Did You Know ...

The name Easter owes its origin from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg.

Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25.

The date of Passover is variable as it is dependent on the phases of the moon, and thus Easter is a movable feast.

The original date of Easter was first fixed in 325AD.

In the Christian calendar, Easter marks the rebirth of Christ and the end of the 40 days of Lent.

Easter is now celebrated (in the words of the Book of Common Prayer) on the first Sunday after the full moon, which happens on, or after March 21, the Spring Equinox.

Easter is celebrated at different times by Eastern and Western Christians. That's because the dates for Easter in Eastern Christianity are based on the Julian Calendar.

Pysanka is a specific term used for the practice of Easter egg painting.

From the very early times, the egg has been considered the most important symbol of rebirth.The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.

The initial baskets of Easter were given the appearance of bird's nests.

The maiden chocolate eggs recipes were made in Europe in the nineteenth century.

In medieval times, a festival of egg throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys. It was then tossed from one choirboy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg.

Colouring eggs was brought to a high art when medieval English kings dispersed hundreds of decorated, gold-leafed eggs throughout the royal household at Easter.

Another royal, Russian Czar Alexander, was later responsible in 1883 for commissioning the famous Faberge eggs - from goldsmith Peter Carl Faberge - as an Easter gift for his wife, the Empress Marie.

One of most expensive eggs known was sold for almost $15 million in 2007. According to the Birmingham Mail, every hour, a cockerel made of jewels pops up from the top of the egg, flaps its wings four times, nods it's head three times and makes a crowing noise.

It is estimated that each US household spends $131 on Easter each year, $14.7 billion in total.

In the United States alone, 90 million chocolate bunnies and 91.4 billion eggs are produced each year.

It is said that when people eat a chocolate Easter bunny, 76% bite of the ears first, 5% go straight for the feet while only 4% start eating from the tail.

The White House hosts an Easter Egg Roll on the front lawn each year. This tradition was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

Almost one in five children have said they've made themselves ill by eating too much chocolate over the Easter holidays.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the largest Easter egg ever made was unveiled in Cortenuova, Italy in 2011 weighing in at 8,968 lbs. of dark chocolate and marshmallow.

The largest decorated Easter egg was made in Alcochete, Portugal in 2008 measuring more than 48 ft. long and a little over 27 feet in diameter.

The largest ever Easter egg hunt was held in Florida where 9,753 children searched for over 501,000 eggs according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

True or false? Eggs contain nearly every nutrient known to be essential to humans. (True.)

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? (That's a good question!)