{"slug": "christmas", "label": "Christmas", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19809", "qid": "Q19809", "description": "holiday originating in Christianity, usually December 25", "entries": 31, "years": 28, "span": [336, 1966], "span_label": ["336 CE", "1966 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Culture & Society", "count": 10}, {"title": "Religion & Belief", "count": 9}, {"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 7}, {"title": "Deaths", "count": 2}, {"title": "Technology & Infrastructure", "count": 2}, {"title": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "count": 1}], "also_known_as": ["Christmas Day"], "related": [{"slug": "november", "label": "November", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "ravenna", "label": "Ravenna", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "easter", "label": "Easter", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "long-parliament", "label": "Long Parliament", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "new-year-s-day", "label": "New Year's Day", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "cbs", "label": "CBS", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "rome", "label": "Rome", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "francia", "label": "Francia", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "holy-roman-emperor", "label": "Holy Roman Emperor", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "charlemagne", "label": "Charlemagne", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "st-peter-s-basilica", "label": "St. Peter's Basilica", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "western-europe", "label": "Western Europe", "shared": 1}], "items": [{"year": 336, "year_label": "336 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 – The first celebration of Christmas is recorded.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1267076019#Religion", "title": "336", "revid": 1267076019, "section": "Events › By topic › Religion"}}, {"year": 432, "year_label": "432 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 – Christmas is celebrated for the first time in Alexandria (approximate date).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361576950#Religion", "title": "432", "revid": 1361576950, "section": "Events › By topic › Religion"}}, {"year": 597, "year_label": "597 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 – At Christmas, Christianity spreads rapidly in Kent; Augustine and his fellow-labourers baptise more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1364755884#Religion", "title": "597", "revid": 1364755884, "section": "Events › By topic › Religion"}}, {"year": 800, "year_label": "800 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 – Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III as Charles I, with the title \"Emperor of the Romans\". The coronation takes place during Mass at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, on Christmas Day. The Frankish Empire is formed in Western Europe, which is not recognized by Empress Irene at Constantinople. This triggers a series of disputes with the Byzantines around who is officially ruling the former Western Roman Empire.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367075277#Europe", "title": "800", "revid": 1367075277, "section": "Events › Europe"}}, {"year": 941, "year_label": "941 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Spring – Henry I, duke of Bavaria, plots to assassinate his brother, King Otto I, at the royal palace in Quedlinburg (modern Saxony-Anhalt), but the conspiracy is discovered and Henry is put in captivity in Ingelheim. He is released after doing penance at Christmas.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1341512041#Europe", "title": "941", "revid": 1341512041, "section": "Events › By place › Europe"}}, {"year": 967, "year_label": "967 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Winter – Otto I returns to Rome. On Christmas day, John XIII crowns Otto II as co-emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Otto II is nominated as co-ruler, he exercises no real authority.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1364919490#Europe", "title": "967", "revid": 1364919490, "section": "Events › By place › Europe"}}, {"year": 980, "year_label": "980 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": null, "text": "Winter – Otto II celebrates Christmas with his family at Ravenna. He receives the Iron Crown of Lombardy as the King of Italy.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1364109392#Europe", "title": "980", "revid": 1364109392, "section": "Events › By place › Europe"}}, {"year": 987, "year_label": "987 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "December", "text": "December – The 15-year-old Robert (the son of Hugh Capet) is crowned co-ruler of France around Christmas at Orléans.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1364468366#Europe", "title": "987", "revid": 1364468366, "section": "Events › By place › Europe"}}, {"year": 1021, "year_label": "1021 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "November", "text": "November – Emperor Henry II conducts his fourth Italian military campaign. He crosses the Brenner Pass with a 60,000-strong army, and reaches Verona, where he receives Lombard levies. Henry proceeds to Mantua and then into Ravenna, to spend Christmas there.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1342212958#Europe", "title": "1021", "revid": 1342212958, "section": "Events › By place › Europe"}}, {"year": 1075, "year_label": "1075 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 – Gregory VII is kidnapped in the church during Christmas night in Rome and briefly imprisoned by the Roman nobleman Cencio I Frangipane.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365265849#Religion", "title": "1075", "revid": 1365265849, "section": "Events › By topic › Religion"}}, {"year": 1121, "year_label": "1121 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 (Christmas Day) – The Praemonstratensian Order (Norbertines) is formed, when a group of canons make solemn vows at Prémontré.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362154597#Religion", "title": "1121", "revid": 1362154597, "section": "Events › By topic › Religion"}}, {"year": 1142, "year_label": "1142 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December", "text": "December – Stephen lays siege to Oxford Castle, trapping Matilda and her supporters inside the city. Just before Christmas she manages to escape across the snow and ice of the frozen Thames River – dressed in white (to get past Stephen's pickets), and safely reaches Abingdon. The next day Oxford Castle surrenders to Stephen, Matilda rides with an escort to Wallingford Castle, where she seeks refuge.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362174122#England", "title": "1142", "revid": 1362174122, "section": "Events › By place › England"}}, {"year": 1143, "year_label": "1143 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "November 13", "text": "November 13 – King Fulk of Jerusalem dies after a hunting accident in Acre. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old son Baldwin III – who is crowned as co-ruler alongside his mother, Queen Melisende on Christmas Day. Due to the political situation the Crusader States of Tripoli, Antioch and Edessa assert their independence. Raymond of Antioch demands the return of Cilicia to his principality and invades the province.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1337864253#Levant", "title": "1143", "revid": 1337864253, "section": "Events › By place › Levant"}}, {"year": 1147, "year_label": "1147 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "November", "text": "November – The combined forces of Louis VII and Conrad III meet at Lopardium and march along the coastal road via Pergamon and Smyrna to Ephesus, where they celebrate Christmas. Conrad, still suffering from his wounds, sails back to Constantinople to be placed under the care of Manuel's own physicians. Meanwhile, the Crusader camp is attacked by Turkish raiders near Ephesus.