Easter Trivia | 90 facts about the Christian holiday

Easter is celebrated by Christians but the Orthodox falls later than the Catholic one as it is calculated using the same formula, but using the Julian Calendar.

So, let’s find out more about it!

1. The term ‘Easter’ came from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility.
2. Some countries call it ‘Pascha.
3. It means ‘Passover’ in Hebrew.
4. Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus three days after his Crucifixion.
5. Passion Week, or more commonly known as Holy Week, happens before Easter.
6. Easter is a movable holiday due to the Passover date’s dependency on the phases of the moon.
7. The official flower of Easter is the white lily.
8. They symbolize grace and purity.
9. People decorate their homes and churches with these flowers during Easter.
10. The tradition of bunnies on Easter originated from Protestant communities in Europe.
11. It began in the 17th century.
12. It only became common in the 19th century.
13. They believe that the Easter bunny lays, decorates, and hides the Easter eggs.
14. Easter in the U.S. is celebrated by leaving children Easter baskets on the morning of the holiday.
15. Easter in medieval times involves throwing an egg in churches.
16. The custom would start with the priest throwing a hard-boiled egg to a choir boy.
17. He who catches it would then toss it to another, and so on. Upon the clock striking 12, whoever holds the egg wins and keeps the egg.
18. The Orthodox has it to paint the eggs red.
19. Red symbolizes its sacred blood.
20. In some European nations, people burn Easter fires.
21. It is believed to symbolize fertility.
22. In Greece, people burn “Judas” in some churches’ backyard.
23. They “burn” the traitor.
24. Pretzels also used to join in the Easter celebrations.
25. Its shape was believed to remind of a prayer.
26. Children would race on Easter morning to see who got a basket from the Bunny.
27. The tradition of egg painting is called the ‘Pysanka’.
28. It traces its origin from Ukraine and involves the use of dyes and wax in giving the egg color.
29. The holiday has pagan origins.
30. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, commemorates the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
31. In the United States, only 12 states recognize Good Friday as an official holiday.
32. Orthodox tradition bans the celebration of Easter on or before the Passover.
33. In 1873, Fry’s of Bristol produced the first chocolate egg in the UK.
34. Chocolate makes up 70% of all the candy purchased every Easter.
35. Easter represents celebration, joy, and new life.
36. In the 80s, Germany produced the first edible Easter bunnies made of sugar and pastry.
37. The concept of the Easter bunny giving eggs and candies traces its origin in Germany.
38. The first written document of the said tradition appeared in the 16th century.
39. Dutch immigrants brought the bunny ideas to the United States when they settled in Pennsylvania.
40. This happened around the 1700s.
41. Several cultures perceive rabbits as a symbol of new life.
42. The German legend of the Easter Bunny tells the story of a woman who plants hidden decorated eggs throughout the town on occasions of famine.
43. Upon finding eggs, children would then see a big bunny hopping off.
44. Eastern and Western Christians celebrate Easter on different dates.
45. Normally, the difference is no more than 2-3 weeks.
46. Eastern Christianity bases its Easter dates on the Julian Calendar.
47. People in the U.S. spend an average total of $14.7 billion on Easter celebrations.
48. During Easter, mass attendance in churches doubles.
49. Over 28,000 or 59% of Americans eat the ears of the chocolate Easter bunny first.
50. Easter ranks second to Halloween where Americans spend the most money on candy.
51. The first versions of Easter baskets resembled bird’s nests.
52. Egg farmers in America donate over 11 million eggs to food banks nationwide.
53. Candy must be made all-year-round to meet the annual Easter candy demand
54. The history of Easter began in the 2nd century.
55. Easter is the oldest among Christian holidays.
56. Early Christians used to observe Christ’s Resurrection every single Sunday.
57. When they started celebrating the then-pagan holiday Easter, they settled on dedicating the whole day to Him annually.
58. Easter comes after forty days of Lent in the Christian calendar.
59. The count does not include Sundays. Traditions include fasting and deeds of penance.
60. The Holy Week before Easter Sunday has dedicated names and recognitions.
61. In the Good Friday in recognition of His Crucifixion.
62. The Holy Saturday is the day of transition for the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
63. Western Christianity observes Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
64. It involves both Catholics and Protestants.
65. Due to the complex calculations, Easter Sunday could be anytime from March 22 to April 25
66. In Polish folklore, the Virgin Mary offered eggs to the guard soldiers of Christ on the cross.
67. As she begged for their mercy, her tears dropped and left stains on the eggs.
68. Early egg dyes were made using natural materials.
69. Among the holiday eggs is one called ‘The Real Easter Egg’.
70. President Rutherford Hayes initiated the annual egg roll tradition at the White House.
71. President Donald Trump’s press secretary was an ex-Easter Bunny.
72. People in Scotland and North-East England would roll painted eggs down steep hills.
73. South Americans do it as well.
74. The only difference is that they use spoons.
75. Dyeing chicks for the Easter season reached the point of debate among celebrants.
76. The Czar of Russia funds Faberge annually for an enameled Easter egg.
77. The tradition of buying new clothes for Easter started in New York in the mid-1800s.
78. They believed it would bring them good luck.
79. Some people believe that Good Friday came from ‘God’s Friday’.
80. This theory has no etymological basis.
81. There is an island named Ester Island.
82. The name “Easter Island” was given by the island’s first recorded European visitor. He was Dutch, and his name was Jacob Roggeveen.
83. He encountered it on Easter Sunday (5 April) in 1722, while searching for “Davis Land”. Roggeveen named it Paasch-Eyland (18th-century Dutch for “Easter Island”). Before him it is believed that Easter Island’s Polynesian inhabitants arrived on Easter Island sometime near 1200 AD.
84. The current Polynesian name of the island, Rapa Nui (“Big Rapa”), was coined after the slave raids of the early 1860s, and refers to the island’s topographic resemblance to the island of Rapa in the Bass Islands of the Austral Islands group.
85. Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world.
86. Easter Island is an island and special territory of Chile.
87. Easter Island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania.
88. Easter Island is most famous for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, called moai,
89. Moai were created by the early Rapa Nui people.
90. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.