A Christmas Story
This classic O. Henry tale tells the story of a poor married couple who each sell their most prized possessions in order to buy the other a Christmas gift
What is The Gift of the Magi?
What is an old silk hat?
The Roman god of love, desire, and affection, often depicted as a winged, chubby boy with a bow and arrows
Who is Cupid?
336: The first recorded celebration of Christmas Day to take place on December 25 took place in this city, now the capital of Italy
What is Rome?
This bad guy of the first Christmas forced the Holy Family to flee to Egypt after he decreed that all male babies should be slain
Who is King Herod?
In Dickens' A Christmas Carol, The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on tour of his old haunts, including the warehouse of this man, with whom Scrooge apprenticed
Who is Fezziwig?
Despite having just given birth, in this song the Virgin Mary is treated to an impromptu performance by a pre-adolescent percussionist
What is The Little Drummer Boy?
An icy, small, celestial body or interstellar object
Who is Comet?
1492: The Santa Maria, one of Columbus's three ships, ran aground. It's timbers were later used to build a fort, named for this Spanish word for Christmas
What is Navidad?
The birth of the Baby Jesus was first announced to these pastoral laborers, working in the nearby hills of Bethlehem
Who are shepherds?
Hans Christian Anderson wrote this depressing tale of Christmas, about a small child who freezes to death while selling her wares on the street
What is The Little Match Girl?
This traditional carol that tells the legend of a benevolent Bohemian monarch living in the twelfth century actually takes place on St. Stephen's Day, not Christmas
What is Good King Wenceslas?
A spirited or fierce woman, especially one seen as attractive
Who is Vixen?
1777: On Christmas night, George Washington and his troops crossed this river in a successful attempt to sruprise the British Army
What is the Delaware?
Luke gives this reason for Mary placing her newborn son in a manger
What is there was no room in the inn?
This man, the author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas", gave us "visions of sugarplums" and the names of Santa's reindeer for Christmas
Who is Clement C. Moore?
Who is Mel Torme?
To flash, light up, sparkle, or twinkle in German
What is Blitzen?
1914: British and German troops, combatants in this conflict, temporarily lay down their arms to celebrate what is later dubbed "The Christmas Truce"
What is World War I?
Despite living in Nazareth, Mary and Joseph were forced to travel to Bethlehem, where the Baby Jesus was born, for this reason
What is to be taxed?
Tchaikovsky's famous ballet The Nutcracker is performed all over the world at Christmas, but it had its debut in St. Petersburg, Russia, in this theater
What is the Mariinsky?
In one well-known carol, the singers refuse to depart until the audience presents them with this dessert, a medievel dish of sweet or savoury cakes containing honey, fruit, or nuts
What is figgy pudding?
A plunger for agitating cream in a churn
Who is Dasher?
1968: Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders spent Christmas day orbiting the moon (the first men to do so), as part of this NASA mission
What is Apollo 8?
Although never named in the Bible, the three wise men are traditionally known as Melchior, Balthazar, and this (also the name of a friendly ghost)
Who is Caspar?