The Christmas Story: the Real History Behind the Holiday’s Development

Around the world, everyone who’s fortunate enough to celebrate Christmas, knows that it’s the coolest holiday on the planet Earth. Not for any reason of religious superiority — far from it — but because the holiday has long since transcended its Christians roots to become a cultural celebration of warmth, family, food, and gifts. It’s the one time a year where people are urged on a cultural level, to not be so mean to one another. But how did we get here? How did Christ’s b-day get moved to the middle of winter, and how did the secular world latch on to the brightest, most joyful holiday in the world?

1. Every Pedant’s Favorite Fact: Jesus Wasn’t Actually Born on December 25

Well, he might have been. The truth is that historians can’t actually pin down the exact date of Jesus’ birth. If you’re willing to use the Bible as a reliable source of historical information — like trusting the placement of stars in the sky, or the fact that shepherds were both in their fields and willing to undertake a journey because, you know, astrology — then the good money puts Christ’s birth sometime in the early Summer.