Did you know…the actual name of Westminster Abbey is the ‘Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster’?

Merry Christmas!

Nothing like a Christian Festival to close the year, is there? But that’s not exactly true. For one, it’s only the 25th of December - and December has a grand total of 31 days. Yes, people say Christmas lasts for 12 days, hence the various songs, but it isn’t the end of the year really, is it?

And then, my final question: Is this really a Christian festival? The Romans, long before Christianity began, celebrated a festival called Saturnalia, on the 25th of December. This lasted for 12 days. A typical celebration involved a lot of feasting, the giving of presents, decorating the houses with greenery and baubles. Sound familiar? I’ll leave you to your own conclusions…

The Sack of Rome

Carried out by Totila (The Gothic King) in 546 AD, the siege lasted for almost a year, before the city fell to the Goths. 

When the siege began on winter, 545 AD, the commander of the imperial garrison would only sell the grain stock to civilians at a highly inflated price. He apparently also refused to allow civilians to leave the city. Due to this, many of the civilians committed suicide. Eventually, he allowed them to leave, and many of the famished civilians were killed by the Goths. Pope Vigilius, having fled to Syracuse, attempted to help by sending ships with grain to Rome, only to end up feeding the surrounding Goths instead.

As it would turn out, Tortilla wanted rid of Rome, so he could use the land for sheep. While this didn’t happen, his army plundered the city once it was finally breached, and tore down one third of the defensive walls before chasing after the Roman forces in Apulia.

Did you know…that despite not growing in Hawaii, poinsettias were included in a 1944 book on Hawaii’s poisonous plants? The plant itself isn’t actually poisonous, either!

Did you know…during Hanukkah, Jewish people eat mostly fried foods, to remember the oil lamp that burned for eight nights, despite only having enough oil for one?

Did you know…a cookie is a small electronic file that is downloaded to your computer when you visit a website?