
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…

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…

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…

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.…

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
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…

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…

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…

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…

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…