Christmas
Christmas is probably the most awaited holiday for the people all around the world, and especially for children. But few of us can actually say what is Christmas about, why is it celebrated and what origins it has. The only thing a lot of people know about Christmas is the well-known Christmas spirit, which somehow should dominate during this celebration. So let's take a look at the history to find out what Christmas really means.
Of course, it's hard not to guess that Christmas is connected with the birth of Christ, as we see hundreds of movies, plays, cartoons about it every year. So this is considered to be Christ's birthday. Nevertheless, there are many disputes about the nature of this date and why the 25th day of December was chosen. Scientists cannot say with confidence that Christ of Nazareth was born, moreover, in some areas where orthodox views dominate Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January. There are some other curious facts: for example, not many people know that Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas or St. Nikolaus) as a Christmas present-makers as we know him today appeared only in the 18 century and was actually a product of imagination of the media. German-American cartoonist Thomast Nast created the popular image of Santa, drawing it annually. After that the image was standardized by newspapers and the image became well-known around 1920. In various countries the image (as well as the name) was somewhat changed due to the peculiarities of different cultures.