STANDARDS

CCSS: 6.EE.A.2.C, 7.EE.B.3, MP1, MP6

TEKS: 6.3D, 6.7D, 7.3A, 7.3B

By the Numbers: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

December 16, 2019

By Dani Leviss

Happy birthday, Rudolph! The reindeer with a light-up nose just turned 80 years old. The first book featuring Rudolph, written by Robert L. May, was published in 1939. It was given to shoppers as a promotional item at Montgomery Ward department store. Ten years later, May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks adapted the story into a song. Country singer Gene Autry recorded the song, and it hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts in December 1949.

Read on to learn more about Rudolph and actual reindeer. Then plug in the numbers to solve the equation below and reveal a final fact.

2,400,000

Smithsonian Institution/National Museum of American History

copies in the first printing of Rudolph’s story

50

Mark Hamblin/age fotostock/Getty Images

Average length in centimeters of a female reindeer’s antlers. It is the only species of deer in which the females grow antlers too!

201

V. Belov/Shutterstock.com

Length in meters of the sprint in the annual reindeer racing championship in Tromsø, Norway. The next race will be in February 2020.

5

NBC/Photofest

Number of TV specials and movies starring Rudolph since the first aired in 1964

1958

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Year that rock ‘n’ roll legend Chuck Berry recorded sequel song “Run Rudolph Run”

Algebra

Order of Operations

Records/Alamy Stock Photo (record)

Text-to-Speech