a typical american eats between 3,000 and 5,000 calories at thanksgiving dinner.

krampus predates christmas. originally, he was a son of hel, the norse god of the underworld.

americans work 137 more hours per year more than japanese workers, 260 more than workers in the UK, and 500 more than workers in france.

a survey in 2012 found that 40% of people wished that they could skip christmas, due to financial pressures.

martin luther king's birthday is celebrated in hiroshima, japan.

since 1960, the average thanksgiving turkey has gained 11 pounds, while the average american has gained 28 pounds.

the araucana chicken is sometimes called the 'easter egg chicken' because it's eggs are naturally blue, green, pink, or brown.

jeshua (whom you might know better as 'jesus of nazareth') was born sometime between the spring and summer of 1 a.d to 6 a.d. so christmas and our centuries are all messed up.

presidents jefferson, jackson, and taylor refused to recognize thanksgiving as a holiday. they felt that the government had no right to dictate religion to the people.

memorial day was started by freed slaves on may 1, 1865 in charleston, sc, to honor 257 dead union soldiers that had been buried in a common grave in a confederate prisoner-of-war camp. they dug up the bodies, gave them proper burials, and held a parade led by their children to thank the dead for fighting for their freedom.

anna jarvis founded mother's day. and she spent the rest of her life - and her life savings, plus some time in jail - protesting the commercialization of the holiday.

although the declaration of independence was signed on july 4th, 1776, the revolutionary war did not end until september 3rd, 1783. that is america's actual 'independence day'.

the word 'easter' comes from the anglo-saxon word 'eostre', who was goddess of the vernal equinox.

the date on which americans celebrate thanksgiving is the 4th thursday in november because of william h. macy. in 1939, he asked president franklin roosevelt to make it that date to extend the number of shopping days before christmas.

what did people eat at the first american thanksgiving? wild turkey, venison, mussels, fish, onions, beans, spinach, cabbage, carrots, and corn porridge. no potatoes, and no pumpkin pie.

native americans hold a national day of mourning on thanksgiving day. the practice began in 1970.

in norway, all earnings are taxed at half the normal amount during november to give citizens more christmas shopping money.

saint nicholas is the patron saint of prostitutes, which gives a whole new meaning to 'naughty or nice'.

december 25th is christmas, right? actually, it's not. although most christians celebrate christmas on that date now, the original holiday was in july. it was moved to december 25th to coincide with dies natalis solis invicti, the roman feast of the sun god.

new zealand doesn't allow any ads on tv on christmas, easter, good friday, and anzac day (their memorial day).