Easter by the numbers

Story highlights

About half the country plans to attend an Easter Sunday service

It takes 6 minutes to make a Peeps Marshmallow Chick

The popular way to eat a chocolate bunny is ears first

CNN  — 

Many Christians will mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter by donning their Sunday best, attending church and going on egg hunts. But what’s the history of the holiday? And how much will we actually spend on those yummy chocolate rabbits? Below are some interesting facts about Easter:

About three in four – Americans who identify themselves as Christian, as reported by Gallup in December 2014.

50.8 – Percent of Americans who plan to attend church on Easter Sunday this year.

April 3, 33 A.D. – Possible date of Jesus’ crucifixion, according to the Bible and earthquake research reported in the International Geology Review in 2012.

165 lbs – Weight of Jesus’s cross, as determined by French architect Charles Rohault de Fleury in 1870.

$16.4 billion – Estimated number of dollars to be spent in the U.S. on Easter in 2015, according to the National Retail Federation.

$140.62 – Estimated amount that will be spent this year by each American celebrating Easter.

13th century – About the time people are first thought to have decorated eggs for Easter.

1700s – Era in which German immigrants bring stories about “Osterhase,” an early Easter Bunny, to the United States.

1773 – Year the first Easter “sunrise service” was held in the U.S. It was organized by members of the Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

180 million – Number of eggs Americans are “eggs-pected” to purchase for dyeing and decorating this year.

35,000 – Estimated number of attendees expected at the 137th White House Easter Egg Roll, scheduled to be held the day after Easter, on April 6.

6 – Number of minutes it takes the Just Born Candy Co. to make a Peeps Marshmallow Chick.

$18,480 million – Net sales of Mars Inc in 2014 – the largest candy company in the world, and home of candy brands like M&M’s and Snickers.

32 – Percent of chocolate lovers in the U.S. who buy extra chocolate for themselves around Easter, according to Mintel.

57 – Percent of Huffington Post readers who voted in 2013 for licorice as the worst flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans.

89 – Percent of chocolate bunny eaters who go for the ears first, according to a 2014 survey by the National Confectioners Association.

Sources: Gallup Politics, PR Newswire, Dead Sea Quake.info, National Retail Federation, The History Channel, ProFlowers, Paas, The White House, JustBorn, Candy Industry and the National Confectioners Association