First reports of the shower emerged in the mid-1800s, but at the time there were only 10-20 meteors per hour. These days, it's more like 120 meteors at the peak.
The Geminids appear to come from the constellation Gemini, but in reality it is fragments of 3200 Phaethon that cause the sky fireworks. The asteroid has a debris trail in orbit around the sun. Once a year, Earth runs into this dusty path, which intersects our planet's path through space.
Coincidentally, in 2012 NASA noted that there could be another meteor shower around the same time in December from Comet Wirtanen, which was first spotted in 1948 and comes by the sun about every 5.4 years. At its peak it is expected to send as many as 30 meteors an hour skimming through Earth's atmosphere. via space.com
Videos below:
1.Spectacular Geminid Fireball.
2.Geminid Meteor Shower Time-Lapse from last year.