26/12/2015
10 things u need to know about Xmas
1. Christians celebrate Christmas to mark the
birth of Jesus Christ. However, the Bible does
not mention December 25 as the date Jesus
was born. In fact, most historians believe he
was probably born in the spring.
2. The Catholic church decided to recognize
the birth of Jesus as an official holiday in the
4th century. Pope Julius I chose December 25
for the Feast of the Nativity.
3. The date for Christmas coincides with the
pagan festival known as Saturnalia, which
celebrated the agricultural god Saturn with
partying, gambling, and gift-giving.
4. Christmas as we know it became widely
popular only in the 19th Century.
5. The word Christmas comes from the Old
English Christes Maesse (Christ’s Mass) which
was first recorded in 1123.
6. The shorter form ‘Xmas’ was first used in
Europe in the 1500s. It was derived from the
Greek alphabet, in which X is the first letter of
Christ’s name, therefore ‘Xmas.’
7. The reason for giving presents at Christmas
is to symbolize the gifts given by the wise
men to baby Jesus.
8. The Bible does not say how many wise men
came to visit Jesus. It is thought to be three
because the Bible mentioned that three types
of gifts were given to the baby Jesus, gold,
incense and myrrh.
9. Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas, a
Christian bishop living in the fourth century
AD. St. Nicholas was known for his good
deeds and he gave away his inheritance to
help those in need. As his legend spread, he
was eventually known by names like as Sinter
Klaas in Dutch, which morphed into Santa
Claus.
10. Santa’s coat wasn’t always red. Santa
wore a variety of colorful suits through the
years, including blue, white, and green.
Legend has it that the popular red coat came
from a 1930s ad by Coca Cola.
