Every culture has its own unique holidays and traditions, but one of the most interesting cultural holidays is St Knut’s Day. St Knut’s Day, also known as the Feast of St Knut, is a traditional...
By Michelle Langley /The Conversation Each December, Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, among others, take over our thoughts and our wallets as we participate in ceremonies our ancestors have practiced...
The holiday season is upon us, and gifts have been given to loved ones and friends. After a time of wracking your brains for the perfect gift, you may have wondered what types of items ancient people...
If you celebrate Christmas, you likely have annual traditions when it comes to decorating your Christmas tree. There are many accessories we like to decorate our trees with, but one of the most...
An English Christmas without decorations, Christmas cake, mince pies, plum pudding, ale, eggnog, mulled cider, Christmas carols and mass? It’s like something out of a joyless, dystopian fantasy. One...
Our understanding of the past is fluid. Very often things we think we know about the past turn out to be false or highly distorted. Historians aren’t perfect; sometimes they make mistakes, other...
Every family has their own holiday traditions, but one tradition that goes back centuries is the making of Christmas pudding. Christmas pudding is a traditional dish made in many British households...
If asked, the first all-American meal to come to mind will probably be a hamburger, fries and a healthy dollop of ketchup. Unfortunately, none of these items actually originated in the United States...
If you visit any large European town or city during December, there’s a very good chance you’ll see a Christmas market. The traditional Christmas market is a centuries-old European tradition, and it...
In European folklore, Krampus is the antithesis of Santa Claus . The equivalent of a Christmas Devil, Krampus is a horrific beast that hunted down misbehaving children and whipped or terrified them...
Oliver Cromwell was an English commander and politician who helped overthrow the Stuart monarchy during the era of the English Civil War and then served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of...
An ancient Finnish law promising harsher sentences for Christmas criminals was read out to an empty town square. Christmas is nearly upon us, and if you haven’t already outright cancelled family...
Christmas and Epiphany are undoubtedly two of the most popular holidays for Italian children. Children love to be told fantastic stories and excitedly await the arrival of Babbo Natale and the Befana...
Christkind is a Christmas gift-bringer in certain European countries. Like its more famous counterpart, Santa Claus, Christkind is said to leave presents for children under the Christmas tree on the...
Singing and Christmas seem to go naturally together, like plum pudding and custard. Even those who would not normally attend a choir concert or church service throughout the year might happily...
March 25 this year will fly by for most of us as just another day in the Gregorian calendar. But the date was far more significant in the past. For over a millennium across Europe and beyond this was...
In this day and age, Christmas has for many become a secular holiday, associated less with the birth of Jesus than with family get-togethers and the eager exchange of presents . Therefore, many...
According to popular tradition, Christmas is celebrated on December 25th to honor the birth of Jesus. However, no records exist in the Bible or elsewhere to suggest that Jesus was actually born on...
Every year millions of children around the world anxiously wait for the arrival of Santa Claus. Parents tell stories of the man with the white beard, red coat, and polished boots who travels the...
Christmas is a very popular holiday tradition that is celebrated by some 2 billion people worldwide. This popular celebration is of course linked closely to Christianity and is intended to honor the...
Saturnalia was a festival celebrated by the ancient Romans. Originally, this celebration was held annually for a day on the 17th of December, but the festival was so popular that it was extended to a...
This year, as dusk gives way to darkness on the night of the Winter Solstice (December 21 st 2020), residents of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations across the Northern...
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This old adage has now been taken to a whole new level in the northeast of England. A team of...
Jay L. Zagorsky / The Conversation Christmas and New Year’s are days of celebration in many parts of the world when people gather with family and friends. One thing many typically don’t celebrate on...