Merry
Christmas!
Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of Christ and is observed in most countries on December 25. Christmas is sometimes called Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon) or Noel (from the French). Christian churches throughout the world hold special services on Christmas Day to give thanks for the birth of Christ. In addition to religious observances, Christmas is a time of merrymaking and feasting. North American customs are a combination of those of the various European countries from which the original settlers came. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, was first used in Germany. Topped with a star or spire and decorated with colored lights and shiny ornaments, the tree plays an important part in the celebration. Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids, priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used holly and the Yule log to keep away evil spirits. Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, a feast to the god Saturn. Gift-giving came to symbolize the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Magi. The most popular Christmas legend however, is that of Santa Claus, whose name came from Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Many of the qualities that Santa Claus is known for came from Clement C. Moore's poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
Christmas is the festival celebrating the birth of Christ and is observed in most countries on December 25. Christmas is sometimes called Yule (from the Anglo-Saxon) or Noel (from the French). Christian churches throughout the world hold special services on Christmas Day to give thanks for the birth of Christ. In addition to religious observances, Christmas is a time of merrymaking and feasting. North American customs are a combination of those of the various European countries from which the original settlers came. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. The Christmas tree, usually an evergreen, was first used in Germany. Topped with a star or spire and decorated with colored lights and shiny ornaments, the tree plays an important part in the celebration. Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids, priests of ancient Britain and Gaul. The Norse used holly and the Yule log to keep away evil spirits. Gifts were exchanged during the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia, a feast to the god Saturn. Gift-giving came to symbolize the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the Magi. The most popular Christmas legend however, is that of Santa Claus, whose name came from Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Many of the qualities that Santa Claus is known for came from Clement C. Moore's poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
376 In Milan, Ambrose 
, the Bishop of
Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius 
to perform public penance for his
massacre.
, the Bishop of
Milan, forces the emperor Theodosius to perform public penance for his
massacre.
800 The pope crowns Charlemagne 
emperor
in Rome.
emperor
in Rome.
1066 William
I 
is crowned king of England.
is crowned king of England.
1621 The governor of New Plymouth prevents
newcomers from playing cards.
1651 The General Court of Boston levies a
five shilling fine on anyone caught "observing any such day as
Christmas."
1776 Patriot General George Washington
crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops during the American Revolution.
Washington hoped to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at their
winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey.
1861 Stonewall Jackson spends Christmas
with his wife; their last together.
1862 John Hunt Morgan and his raiders clash
with Union forces near Bear Wallow, Kentucky.
1862 President and Mrs. Lincoln visit
hospitals in the Washington D.C. area on this Christmas Day.
1912 Italy lands troops in Albania to
protect its interests during a revolt there.
1914 German and British troops on the
Western Front declare an unofficial truce to celebrate Christmas during World
War I.
1918 A revolt erupts in Berlin.
1925 U.S. troops in Nicaragua disarm
insurgents in support of the Diaz regime.
1927 The Mexican congress opens land to
foreign investors, reversing the 1917 ban enacted to preserve the domestic
economy.
1939 Finnish troops enter Soviet territory.
1941 Free French troops occupy the French
Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the Canadian coast.
1944 Prime Minister Winston Churchill goes
to Athens to seek an end to the Greek civil war.
1946 Chiang Kai-shek offers a new Chinese
constitution in Nanking pledging universal suffrage.
1950 Scottish nationalists steal the Stone
of Scone from the British coronation throne in Westminster Abbey. The 485 pound
stone was recovered in April 1951.
1962 The Bay of Pigs captives, upon their
return to the United States, vow to return to Cuba and topple Fidel Castro.
1965 Entertainer Chris Noel gives her first
performance for the USO at two hospitals in California; became a star on Armed
Forces Radio and Television, entertaining troops in Vietnam; in 1984 Veterans
Network honored her with a Distinguished Vietnam Veteran award.
1973 U.S. astronauts onboard the Skylab
space station take a seven-hour walk in space and photograph the comet
Kohoutek.
1976 Over 100 Muslims, returning from a
pilgrimage to Mecca, die when their boat sinks.
1979 Egypt begins major restoration of the
Sphinx.
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's
first and last executive president, resigns. The Soviet Union no longer
exsists.
2006 James Brown, the "Godfather of
Soul", dies at age 73.
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