* Pope Julius I declared Christ’s birthday as December 25th sometime during the 4th century.

* Christmas trees received their first written acknowledgement in Germany in 1531.

* The tradition of hanging stockings over the fireplace derived from Dutch children placing their shoes next to the fireplace on Christmas Eve. Stockings later replaced the shoes.

* Until the turkey, a goose was the most popular fare served at a Christmas meal.

* The popular Christmas carol Silent Night was written by an Austrian priest named Joseph Mohr in 1818 as a result of a broken church organ.

* Santa has a calculated 31 hours to thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west.

* Christmas trees such a Douglas fir and Evergreen are grown in all 50 states of America.

* The abbreviation of Christmas to Xmas partially comes from the Greek letter ‘chi’, the first letter of the word ‘Christos’, meaning ‘Christ’.

* Australian priests suggest saying “Happy Christmas” instead of Merry Christmas since “merry” often referred to drinking alcohol.

* Bing Crosby’s Christmas classic “White Christmas” is the best-selling Christmas song of all time.

* Alabama was the first state in America to proclaim Christmas day as a legal holiday in 1836.

* Oklahoma was the last state to proclaim Christmas day as a legal holiday in 1907.

* Poet Clark Moore is credited with naming Santa’s reindeer; Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Doneder, Prancer, and the most famous reindeer, Rudolph.

* The colours in Santa Claus’ suit, red and white, were the creation of artist Haddon Sundblom. Sundblom was commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company to redesign Santa Claus, although, Thomas Nast was the first artist to illustrate Santa Claus.

* Austria issued the first Christmas stamp in 1937.

* The first United States President, Franklin Pierce, was the first in 1856 to decorate a Christmas tree in the White House.

* While working for inventor Thomas Edison, Edward Johnson had lights crafted especially for his Christmas tree leading to the popularization of Christmas tree light.

* The red stripe in the candy cane was intended by the inventor as the blood of Christ.

* Mistletoe myth states should a woman appearing under the mistletoe not receive a kiss, she will not marry the following year.

* The first Christmas card was designed by John Horsley in 1840 but was not sold until 1843.

* Christmas wreaths of holly and berries are believed to represent Christ’s thorns and blood.

* In Mexico, the poinsettia plant is called “Flower of the Holy Night”.

* Tinsel became a popular Christmas tree adornment after a mythical spider created sprawling webs from branch to branch. It is believe the Christ Child changed the webs to a silver colour.

Through PTI

Indian security forces need to effectively implement and use geospatial technology for targeted counter-terrorism operations, as it provides 3D imagery of a conflict area and can eventually help in saving lives, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said here Monday.

“With geospatial technology, our forces could have had a three-dimensional view of say the Taj hotel and how to access each room,” said Sibal, referring to the recent terror attack in Mumbai, including on the sea-facing Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, that left around 170 people dead.

“You can get such information even on mobile phones. And with other operational devices like night-vision, security forces could have easily located the enemy. Such technology is already available,” he told a seminar on geospatial technologies in India, jointly organised by National Spatial Data Infrastructure and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Geospatial technology uses global positioning system, geographical information system and remote sensing to map physical attributes of targeted areas, resulting in a three-dimensional image, useful for civilian applications like town planning or strategic operations such as counter-terrorism.

“Now the security agencies are waking up to the uses of this kind of technology but to put it to effective use, the defence ministry’s permission is required,” Sibal said, referring to the need for aerial mapping of sensitive areas.

“For three and a half years now we have been trying the ministry of defence and other agencies to cooperate in the mapping of various areas, which is crucial for this kind of technology to be effective,” he added.

Geospatial technology is also effective in tightening maritime security, for example along the route that terrorists took to infiltrate India during the attacks on Mumbai. Explained Sibal: “With access to such technology, it is possible to identify every vessel that enters our waters making our coast lines that much more secure.”

Talking to reporters on the sidelines, Sibal also said the government plans to put together a legislation that will give more clarity on geospatial technology, which is touted to be the next big thing after information technology.