CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE AGES
Telesphorus, the second Bishop of Rome, declared in the 2nd century A.D. that public church services should be held to celebrate “The Nativity of our Lord and Savior.”
In 320 A.D., Pope Julius I and other religious leaders specified Dec. 25 as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
In the 13th century, St. Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas carols to formal church services.
In 1531, in Germany, the first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared.
The Christmas tree was first decorated with lights in the 16th century. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was so taken with the Christmas night sky that he added lighted candles to the tree to bring “the lights of the stars” into the home of his family.
A goose was customary Christmas fare until the early 1600s, when King Henry VIII of England took it upon himself to tuck into a turkey.
The first American Christmas carol was written in 1649 by a minister named John de Brebeur. It is called “Jesus Is Born.”
A wreath with holly and red berries began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolized the thorns in Christ’s crown of thorns. Red berries symbolized the drops of Christ’s blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated to birth of Christ.
In 1818, “Silent Night” was written by Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. Legend has it that his church’s organ broke on the day before Christmas. Mohr could not imagine Christmas without music, so he sat down to write a carol that could be sung by a choir to guitar music. Later that night, the people in the little Austrian church sang “Stille Nacht” for the first time.
In 1836, Alabama became the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.
The first commercial Christmas card, produced in 1846, featured a drawing of family members happily toasting each other with glasses of wine — a shockingly decadent portrait that was immediately condemned by temperance advocates.
In 1945, an album containing Bing Crosby’s signature song, “White Christmas,” is released. The recording would go on to become the best-selling single ever, with sales of more than 50 million copies worldwide.