1. Christmas become a Federal holiday in the US when President Ulysses S. Grant declared it a legal holiday in 1870. Ulysses Simpson Grant (1869-1877, was the 18th President of the United States.
2. Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" was first published in England in 1843. At that time, John Tyler (1841-1845) was the 10th President of the United States (his nickname was the "Accidental President").
3. America issued its first Christmas stamp in 1962 -- the 4¢ Wreath and Candles issue. The president was John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963), 35th President of the United States.
4. In 1997 President Castro restored Christmas as a holiday in Cuba to honor the visit of Pope John Paul II in the island. The president was William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001), 42nd President of the United States.
5. President Harry S Truman died December 26, 1972, St. Stephen's Day, at the age of 88 years, 231 days at Kansas City, MO. He was the 33rd President of the United States. The president at the time was Richard Milhous Nixon (1969-1974), 37th President of the United States.
6. The famous "Christmas Truce" between warring British and German troops took place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 1914. The president was Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), 28th President of the United States. See: A Carol from Flanders.
7. The Bing Crosby film "Holiday Inn" (which introduced the classic song "White Christmas") was released in 1942. The president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945), the 32nd President of the United States. See "White Christmas" By Bing Crosby.
8. On December 19th 1989, while Panamanians were getting ready for the Christmas holidays, the United States was secretly mobilizing 26,000 troops for a midnight attack. The president was George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993), 41st President of the United States.
9. James Madison (1809-1817), 4th President of the United States, was president when the poem "Stille Nacht" was written in 1816 by Rev. Josef Mohr. When it was put to music by Franz Xaver Gruber on Christmas Eve 1818, James Monroe (1817-1825) was in the first year of his term as the 5th President of the United States. See Silent Night, Holy Night - Notes.
10. Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. The president was Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963–1969), 36th President of the United States.
Note: Presidental information from the website American President.org, http://www.americanpresident.org. Other facts collected from all over the place.
If you would like to help support Hymns and Carols of Christmas, please click on the button below and make a donation.