Here’s some fun Easter trivia you can share with family and friends as you’re enjoying your Easter Sunday…
- Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ 3 days after His death. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the Church year.
- The tradition of the Easter egg roll on the White House grounds began in 1879, arranged by President Rutherford Hayes and his wife Lucy. The tradition is still practiced today and occurs on the Monday after Easter.
- After Halloween, Easter is the biggest candy consuming holiday.
- 90 million chocolate bunnies, 91.4 million eggs and 700 million peeps are produced each year in the United States.
- 76% of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first.
- Americans consume over 16 million jellybeans on Easter. Cherry is the most popular jellybean flavor.
- The first Easter baskets were made to look like bird’s nests.
- “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” came out in 1974.
- In medieval times, a festival of ‘egg-throwing’ was held in church. The priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys, and then tossed from one choir boy to the next. When the clock struck 12, whoever held the egg was the winner and got to keep the egg.
- In the 19th century, ladies who attended Easter services at St. Patrick’s Cathedral strolled up Fifth Avenue to show off their new Easter bonnets in what later became known as the Easter Parade.
- In Christian faith, eggs represent a symbol of new beginning, new life and renewed faith.
- Lilies account for more than half of all Easter gift plants purchased for the holiday, followed by azaleas and African violets.
- Among fresh flower bouquets purchased for the holiday, mixed flower arrangements head the list at 34%, followed by daffodil/iris/tulips at 15% and roses at 9%.
- Nearly 120 million cards will be sent, exchanged, and given this Easter.
- The largest decorated Easter egg was made in Portugal in 2008, measuring more than 48 feet long and a little over 27 feet in diameter.
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest Easter egg ever made was unveiled in Italy in 2011 weighing in at 8,968 pounds of dark chocolate and marshmallow.
- The Easter Bunny, as a holiday deliverer of candy and eggs, is thought to have started in Germany during the Middle Ages.
- The date of Easter varies each year as it is based on the lunar calendar and the position of the moon. Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the full moon following March 21st.
- Popular Easter symbols include; the Cross, eggs, rabbits, Easter flowers and baskets.
- 88% of American parents are expected to carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids.