The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has stood as holiday symbol for over seven decades. Every year, its extravagant decorations and immense size dazzle New Yorkers and visitors alike. This year’s tree, a Norway Spruce from State College, Pennsylvania, is no different: it stands at 75-feet-tall and weighs between 12 tons and 13 tons. After being sawed down on Thursday, it arrived by flatbed truck to the plaza, where it will be decorated and installed in its usual spot (West 48th and 51st Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues).

The official lighting of the tree won’t take place until Wednesday, November 29. So in the meantime, we’ve complied a list of fun, quirky facts, shedding light on the most famous Christmas tree in the world.

10. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lives On After the Holidays

It’s always sad to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree being taken down, but its purpose goes beyond the holidays. The tree was first recycled in 1971, providing roughly 30 bags of mulch that was spread across nature trails around the city. Over the years, it has also provided resources for several projects: in 2005, for example, Habitat for Humanity used the wood to make door frames for houses for the needy, and two years later, the tree was used to build houses in New Orleans for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

This year’s tree will also be donated (as it has been for 11 consecutive years) to Habitat for Humanity. First, the wood needs to be milled and treated, before it is made into lumber for home building. The tree itself also inspired the book, The Carpenter’s Gift, written by David Rubel and illustrated by Jim LaMarche in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity. Fittingly so, about 15% of the 2012 tree was used to make the paper needed for the book’s production.

9. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Is the Greenest Tree Around

Setting up before the Tree Lighting Ceremony

As you can imagine, decorating the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is quite a costly endeavor — both financially and environmentally. That’s why incandescent bulbs were replaced with LED lights in 2007. They are now powered by solar panels, which are located on the rooftops of buildings in Rockefeller Center (see here). This upgrade ultimately helps to save 1200 kwH per day.

Mental Floss breaks that statistic down with the following comparison: “It’s estimated that a family in a 2000-square-foot home would use 1200 kwH to power their household for an entire month.”

8. Yes, People Have Attempted to Climb the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Most do it for fun, but in 1979, one 27-year-old man scaled it with purpose. According to Mental Floss, he even made it all the way to the top, shouting, “Free the 50!”— a reference to the Americans who were being held hostage at the U.S. embassy in Iran. Despite his conviction, however, the police were able to talk him down from the branches by explaining that climbing the tree would not, in fact, help release the prisoners.

While a seemingly innocent act, scaling the tree could result in criminal charges. In 2015, three out of a group of five climbers were charged with attempted criminal trespass while the other two were charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration.

7. How Many Miles of Lights Decorate the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree?

Just to put the size of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree into perspective, it takes more than 50,000 lights to fully decorate it. The wire that the lights are strung on, plugged in end to end, would stretch five miles, about the distance from 110th Street to 14th Street along Broadway, or from 30 Rock to Battery Park. As another point of reference: the perimeter of Central Park is 6 miles.

6. The Stump of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Is Repurposed

We briefly described the fate of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree after the holiday season. As mentioned previously, the tree has been donated to Habitat for Humanity for 11 consecutive years — but prior to 2007, most trees were ground into mulch for the Boy Scouts of America to sell. The funds would then be used to fund the organization’s projects.

The largest portion of the trunk, however, was previously donated to the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team headquarters in New Jersey, where it was used as an obstacle jump for training horses.

5. The Star on Top of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Weighs 550 Pounds

An ordinary tree topper can’t decorate the highest point of the world’s most famous Christmas tree. It’s quite fitting then that a Swarovski star was chosen for the job: after all, it’s made of 25,000 Swarovski crystals, which dazzle brilliantly in pictures and on television screens.

Making its debut in 2004, the Swarovski star spans nine-and-a-half feet in diameter, weighs a whopping 550 pounds and features one million facets. In addition to its crystals, it’s made of shatterproof glass (apparently, the same kind that’s used in New York City’s skyscrapers).

If you’re wondering, it has a price tag of $35,000. (The tree itself roughly costs $25,000.)

4. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Can Be Nominated By Its Owner

While the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is mostly scouted, individuals can actually submit their own trees for consideration through the Rockefeller website. In fact, that’s how the 2015 tree was discovered. (It was submitted by a family from Gardiner, New York, who feared that their oversized tree would fall over onto the house.)

Today, Erik Pauzé, the Head Gardener at Rockefeller Center, is in charge of scouting potential trees by visiting locations (ranging from nurseries to backyards) throughout the tri-state area. David Murbach, the former Manager of the Gardens Division of Rockefeller Center, served this role previously for 26 years before his death in 2009.

What factors are considered when selecting the perfect tree? According to Pauzé and his team, the winner is chosen based on its heartiness and overall “Christmas tree shape,” as well as its ability to carry heavy ornaments. As a thank you, families who donate their trees are also given VIP access to the lighting ceremony.

3. How the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Is Transported

Over the years, a variety of transportation methods have been used to bring the chosen Christmas tree to its usual outpost at Rockefeller Center. The tree itself is typically decorated with giant bows and a banner as it makes its pilgrimage — usually via truck or a barge. In 1998, however, a 73-foot-tall tree was actually flown in from Richfield, Ohio on the Anatov 124, the world’s largest transport plane.

2. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Once Came From Canada

Since the establishment of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree tradition, there has only been one non-U.S. tree. Most come from New England or in the tri-state area, but in 1966, Canada donated a 64-foot-tall white spruce from Petawawa Forest, which is located roughly 120 miles north of Ottawa, Ontario.

The tree, donated in honor of the Centennial of Canada’s Confederation (1967), had to travel 550 miles to reach Rockefeller Center.

1. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Has No Bad Angles

With as much publicity as Rockefeller Center gets around the holidays, it’s important for its crowning feature to be picture perfect. Its Christmas tree, as a result, is chosen based on the fact that it can be viewed from every side. This essentially means that it has no bad angles. This includes the angle from above: in fact, a helicopter is utilized to scan the New England landscape for the ideal tree during the scouting process.

Here is a photograph of the first Rockefeller Christmas tree in 1931, and 11 other vintage photos of NYC Christmas tree lightings. Next, check out the Top 10 Secrets of Rockefeller Center.