As the Festive Season begins, countries around the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas in their own unique ways. As in previous years, it is time for Europa Trust Company’s Fun Christmas Facts, a light-hearted look at surprising true stories behind the Festive Season.
World’s Largest Christmas Tree:
The world’s largest “Christmas tree” isn’t made of branches or leaves, but of lights spread across the slopes of Mount Ingino in Italy. The display is 750-meters tall and covers roughly 130,000 square meters. First certified by Guinness World Records in 1981, the illuminated tree continues to shine each December, visible from miles away.
World’s Longest Christmas Celebration:
No country celebrates Christmas quite as long as in the Philippines. The Festive Season famously lasts there for four months. Festivities officially begin in September, the start of the so-called “Ber months” (September, October, November, December). The four-month event is marked by festive music, decorations, parties and eventually concludes on January 6 with the celebration of the Three Kings.
Christmas was Once Illegal in Parts of America:
In 1659, Massachusetts passed a law banning all Christmas celebrations. The colony’s leaders believed the season was unbiblical and viewed its traditions as “superstitious,” “pagan,” or overly associated with drunken disorder rather than worship. Christmas would not become legal until 1870, over 200 years later.
The First Song from Space:
In December 1965, the crew of NASA’s Gemini 6A mission played a joke on their Mission Control team back on Earth. After reporting a sighting of an UFO piloted by “a man in a red suit,” with a “long white beard”, they produced a smuggled harmonica and sleigh bells and played “Jingle Bells” for Mission Control. This Christmas act became the first music ever performed and broadcast from space.
Santa’s Hypersonic Speed Record:
Physicists have calculated that for Santa Claus to deliver presents to every child on Earth in a single night, his sleigh would need to travel more than 3,000 times the speed of sound (Mach 3,000). However, traveling through the atmosphere at such hypersonic speeds would generate incredible friction and heat, causing the sleigh, Santa, and the reindeer to convert into plasma and burn up. Thankfully, Santa is able to avoid the laws of physics all together by using a bit of Christmas magic.
Bonus Fun Fact: World’s Largest Floating Christmas Tree:
The world’s largest floating Christmas tree was an 85-meter tree floating on a lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was certified by Guinness World Records in 2007.
Please note that our offices will be closed from 13h00 on 24 December 2025 and will re-open at 09h00 on 5 January 2026.
We wish our clients, suppliers, friends and family a wonderful festive season!
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Europa Trust Company Limited is part of the Europa Group. We have been based in Gibraltar for 40 years and have built a reputation as a stable and reputable business.
We provide a comprehensive range of company and trust formation and management services including company and trust administration, foundations, partnerships, corporate directors, shareholders and secretaries, accounting, marine registration and other associated services.
Our clients are an eclectic mix of international executives, authors, sportsmen, corporations, wealthy individuals, families and many more. Their individual interests and needs are at the centre of our focus. Each client benefits from the experience and multi-jurisdiction knowledge of a dedicated Europa Group professional.
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