10 Easter Facts

1. Blame the Germans for the Easter bunny. Originally an 'Easter hare', a buck-toothed bringer of chocolate to the kids that have behaved themselves was first mentioned in German literature in 1682. The tradition stuck, and has led to the Easter bunnies you see on the shelves today as well as the expectation for a delivery of Easter eggs on the day.

2. Hot cross buns are also a traditional snack for this time of year.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/7073/hot-cross-buns-i/

Scoffed on Good Friday, they mark the end of Lent.

3. The Easter season begins on Ash Wednesday - the first day of Lent.

Lent lasts 40 days - if you leave out the six Sundays in between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday - and is a time when Christians fast, or give up a particular food or vice. The fasting period is to remember when Jesus went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days.

4. Easter is a Christian feast day - which are significant days in the life of Jesus Christ or saints. But unlike most days in the Christian calendar, Easter does not have a fixed date.

Easter feast days are moveable days, in that they don't fall on a fixed date in the normal Gregorian or Julian calendars, which follow the cycle of the sun.

Easter instead is determined by the lunar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon.
A council of Christian bishops was convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325, the First Council of Nicea, which was Christianity's first effort to get a consensus on what the church taught.

It was decided at this council that Easter Day should fall on the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, and that it should always fall on a Sunday to represent the day of Christ's Resurrection.

5. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion.

Christians believe Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose again three days later. The three days are known as the Easter Triduum.

6. The eggs are a symbol of new life, used as a symbol of Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday. They can also be seen to represent Spring and celebrate rebirth and reinvigoration after the harshness of winter. This is why we see lots of chicks, lambs and other cute animals - it reminds us of the continuation of life.

7. Egg dyes were once made out of natural items such as onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and juices.

8. There’s much debate about the practice of dyeing chicks. Many hatcheries no longer participate, but others say that it isn’t dangerous to the chick’s health because the dye only lasts until the chicks shed their fluff and grow their feathers.

9. “The White House Easter Egg Roll” event has been celebrated by the President of the United States and their families since 1878.

10. The tallest chocolate Easter egg ever was made in Italy in 2011. At 10.39 metres in height and 7,200 kg in weight, it was taller than a giraffe and heavier than an elephant!