to be a harbinger of prosperity and goodness. In fact, spiders and spider webs are often used as Christmas tree decorations to bring luck and prosperity.Rudolph, the Reindeer was actually conceived by a department store, Montgomery Ward, as a marketing gimmick to get kids to buy holiday colouring books. Rudolph was almost named Rollo or Reginald. The original Rudolph did not have a red nose. In that day and age, red noses were seen as an indicator of chronic alcoholism. Rudolph’s now red nose is probably the “result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system”. Jingle Bells wasn’t originally written as a Christmas song. It doesn’t even mention Christmas. That’s because it was actually written for Thanksgiving. When the holiday ditty was first printed in 1857, it was released under the title ‘One Horse Open Sleigh’. The song was written by James Lord Pierpont, uncle of J P Morgan, one of the most powerful financiers of the Gilded Age.The best-selling Christmas singles ever is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, shifting over 50 million copies worldwide since 1942. Over 500 covers have been recorded by various artistes in different languages. Paul McCartney still earns $400,000 a year from his Wonderful Christmas time which is widely regarded as the worst singles he has ever recorded.There are two islands named after Christmas. One is the Christmas Island, formerly known as Kiritimati in the Pacific Ocean, and Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. In addition, there are three towns in the United States that are named after Santa Claus. They are in Arizona, Georgia, and Indiana.And your time starts NOW!What is common to ‘Midwinter’, ‘Nativity’ and ‘Yule’? These are names given to Christmas from the old times. Christmas is also called Navidad in Spanish, Natale in Italian and Noel in French.At which QSRs do Japanese people traditionally go for Christmas dinner? KFC. To enjoy some fried chicken – the closest food to turkey that they can get in Japan.Who authored the novella A Christmas Carol? Charles DickensA mailing address has been assigned to Santa Claus by Canada Post. What is the zip code?H0H 0H0. The postal service responds each year to tens of thousands of children’s letters from around the world addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, CanadaThe first ever musical recording in space was performed in 2012 on the Internatinal Space Station by Col. Chris Hadfield. It was the Christmas Carol, Jewel in The Night. Which was the first song ever broadcast from the space?Jingle Bells. Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.Yesterday (December 22, 2018) was winter solstice in Qatar. In terms of daylight, by what duration was this shorter than the summer solstice on June 21, 2018? 3 hours and 9 minutesWhat does ‘da capo’ means in music terminology?To be repeated from the beginning.On December 23, 1986, an experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, created a first as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California. What was it?The first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refuelling.Who was the first person of colour to win a Grand Slam title in Tennis?Athea Gibson. She won the French Championships in 1956.The Russian general below was also an inventor, military engineer and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing an assault rifle. He died this day (December 23) in 2013. Identify him? (Answer next week. Answer to last week’s photo-quiz: Shirley Temple.)
December 22, 2018 | 09:50 PM