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362163362#Second_Crusade", "title": "1147", "revid": 1362163362, "section": "Events › By place › Second Crusade"}}, {"year": 1182, "year_label": "1182 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December", "text": "December – Baldwin IV raids through the Hauran and reaches Bosra, while Raymond III of Tripoli recaptures Habis Jaldak. A few days later, Baldwin sets out with a Crusader force to Damascus and encamps at Dareiya in the suburbs. He decides not to attack the city and retires laden with booty, to spend Christmas at Tyre.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362172586#Levant", "title": "1182", "revid": 1362172586, "section": "Events › By place › Levant"}}, {"year": 1223, "year_label": "1223 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 24", "text": "December 24 – Father Francis of Assisi (Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone), founder of the Order of the Franciscans with in the Roman Catholic Church, begins the tradition of celebrating Christmas with a nativity scene. Having received permission from Pope Honorius III, Francis arranges for a display in a cave near the Italian city of Greccio, with the representation of the events associated with the birth of Jesus Christ as described in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke, using real people and animals.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1336497375#October–December", "title": "1223", "revid": 1336497375, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1349, "year_label": "1349 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": null, "text": "Christmas to March – the Black Death: \"The pestilence gathered strength in Kilkenny during Lent ... there was scarcely a house in which only one died.\"", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370789467#Events", "title": "1349 in Ireland", "revid": 1370789467, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1351, "year_label": "1351 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": null, "text": "Christmas – 'Nodlaig na Garma'; convention of poets and men of learning is held by Uilliam Buide Ó Ceallaigh; commemorated in Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh's poem, Filidh Éireann go haointeach.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1323562468#Events", "title": "1351 in Ireland", "revid": 1323562468, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1589, "year_label": "1589 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "December 25", "text": "December 25 (Christmas Day) – The monks of the Pechenga Monastery, the northernmost in the world, are massacred by Swedes, led by a Finnish peasant chief, in the course of the Russo-Swedish War.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359971295#October–December", "title": "1589", "revid": 1359971295, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1644, "year_label": "1644 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "December 25", "text": "25 December – Christmas falls on a date set aside for fasting by Parliament, whose supporters are enjoined to observe the fast.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737189#Events", "title": "1644 in England", "revid": 1353737189, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1645, "year_label": "1645 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "December 25", "text": "25 December – Christmas, being omitted from the Directory of Public Worship is not officially observed under Parliamentarian rule.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737198#Events", "title": "1645 in England", "revid": 1353737198, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1646, "year_label": "1646 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "December 25", "text": "25 December – scuffles in Bury St Edmunds over the celebration of Christmas.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360055229#Events", "title": "1646 in England", "revid": 1360055229, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1647, "year_label": "1647 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June", "text": "June – the Long Parliament passes an ordinance confirming abolition of the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun, though making the second Tuesday in each month a secular holiday.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737212#Events", "title": "1647 in England", "revid": 1353737212, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1647, "year_label": "1647 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June 8", "text": "June 8 – The Puritan rulers of England's Long Parliament pass the \"Ordinance for abolishing all Holidays, and appointing other Days for Sports and Recreations for Scholars, Apprentices, and Servants, in their Room\", confirming abolition of the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun, though making the second Tuesday in each month a secular holiday. The Act declares \"Forasmuch as the Feasts of the Nativity of Christ, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and other Festivals, commonly called Holidays, have heretofore been superstitiously used and observed; be it ordained, That the said Feasts and Festivals be no loner observed within England and Wales.\"", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358071698#April–June", "title": "1647", "revid": 1358071698, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1647, "year_label": "1647 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 25", "text": "25 December – rioting in Canterbury and elsewhere over the celebration of Christmas.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737212#Events", "title": "1647 in England", "revid": 1353737212, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1870, "year_label": "1870 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June 28", "text": "June 28 – American President Ulysses S. Grant signs an act making the United States Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day federal holidays in the United States.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362496807#June", "title": "1870", "revid": 1362496807, "section": "Events › June"}}, {"year": 1870, "year_label": "1870 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June 28", "text": "June 28 – Congress creates federal holidays (New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day), initially applicable only to federal employees.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358721184#April–June", "title": "1870 in the United States", "revid": 1358721184, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1951, "year_label": "1951 CE", "section": "Religion & Belief", "date": "April 11", "text": "April 11 – After its clandestine removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone resurfaces at Arbroath Abbey in Scotland.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368856437#April", "title": "1951", "revid": 1368856437, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1964, "year_label": "1964 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "December 6", "text": "December 6 – The 1-hour stop-motion animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the popular Christmas song, is broadcast for the first time, on NBC. It becomes a Christmas tradition, despite moving to CBS in 1972.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372685911#December", "title": "1964 in the United States", "revid": 1372685911, "section": "Events › December"}}, {"year": 1965, "year_label": "1965 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "December 9", "text": "December 9 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first Peanuts television special, debuts on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368843670#November–December", "title": "1965", "revid": 1368843670, "section": "Events › November–December"}}, {"year": 1966, "year_label": "1966 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "December 18", "text": "December 18 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff, is shown for the first time on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370246126#December", "title": "1966", "revid": 1370246126, "section": "Events › December"}}]}