1510 A decorated Christmas tree recorded at Riga, Latvia.
 1610 Tinsel invented in Germany.
 1660 Record of a tree lit with candles in Germany.
 1773 Santa Claus started appearing in the American press as "St. A  Claus"
 1800 Tree ornaments being manufactured in Europe.
 1819 Popular sketch by Krimmel released depicting an American  family with a Christmas tree on the table.
 1822 German merchants living in England have decorated trees in  their homes.
 1823 Dr. Clement Moore writes "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" for  his family.
 1833 Red poinsettias sold in Philadelphia
 1841 Christmas crackers are manufactured in England.
 1843 Charles Dickens writes A Christmas Carol.
 1846 The London News publishes a picture of the Royal Family  gathered around a tabletop Christmas tree.
 1848 Dr. Clement Moore's poem is published as "Twas the Night  Before Christmas".
 1860-1880 Illustrator Thomas Nast, introduced a rotund Santa for  Christmas issues of Harper's magazine. He added details like  Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's list of the good  and bad children of the world.
 1880 German glass ornaments sold in Woolworth's.
 1882 First electric Christmas tree lights sold in New York.
 1892 The wire hook for hanging tree ornaments is patented in the  United States.
 1896 The T. Eaton Company produces its first Christmas catalogue.
 1905 Santa Claus arrives by wagon at the T. Eaton Company store  in Toronto.
 1917 J.C. Hall (of Hallmark) imported fancy decorated envelope  linings from France to sell as "gift dressing".
 1923 Pink poinsettias produced
 1931 Santa Claus was shown not as an elf, but as human-size in a  series of illustrations for Coca-Cola advertisements 1931. In  modern versions of the Santa Claus legend, only his toy-shop  workers were elves.
 1932 The song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" was written.
 1939 Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer created by Robert May for  his daughter.
 1947 The song "Here Comes Santa Claus" was written.
 1947 The film "Miracle on 34th Street" was released.
 1948 Johnny Marks set "Rudolph" to music. The only popular  singer that would agree to record it was Gene Autry.
 1955 The movie "A Christmas Carol" starring Alistair Sim released.