This Day In History: Christmas Day
Even on Christmas, history is made.
When you think about it, history is just news from the past.
And like the news, it happens every day.
Even if that day is Christmas.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the theft of the Stone of Scone, and the deadliest hotel fire in history all took place on Christmas Day.
So what other famous events happened on Christmas Day? Let’s take a look:
The First Christmas
Of course, most of us have heard the story of The First Christmas: Manger. Shepards. Angels.
But how long have Christians been celebrating on December 25th?
Somewhat surprisingly, the first recorded evidence of Jesus’ birth being celebrated on December 25th doesn’t appear until 336 — after the Christian Emperor, Constantine, had come to power.
The Romans had long celebrated Saturnalia, a pagan holiday, on December 25th. And it’s possible that early Christians may have used the festival as cover to secretly celebrate Christ’s birth. By the fourth century, church leaders formally declared December 25th as Christmas Day.
