1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
0337 -
Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th.
The story of Santa Claus begins with St. Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop in
Asia Minor. St. Nicholas was considered a generous gift giver and protector of
children, and over time his reputation flourished throughout Europe. Eventually
the legend of St. Nicolas became intertwined with the Christmas holiday.
0352 -
1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
1818 -
1st known Christmas carol
("
Silent Night, Holy Night
"
by Franz Joseph Gruber & Joseph Mohr
)
sung
(Austria)
This is the earliest known year that Jesus' nativity was celebrated
on December 25th, as mentioned in the Philocalian Calendar of A.D. 354.
Jesus' birth was commemorated on January 6th in Greek Orthodoxy,
although by the 400s most of the Eastern churches had accepted the
Roman date.
1413 -
Two years before his martyrdom, Bohemian reformer and martyr Jan Huss
wrote in a letter: 'Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that
mortal men may live through eternity.'
1537 -
German reformer Martin Luther was recorded as saying: 'It is the most
ungodly and dangerous business to abandon the certain and revealed will
of God in order to search in to the hidden mysteries of God.'
1723 -
The Dunkards (Baptists from Germany) held their first immersion service
in America at Germantown (near Philadelphia), Pennsylvania.
1923 -
In Washington, D.C., during Calvin Coolidge's first Christmas as president,
the first electrically lighted Christmas tree appeared in the White House.
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