Christmas is America’s No. Eighty-five percent of us like one particular holiday. This is how Christmas began, and why we have the various traditions that we hold today.
And so it comes without surprise that crowds of people dressed up, knocking on doors in order to ask for sweets and promising to cause trouble of some kind if the owners would not hand out a few treats…well, nothing reminds us more about Halloween. Surprisingly, at Christmas of the Medieval age, it was extremely common to do that. Yeah, our modern-day celebration of this holiday with the Christmas trees, presents, etc., bears no similarity whatsoever with its original point, which was characterized by Christmas symbols like stars and candy cane.
Therefore, why do we have a holiday with us and where does the word Christmas come from? If you are already planning your Christmas decoration ideas and mistletoe kiss before reading this article, then we just have to say one thing: “Happy Thanksgiving!” So with that being said and keeping it short, here is everything you should know about America’s favorite holiday –
What is Christmas?
Christmas is a religious holiday celebrated by Christians annually in remembrance of their savior, Jesus Christ – The spiritual leader and founding father of Christianity. Many people celebrate Christmas to honor Jesus’s birth. It’s also considered a cultural holiday worldwide.
When is Christmas?
However, each year in America Christmas takes place on the 25th day of December, but different days of the week are alternated. Here are the days of the week Christmas falls on for the next five years:
Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022
Monday, Dec. 25, 2023
Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024
Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025
Friday, Dec. 25, 2026
Why is Christmas celebrated on 25 Dec?
What makes Christmas be celebrated every December 25th? A lot of people assume this is because Jesus was born on that day, which by the way is not true. On this, the Bible is not specific about the time of his birth but in the very few clues we have they point out that it must have occurred during the spring season.
It took three-and-a-half centuries of Christianity before it was agreed upon to set this date as Christmas Day. In the year 350AD, Pope Julius I picked this date and then Roman Emperor Justinian made it a civic holiday in 529AD. However, this timeline is still subject to controversial issues and further research on early Christian history.
How did Christmas become the holiday we know today?
The early Christmas celebrations combined a mix of pagan and Christian traditions, resulting in activities that might seem more appropriate for Halloween these days: bonfires, trading treats for tricks, and Mardi Gras–like bacchanals in the streets. It became so known for debauchery that the Pilgrims strongly discouraged celebrating it and even outlawed it in some cities when they first came to America.
Christmas wasn’t forgotten, but it didn’t start to regain popularity until the mid-1800s. Two very popular Christmas books at the time—Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and Washington Irving’s The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.—portrayed Christmas in a warm, family-friendly way. Their recountings were mostly fictitious, but they kindled the imagination of Victorians. On June 26, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas to be a U.S. national holiday.
In the 150 years since then, Americans have created their own unique celebration of Christmas by taking pieces from other cultural traditions and inventing some new ones. Many families have their own personal Christmas traditions, which add another layer of meaning and joy. There is still a religious component, and many people attend some type of church service either the night before or the day of, but most Christmas celebrations in America today focus on more secular activities. While 90% of Americans say they celebrate Christmas, fewer than half say they celebrate for religious reasons, according to a survey done by the Pew Research Center.
Christmas fun facts
While you are still not laughing around the dinner table with these Christmas jokes, inform your loved ones with these Christmas facts. (Trust us: You would certainly find these conversation starters useful!)M
85% of Americans indicated that they were planning to honor their traditions during this Christmas.
Who wants the dropping of pine needles? A recent survey conducted by Statista shows that out of 71% of respondents who claimed to be setting their Christmas trees, only 24% indicated they were using natural trees. Other 47% of them stated they were going for artificial trees.
Most of us love to start our Christmas shopping early in the year. In accordance with research conducted by the National Retail Federation, half (31%) of consumers plan their festive period activities from October and 30% from November. Fret not if you are a last-minute shopper because these stores operate on Christmas day.
Count ’em up: As indicated in “The 12 Days of Christmas” song, your real love will give you 364 gifts in a year–except a Christmas Day gift.
We love our minty treats: More than two billion candy canes are sold in the four weeks prior to Christmas, with the longest candy cane ever made measuring 51 feet in length.
Christmas carols know no bounds: After all that had happened, the song “Jingle Bells” became the first tune to get transmitted to outer space through NASA spaceflight Gemini 6a in December of 1965.
Shop in your jammies: Over 60 percent of American shoppers opt for online shopping for their festivities gifts.