Christmas Tree Facts

1. The first Christmas tree was put up in Riga, Latvia in 1510.
2. The top Christmas tree producing state is Oregon.
3. The use of evergreen trees to celebrate the winter season occurred before the
   birth of Christ.
4. The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531.
5. Evergreens weren't always used to celebrate Christmas, other types of trees used were cherry and hawthorns as Christmas trees in the past.
6. Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric
   lights for Christmas trees in 1882. Christmas tree lights were first
   mass-produced in 1890.
7. In 1856 Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, was the first
   President to place a Christmas tree in the White House.
8. Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental
   reasons.
9. 98% of all Christmas trees are grown on farms, while only 2% are cut from
   the wild.
10. In 2012, 46 million Christmas tree seedlings were planted by U.S. growers.
11. Artificial Christmas trees were developed in Germany during the 19th century and
    later became popular in the United States. These "trees" were made using goose
    feathers that were dyed green and attached to wire branches. The wire branches
    were then wrapped around a central dowel rod that acted as the trunk.
12. 10.9 million artificial trees were purchased in the United States in 2012.
13. The best selling trees are Scotch pine, Douglas fir, Noble fir,  Fraser fir,
    Virginia pine, Balsam fir and white pine.
14. Other types of trees such as cherry and hawthorns were used as Christmas
    trees  in the past.
15. In the first week, a Christmas tree in your home will consume as much as a quart of  water
    per day.
16. In the US there about 1 million acres dedicated to tree farming. Each acre
    provides enough oxygen for 18 people.
17. Every state in the US grows Christmas trees.
18. Scotch pine and Virginia pine are the two most common species grown for Christmas trees in Oklahoma.
19. For every real Christmas tree harvested, two to three seedlings are planted in
    its place the following spring.
20. Most artificial trees are manufactured in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong.

http://www.merry-christmas.com/traditions/christmas-tree-facts , http://urbanext.illinois.edu/trees/facts.cfm , http://pickyourownchristmastree.org/facts.php ,
http://oklahoma4h.okstate.edu/aitc/lessons/extras/facts/cmastree.html