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Holidays
Christmas
The National Christmas Tree
in Washington, D.C.
Photo by Ducksters
Christmas Day celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.
When is Christmas Day celebrated?
December 25th
Who celebrates this day?
This day is a Christian holiday celebrated by Christians around the world. Many non-Christians also celebrate this day as a time of peace, joy, family, and giving of presents.
What do people do to celebrate?
There are lots of ways that people celebrate Christmas. Most people get together with family and exchange gifts on Christmas morning. Many people attend church services either on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve.
Christmas decorations are a big part of the holiday. People decorate their homes with festive lights and winter decorations. They also usually put up a Christmas tree and decorate it with ornaments and lights.
Another part of the celebration of Christmas is Christmas songs such as Silent Night, Away in a Manger, The First Noel, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and Jingle Bells.
In the United States Christmas is a national federal holiday. Most government offices, schools, and business are closed for Christmas.
History of Christmas Day
Christmas celebrates the day that Jesus Christ was born to Joseph and Mary in the city of Bethlehem. The New Testament teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and came to Earth as a man to die for our sins. An innocent man, he was crucified around 33 years later. Jesus was then buried in a tomb, but after three days he rose again and ascended into heaven.
No one is sure exactly what day Jesus was born. There are some hints, however, in the Gospel of Luke that point to Jesus' birth in the month of December. It is thought that the first celebrations were on January 6th and the first mention of December 25th is in a manuscript from the year 354.
Celebrating Christmas didn't become a large event in the United States until the middle of the 1800s. About this time, the day started to become a popular time for family gatherings. In 1870 the day became an official federal holiday in the US and has grown more popular since.
Fun Facts About Christmas Day
- If you add up all the gifts given in the song the Twelve Days of Christmas there are 364 total gifts.
- Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas has a holiday. Oklahoma was the last state to do so.
- The tradition of the Christmas tree comes from the country of Germany. The earliest known decorations for the tree were apples.
- The first US postage stamp with a Christian theme was in 1962.
- Around 1/6 of all retail sales in the United States are Christmas purchases.
Merry Christmas in Different Languages
- Arabic: Milad Majid
- Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
- Chinese (Mandarin): Sheng Dan Kuai Le
- Croatian: Sretan Bozic
- Danish: Glædelig Jul
- French: Joyeux Noel
- German: Fröhliche Weihnachten
- Greek: Kala Christouyenna
- Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
- Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
- Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
- Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
- Portuguese: Feliz Natal
- Swedish: God Jul
- Spanish: Feliz Navidad
December Holidays
Hanukkah
Christmas
Boxing Day
Kwanzaa
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