Christmas: Media
holiday
Videos
Yule is one of the oldest winter solstice festivals in the world.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Does anyone really know when Jesus was born?
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What if celebrating Christmas could get you thrown in jail?
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
It all goes back to Queen Elizabeth I. And witches.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Christmas trees have a long, colorful, and even dangerous history.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn about the Christmas traditions of Advent calendars and wreaths.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
The Christmas tradition of gift giving.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Christmas trees have a very long history, though the practice of bringing trees inside...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Learn more about Christmas Eve.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn how tinsel evolved from a source of lead poisoning to its present polyvinyl...
Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Tour the Christmas market in Quedlinburg, Germany.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © dk-fotowelt/stock.adobe.com
Images
The Nativity, fresco by Giotto, c. 1305–06, depicting the birth of Jesus;...
© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Adoration of the Shepherds, opaque watercolor on gray wove paper by...
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, purchased from the artist by the Brooklyn Museum, 1900 (00.159.26); www.brooklynmuseum.org
The three Magi (wise men) presenting their gifts to the infant Jesus; ancient mosaic...
© Jozef Sedmak/Dreamstime.com
The annual Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza standing in front of the Comcast Building...
KENA BETANCUR—AFP/Getty Images
An illustration of Christmas carolers by Birket Foster, 1872.
© Culture Club—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Girls holding candles and singing carols in front of a Christmas tree in Seoul.
© You Sung-Ho—Reuters
Japanese Christians, dressed in traditional kimonos, decorating their Christmas tree...
© Evans/Three Lions—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A festive Christmas tree with presents in South Goa, India.
PhilMacDPhoto/Shutterstock.com
Christmas decorations lighting up Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Geray Sweeney/Tourism Ireland
European mistletoe (Viscum album) used as a Christmas decoration.
© Barbara-Maria Damrau/Fotolia
Lighting of the U.S. National Christmas Tree, Washington, D.C., 2022.
Kelsey Graczyk/U.S. National Park Service
Mystic Nativity, oil on canvas by Sandro Botticelli, 1500; in the National...
© Corel
Nativity miniature from the Benedictional of St. Aethelwold, a book of blessings...
By permission of the British Library
The Nativity, oil on poplar by Piero della Francesca, early 1480s; in the...
Universal History Archive—Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Interactives
Explore the figures, festivals, and folklore of the Christmas season.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Click on the color wheel to learn when the vestment colors are used throughout the...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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