9 Things You Should Know About Christmas

Christmas is the most widely observed cultural
holiday in the world. Here are nine things you should
know about the annual commemoration of the birth
of Jesus:
1. No one knows what day or month Jesus was born
(though some scholars speculate that it was in
September). The earliest evidence for the observance
of December 25 as the birthday of Christ
appears in
the Philocalian Calendar, composed at Rome in 336.
2. Despite the impression giving by many nativity
plays and Christmas carols, the Bible doesn’t specify:
that Mary rode a donkey; that an innkeeper turned
away Mary and Joseph (only that there was no room
at the inn); that Mary gave birth to Jesus the day she
arrived in Bethlehem (only that it happened “while
they were there”); that angels sang (only that the
“heavenly host” spoke and praised God); that there
were three wise men (no number is specified) or that
the Magi arrived the day/night of Jesus’ birth.
3. Rather than being born in a stable, Jesus was likely
born in a cave or a shelter built into a hillside. The
hills around Bethlehem were dotted with small caves
for feeding and boarding livestock. The exact site of
Jesus’ birth is unknown, but by the third century,
tradition had established a probable cavern.
Constantine’s mother, Helena, erected the Church of
the Nativity in Bethlehem over the small space.
4. During the Middle Ages, children were bestowed
gifts in honor of Saint Nicholas (the namesake for
Santa Claus). In an attempt to turn away from the
Catholic veneration of saints and saint’s days, Martin
Luther laid gift-giving in his household on Christmas
Eve. He told his children that
“Holy Christ” (Christkind)
had brought their presents. The tradition caught on
with many Lutherans, though later St. Nick would get
the credit as often as Christkind.
5. Martin Luther is widely credited as the first person
to decorate Christmas trees with lights. Walking
toward his home one winter evening, composing a
sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars
twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene
for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and
wired its branches with lighted candles.
6. The X in Xmas was not originally intended, as some
people believe, to “take Christ out of Christmas.” The
written symbol X was frequently used to represent
the letter in the Greek alphabet called Chi (the first
letter in the Greek word Christos). In many Greek
manuscripts of the New Testament, X abbreviates
Christos (Xristos). This practice entered the Old English
language as early as AD 1000 and by the 15th
century, “Xmas” was widely a used symbol for
Christmas.
7. The Puritans objected to the celebration of
Christmas. In 1647, the Puritan government canceled
Christmas, forbidding traditional expressions of
merriment, ordering shops to stay open, churches to
stay closed, and ministers arrested for preaching on
Christmas Day.
8. Alabama was the first state to officially recognize
Christmas in 1836 and Oklahoma the last in 1907,
even though it was declared an official holiday on
June 26, 1870.
9. Origin of Christmas terms: “Christmas” is a
compound word originating in the term “Christ’s
Mass,” derived from the Middle English Cristemasse;
“Nativity”, meaning “birth”, is from Latin nātīvitās; in
Old English, Gēola (“Yule”) referred to the period
corresponding to January and December, which was
eventually equated with Christian Christmas;
“Noel” (or “Nowell”) entered English in the late 14th
century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself
ultimately from the Latin nātālis (diēs), “(day) of
birth”.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-christmas/