Portal:Literature/Did you know/Week 51

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... that a nativity play is a play about the birth of Jesus, usually one performed by children at Christmas time?

... that Scrooge McDuck is named after Ebenezer Scrooge?

... that the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" from its first line, first published in 1823, is largely responsible for the contemporary American conception of Santa Claus, including his appearance, the night he visits, his method of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and that he brings toys to children?

... that "Silent Night, Holy Night" is a Christmas carol by Franz Xaver Gruber and Josef Mohr first performed in German at Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria during Midnight Mass on Christmas Day, 1818?

... that Alan Ayckbourn's 1980 play Season's Greetings is about a disastrous family reunion over the Christmas holidays characterized by hard drinking, adultery, and general hostility towards each and everyone, and that Floridian author Roger C. Simmons has written a novel, ReUnion, about a very similar subject-matter?

... that Harry's Christmas is a 90 minute monologue by Steven Berkoff about loneliness, depression, and suicide?

... that there have been countless Christmas specials on American and British television?