Christmas History
Christmas history is much older than you think. It is older than Santa Claus, Christmas trees or even the Nativity of Jesus Christ.

Christmas history stretches from society to society, from culture to culture. It is amazing to see how many of the icons of the season pop up in the ancient history of civilizations all over the world.

In this merry section of MMC we dive deep into the stories of Christmas and explain how the modern elements of Christmas celebration came to be. Many of these are histories unknown to those who just do things because tradition dictates it.

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Washington’s Christmas at War

By Jeff Westover It would be a Christmas to remember. And it would be a Christmas that made history and inspired a budding nation. The story of Washington crossing the Delaware in the middle of the night is so well known that many forget…
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Charles Dickens: A Merry Old Soul

By Jeff Westover Life and times were hard in London of 1824. For one boy in particular, the second of seven children, life was especially difficult. At the age of twelve, his father was tossed into a debtor's prison, leaving an already…
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There’s Something About Merry

It falls from our lips without much thought: “Merry Christmas!”. But what is it we are really saying? In an informal survey conducted recently more than 84 percent of Americans asked thought that the word “merry” meant “jolly”. Taken…
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Who Put the X in Christmas?

In recent years many retailers have come under fire for using the word “holiday” in substitution for the word “Christmas” in their advertising. But some have problems with the term “Xmas” as well. Just ask gift shop owner Trent Wilson.…
Track Santa
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The True Story of Santa Claus

Santa Claus is real. And this is his true story. Born nearly 2000 years ago, not too long after the days that Jesus Christ walked the earth, Nicholas was born to wealthy parents in a tiny village in the country we today call Turkey. Though…
Somewhere in France
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Somewhere in France

He was a man -- that's all. A man like any other man. His story is one shared by many of the millions who fought in World War II. Fate intervened not once -- but twice -- to remove him from a train just before it left the station. In both cases…

Yes, Virginia: There Really Was a Virginia

By Sarita Mehra I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? -- Virginia O'Hanlon Imagine the dilemma senior…

The Christmas Truce

By Brenna Hall Would you ever think that if you were in a war, trying to kill everyone that wasn't on your side, that you would be friends with them for Christmas? That is how it was for some of the soldiers during World War I. At one…
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History of Christmas Lights

By Bill Nelson The world's first practical light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879, and it was to be only three years later that an associate of his, one Edward Johnson, electrically lit a Christmas tree for the first time. The tree…
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Clement C. Moore: Father, Patriot, Poet

By Jeff Westover Clement Clarke Moore was one of New York's wealthiest men. And clearly, one of it's most highly educated. He was born in 1779 to Benjamin Moore, a patriot and and Episcopalian minister. His mother was Charity Clarke, a…
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Handel’s Messiah

By Jeff Westover On August 22, 1741 George Frideric Handel sat down and began to compose music to Biblical texts compiled by his friend Charles Jennens. Handel was, by all accounts of the time, a typical creative eccentric. Known for varied…

How the Puritans Nearly Killed Christmas

By Jeff Westover As Martin Luther ushered in the Reformation, celebrations steeped in pagan rituals and holidays featuring religious feasts and riotous behavior were banned. In some places, such as Scotland in 1583, Christmas observance was…

Others: The History of the Salvation Army

By Anna Tatalin It was late in the Christmas season and if it got much later General William Booth would not be in time to send a Christmas greeting to his various command posts throughout the world. As the chief commanding officer of a very…

Christmas in Colonial America

By Nicole Harms What was a new father to do? Recently married to a wealthy widow, George Washington had an ambitious shopping list for his new step-children that Christmas of 1759. He wanted to get them "A bird on Bellows, A Cuckoo, A turnabout…
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Christmas at the White House

Christmas of 1924 in the White House was a sad and glum affair. The new tradition of lighting the National Christmas Tree, started just a year earlier, was the last thing President Calvin Coolidge wanted to do. Though the event had enjoyed…