Join me every day around 4:20pm for the Daily Dee-straction!
We’ll cover something you didn’t know about OR something you did know about and are about to find out MORE about! If you missed it, here is this week’s round up!
Dec 4 – Mistletoe Origins
Did you know… the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe has its roots in Norse mythology?? The History Channel reports that Frigga, the goddess of love, lost her son to scheming god Loki who made an arrow from the plant. According to one version of the myth, the gods were able to resurrect her son from the dead. From that moment on Frigga then declared mistletoe a symbol of love and vowed to plant a kiss on all those who passed beneath it. By the 18th century the Christmas custom picked up steam in England.
Dec 5 – Jingle Bells In Space
Did you know… ‘Jingle Bells’ was the first song played in space?? All the way back in 1965, the classic Christmas song was broadcast during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight. And the best part, it was a prank! Astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra had finished their mission and were on their way back when they claimed to see a UFO driven by Santa. The astronauts then proceeded to pull out a harmonica and sleigh bells that they had smuggled aboard, and played Jingle Bells. This historic jam session has been recorded in the Guinness World Records as the first song played in space, beginning a long tradition of ‘space music.’
Dec 6 – NORAD Santa Tracker
Did you know… The NORAD Santa Tracker was inspired by a wrong number call? As you know… every Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command famously adjusts its satellites to track Santa on his journey around the world. But the holiday tradition all started in the 1950s by accident! A young child accidentally called a NORAD command center looking for jolly old Saint Nick, so they decided, hey we should start tracking that! Now families all around the world can watch Santa as he makes his way through each and every neighborhood delivering presents… or coal… depends on how good you’ve been this year!
Dec 7 – Gingerbread Houses
Did you know… gingerbread houses were made widely popular because of a fairy tale? Can you guess which one? Two children get lost in a forest and find an edible house made of bread with sugar decorations. That’s right Hansel and Gretel! Although gingerbread houses date back to the 1600s, after the story of Hansel and Gretel was published in 1812, German bakers began baking more and more ornamented fairy-tale houses! And now we have the very fun tradition of making them with our family from box sets only to leave the houses out in the open soooo long that they become basically inedible hardened candy bricks too pretty and stale to eat LOL!
Dec 8 – Spiders in your Christmas Tree
Did you know… in many Eastern European countries, finding a spider or a spider’s web in your Christmas tree is a symbol of good luck? That’s because these countries have the legend of the Christmas spider, which tells that a poor widow lived in a small hut with her children. They found a pine cone in summer and cared for it diligently until it became a pretty tree! Unfortunately, they couldn’t afford to decorate the tree for Christmas, but upon waking up on Christmas day, they found the tree covered in elegant cobwebs that shone gold and silver in the sunlight. And since that day, the widow and her children never lived in poverty again! Unfortunately that would not be my reaction… burn the tree!
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