While Santa Claus, trees and Christmas decorations are traditions that have spread across the world over hundreds of years, other festive practices are more recent. The bon bon, for instance, (or Christmas Cracker as it's also known) made its way to us thanks to an English gentleman by the name of Thomas J Smith, who according to the tale, invented the cracker after visiting Paris and being inspired by their paper-wrapped sweets. The crack when you pull one, it's said, was designed to mimic the sound of a crackling log in a roaring fire.