Science and History of Santa Claus: Surprising facts about Santa’s journey

How long does Santa have on Christmas Eve? If Santa were to start delivering gifts at 10 pm on Christmas Eve and finish at 6 am on Christmas morning, that would give him only 8 hours to deliver presents. Or would it? Santa must circle the globe. How would that affect how many hours he has for his work?

International Date Line The date in the Eastern hemisphere (to the left of the Int’l Date Line) is always one day ahead of Hawaii. So, Santa would gain 24 hours if he traveled west, around the globe. Downloaded from: aa.usno.navy.mil/graphics/ dateline_color.gif. This map shows historical positions of the International Date Line from "Notes on the History of the Date or Calendar Line," in The New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. XI, pp. 385 - 388

So how long does Santa have to deliver presents? If Santa started delivering gifts at 10 pm on Tonga--and finished at 6 am in the Samoa Islands--how many hours would he have for his deliveries? (Hint: 24 + 8=?) www.samoanet.com/ maps/world%20-%20large.jpg620 x 616 - 86k

In that time, how many houses does Santa visit? There are about 378 million children whose families celebrate Christmas At an average of 3.5 children per household, that would mean that Santa would visit 108 million homes To reach all those homes, Santa’s flying reindeer would have to travel at many times the speed of sound. Source: http://www.chainreactionbicycles.com/santaclaus.htm

But where did Santa (or St. Nicholas) come from? The historical Saint Nicholas was born in the 3rd century, in a Roman province that is now part of Turkey Born wealthy, he gave generous gifts to the needy This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is shown below. A medieval fresco depicting St. Nicholas from the Boyana Church, near Sofia, Bulgaria. Frescoes from the Boyana Church: Angel Bulgaria UNESCO Heritage Site. This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

Father Christmas In many countries the spirit of giving associated with Christmas came to be identified with St. Nicholas, or with a similarly generous figure: Father Christmas This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is shown below. Excerpt from Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Father Christmas (1686). Include the following in citation: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. his image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

St. Nick in Middle Ages This painting, created in 1425, shows St. Nick delivering gifts alone, on foot. Clearly, as the world population grew, he would need assistance. The dowry for the three virgins (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome). This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is shown below. ArtistGentile da FabrianoTitleDeutsch: Quaratesi-Polyptychon, f殤f Predellatafeln mit Szenen aus dem Leben des Hl. Nikolaus von Bari (Wunderdarstellungen), Szene: N. wirft der goldene Kugeln in das Zimmer der dreier armer M嚇chenYearDeutsch: um 1425English: c. 1425TechniqueDeutsch: HolzDimensionsDeutsch: 36 × 36 cmCurrent locationDeutsch: Pinacoteca VaticanaDeutsch: RomNotesDeutsch: Urspr. Hauptaltar von San Niccol� sopr'Arno in Florenz, Auftraggeber: Kaufmannsfamilie Quarantesi, 1836 wurde der Altar geteilt, Kompartimente u.a. in Rom, Washington, LondonSourceThe Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Santa Claus in the U.S. In 19th century America, a more modern image of Santa evolved Elves helped him manufacture toys Flying reindeer pulled Santa’s sleigh each year. 1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who, with Clement Clarke Moore helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. English: Thomas Nast's most famous drawing, "Merry Old Santa Claus," from Harper's Weekly (January 1, 1881, p.8-9).Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus' current look with an initial illustration in an 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly, as part of a large illustration titled "A Christmas Furlough" in which Nast set aside his regular news and political coverage to do a Santa Claus drawing. The popularity of that image prompted him to create another illustration in 1881.


Who are Santa’s elves? English folk tales portray elves as small, elusive spirits with mischievous personalities. The magical powers of elves would help to create millions of toys for children. Poor_little_birdie_teased_by_Richard_Doyle.jpg‎ (625 × 407 pixels, file size: 66 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) AuthorEnglish: Victorian era illustrator Richard Doyle (1824-1883) This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

Are Santa’s reindeer girls? Male and female reindeer both grow antlers. But the antlers of older males fall off in December. So, since Santa’s reindeer have antlers on Christmas, Dasher and Dancer are most likely girls. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is shown below. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". DescriptionČesky: Sob pol�n� (Rangifer tarandus) v 彭ol� Kebnekaise, Laponsko, Šv仕sko.English: Strolling reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in the Kebnekaise valley, Lappland, Sweden.Fran溝isﾊ: Un renne, aussi appel� caribou (Rangifer tarandus) dans la vall仔 du Kebnekaise, dans les Alpes scandinaves (Su重e)Portugu尽: Uma rena, (Rangifer tarandus), no vale Kebnekaise, na Lap溶ia, Su残iaSourceself-made (http://www.aperturefirst.org/index.php?showimage=151)Date20070818Author: Alexandre Buisse (Nattfodd)

Naughty or Nice … Establishment of modern mail delivery allows children to write letters directly to Santa, describing gifts they desire Still, the ultimate decision--naughty or nice--is Santa’s This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain. 00:33, 14 November 2005Husky216×1926 KBPicture of Santa Claus from http://www.clear.af.mil/santa.jpg License: ''Information presented on the Clear Air Force Station Homepage is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is req

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