It’s that time of year again: spiced eggnog, spiced apple cider and time with friends and family. But most importantly, spiced eggnog and spiced apple cider.  While you’re probably already be cramming your brain with information for finals, you might want to take a quick study break and learn 10 things about Christmas that you didn’t already know.

1-  In 350 AD, Pope Julius I Bishop of Rome, declared December 25 as the official celebration date for the birth of Jesus Christ.

2-  Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates during Christmas are low. The highest rates are actually in the spring.

3-  Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850. Tress usually grow for about 15 years before  they are sold. Denmark is the world’s largest  exporter of Christmas trees, with an average of more than 8.5 million trees a year.

4-  Christmas purchases account 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S. Black Friday is obviously the busiest, but December 17 comes in a close second.

5-  Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895. Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea to put the electric lights on trees in 1882.

6-  For those of you that think it is disrespectful to use the term X-mas as opposed to writing out Christmas, you might be surprised to find out that n Greek, X means Christ. That is where X-mas comes from.

7-  Seven percent of mall Santas have a criminal background. Ironically, Santa Claus is based on the Church Bishop Saint Nicholas. He was born in Turkey and was known for secretly giving gifts to the poor.

8-  The Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square in London is always from Norway. Its sent as a thanks for British support of Norway during WWII.

9-  American kids leave cookies for Santa, but what do other kids do? Children in England leave Mince pies for Father Christmas and Danish children leave rice pudding for Tomte.

10- Do you suffer from allergies? Get a real tree. Real pine trees remove dust and pollen from the air. It’s also surprisingly more healthy for the environment too. You might think that it’s good to get a fake tree because it lasts six years, but a fake tree will last centuries in a landfill. Artificial trees are unfortunately more common, beating out real trees by six million, with 40,694,463 trees.

So there you have it. Ten wonderful facts about Christmas that you didn’t know. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break with your family and a great last week of school. And in the spirit of A Christmas Carol: Merry Christmas! God Bless us everyone!