Christmas History

Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by millions of people around the world. The original date of the celebration of Christmas was January 6, some countries are still celebrating Christmas on this day. n addition to !Christmas!, the holiday has been "nown by various other names throughout its history. The #nglo$%a&ons referred to the feast as !midwinter! or !'ativity!, meaning !birth! that comes from the (atin word n)t*vit)s. n +ld ,nglish, !-ule! referred to the period corresponding to January and December. !'oel! entered ,nglish in the late ./th century and is from the +ld 0rench no1l that comes from the (atin word n)t)lis 2di3s4, which means !2day4 of birth!. Christmas Day is celebrated as a ma5or festival and public holiday in countries around the world. The practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a long history. n the .5th century, it was recorded that in (ondon it was the custom at Christmas for every house and all the parish churches to be !dec"ed with holls 2 frun6e de ste5ar 4, ivy, bays 2 laur 7 dafin 4, and all the plants that are green in the season!. The heart$shaped leaves of ivy were said to symboli6e the coming to earth of Jesus, while holly 2 ste5ar venic verde 4 was seen as protection against pagans and witches, its thorns and red berries held to represent the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus at the crucifi&ion and the blood he shed. The traditional colors of Christmas decorations are red, green, and gold. 8ed symboli6es the blood of Jesus, which was shed in his crucifi&ion, while green symboli6es eternal life, and in particular the evergreen tree, which does not lose its leaves in the winter, and gold is the first color associated with Christmas, as one of the three gifts of the 9agi, symboli6ing royalty. The Christmas tree is considered by some as Christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the :inter %olstice. The ,nglish language phrase !Christmas tree! is first recorded in .;<5 and represents an importation from the =erman language. The e&changing of gifts is one of the core aspects of the modern Christmas celebration. =ift giving was common in the 8oman celebration of %aturnalia, an ancient festival which too" place in late December and may have influenced Christmas customs. +n Christmas, people e&change gifts based on the tradition associated with %t. 'icholas, and the gifts of gold, thus 2 t>m?ie 4, and myrrh which were given to the baby Jesus by the 9agi. # number of figures are associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. #mong these are 0ather Christmas, also "nown as %anta Claus. The best "nown of these figures today is red$dressed %anta Claus. The name %anta Claus can be traced bac" to the Dutch %inter"laas, which means simply %aint 'icholas. 'icholas was @ishop of 9yra, in modern$day Tur"ey, during the /th century. #mong other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. Ais feast on December 6 came to be celebrated in many countries with the giving of gifts.