Happy Holidays!

ASPPA Connect will not appear on Friday, Dec. 24, as the ASPPA office will be closed. We’ll be back on Monday, Dec. 27. We wish you happy holidays—and here are some interesting holiday-related facts. 

• The first song played in space was “Jingle Bells,” which was played on spaceflight Gemini 6A in December 1965.
• The song “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, is not only the biggest-selling Christmas song or all time, it also is the biggest song of all time—it has sold an estimated 50 million copies. 
• Leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve originally was a Dutch tradition.
• The earliest gingerbread cookie recipes are from 2,400 B.C. Queen Elizabeth I popularized the modern-day gingerbread cookie more than 400 years ago. 
• The first Christmas movie ever made was “Santa Claus” in 1898.
• Brenda Lee was 13 years old when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
• “Home Alone” is the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time.
• The U.S. Postal Service on average delivers 28 million packages per day during the period Dec.16-21.