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The process of Christmas becoming a national holiday in the U.S. began when Representative Burton Chauncey Cook of Illinois introduced a bill in the U.S. Congress after the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). It passed in both houses of Congress, and President Ulysses S. Grant signed it on June 28, 1870.
The English word Christmas is a shortened form of 'Christ's Mass'. [3] The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. [4] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from the Greek Χριστός (Khrīstos, 'Christ'), a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Māšîaḥ, 'Messiah'), meaning 'anointed'; [5] [6] and mæsse is from the Latin missa, the celebration of the ...
That’s right, our modern holiday—celebrated with Christmas traditions like gifts and trees and marked by Christmas symbols including stars and canes—is a far cry from how Christmas began.
Millions of people around the world rejoice as Christmas approaches. It is a time of family, friendship, gifts, and songs. In 2022, Americans spent $178 billion on Christmas.
Neapolitan presepio at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. The practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a long history. In the 15th century, it was recorded that in London, it was the custom at Christmas for every house and all the parish churches to be "decked with holm, ivy, bays, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green". [4]
But early Christians celebrated Christmas from Dec. 25 to Jan. 6: The Christian calendar observes the 12 days that the Three Wise Men traveled to follow the star of Bethlehem and find Jesus after ...
The book The Vindication of Christmas (London, 1652) argued against the Puritans, and makes note of Old English Christmas traditions, dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances with "plow-boys" and "maidservants", old Father Christmas and carol singing. [59] The Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 ended the ban.
Calendars help herald the arrival of Christmas by marking each day with something like a piece of candy or even a small gift. In recent years, Advent calendars have become popular and the original ...