The largest snowflake ever observed supposedly appeared on 28 January, 125 years ago, in Fort Keogh, Montana. It was reportedly 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick. However, this record seems to be based on the word of a ranch owner named Matt Coleman, who described the snowflake as “larger than milk pans” to the Monthly Weather Review journal.
This record seems a bit dubious, however, as the National Snow & Ice Data Center notes in its FAQ section regarding how big snowflakes can get:
“Snowflakes are agglomerates of many snow crystals. Most snowflakes are less than one-half inch across. Under certain conditions, usually requiring near-freezing temperatures, light winds, and unstable, convective atmospheric conditions, much larger and irregular flakes close to two inches across in the longest dimension can form. No routine measure of snowflake dimensions are taken, so the exact answer is not known.”
Twelfth Night is traditionally the time to take down your Christmas tree and any other festive decorations. To leave evergreens up in the house after this point is to bring bad luck on the household!
Here are some other Twelfth Night traditions that you might - or might not - be familiar with.
1) Twelfth Night is also known as Epiphany, the date on which the Christian Church celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ child.
2) The feast of the Epiphany originated in the East during the third century, in honour of Christ’s baptism.
3) During a special service held at St James’s Palace, London, on 6 January, members of the Royal Household present the Chapel Royal with the three gifts brought to the Christ child by the Magi.
4) At one time, the highlight of the Twelfth Night celebrations was the cutting of the twelfth-cake, which was supposed to have a dried pea or bean hidden somewhere inside it. Whoever found the bean was proclaimed king or queen for the rest of the evening’s fun and frivolity.
5) Another tradition involving a cake, upheld by the cast of the play currently being performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, is the eating of the Baddeley Cake. This is as a result of a stipulation made in the last will and testament of one Robert Baddeley, an actor from the eighteenth century, after whom the cake is named.
6) In the West of England Twelfth Night is the time when wassailing ceremonies are carried out.
7) At one time in England, Twelfth Night was known as being a good occasion on which to carry out various good luck rituals, as well as for its religious processions which almost went hand-in-hand with the spirited, and good humoured, revels.
8) One such ritual had farmers lighting bonfires to drive evil spirits away from their farms and fields, the tipsy agriculturalists cheering as they circled the fires to hasten the hobgoblins on their way.
9) There was also the time-honoured guessing game, whereby the (now probably inebriated) farmer had to guess what was being roasted in the kitchen before being permitted to re-enter his own home. This was not as easy as it might sound because his good wife might have something as ridiculously inedible as a shoe turning on the spit.
11) On 6 January you would also find Morris men dancing in the streets, along with fools and hobby-horses.
12) Practical jokes were the name of the game on Twelfth Night and the playing of games – particularly games of chance – with everyone determined to make the most of the last day of the holiday season.
So if you're planning to see Christmas out with a bang...
Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too, And God bless you, and send you A happy New Year, And God send you A happy New Year.
And it's goodbye from me until next Christmas. Remember, if you have any questions about the festive season whatsoever, you can contact me via this blog or here.
Little Mix’s single Cannonball (a cover of the Damien Rice song) has sunk like its namesake.
According to a poll by the British Heart Foundation, asking people to reveal their least wanted Christmas present, twenty-five per cent of those surveyed said the X Factor 2011 winners’ single was the gift they’d least like to receive.
Despite winning this year’s X Factor, Little Mix sold only 210,000 copies of their song during its first week of release. While final figures will be higher, the group look set to record the second lowest sales of a winner's single since The X Factor's inaugural year, 2004, when Steve Brookstein shifted just 128,000 copies of Against All Odds.
Little Mix also have the dubious honour of being only the third X Factor winners not to claim the Christmas number one spot. They were outsold by five-to-one by The Military Wives Choir. Go, Gareth!
To our pagan ancestors living in the frozen north of Europe and Scandinavia, the dark days of winter were a frightening time. The darkness was the domain of demons and malicious spirits. On top of that, Odin, chief among the Norse gods, flew through the sky on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir, looking down at the world with his furious one-eyed gaze, deciding who should prosper and who perish in the year ahead.
The sensible choice was to stay inside at this time of year, safe from the darkness and the horrors it held. To help keep the darkness at bay, on or around the 21 December, the time of the winter solstice, fathers and sons would go out into the forests and bring back to hearth and home the largest log they could find. This massive piece of timber was then put on the fire and left to burn for the entirety of the season of Yule – twelve days altogether.
Yule was the name given to the Viking festive feast, a time when light and new birth were celebrated in the face of darkness and death as witnessed in the natural world. It was at this time that evergreens were brought into the house; a sign that life persisted, even during these darkest days of the year. However, despite the deeply-felt need to keep the darkness outside, in Scandinavia people believed that the burning Yule log also warmed the frozen shades of the family’s dearly-departed, who returned to the ancestral home every Christmas Eve. Some families even went to the trouble of laying a place for them at the dinner table.
Did you know...? The Yule log was once associated with the Norse god Thor, who had a mysterious connection to oak trees.
Here's what people are saying about 'What is Myrrh Anyway?' by Jonathan Green
‘As welcome as a warm glass of mulled wine on a wintry night, Green’s guide to Christmas enhances the pleasures of the festive season, offering a witty cornucopia of Christmas facts and folklore.’ The Good Book Guide
‘An explanation of all things cultural, historical, scientific and musical relating to Christmas.’ Angel Magazine
‘Freaky but fascinating festive trivia’ Daily Star
I am a freelance writer and editor, well known for my contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks. I have also written for such diverse properties as Sonic the Hedgehog, Doctor Who, Star Wars and Games Workshop's worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.
I am the creator of the alternative steampunk universe of Pax Britannia, and have written eight novels featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver.
As well as my fiction work, I have also written a number of non-fiction books including 'Match Wits with the Kids', 'What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas' and 'YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks'.
This record seems a bit dubious, however, as the National Snow & Ice Data Center notes in its FAQ section regarding how big snowflakes can get:
