Christmas

holiday originating in Christianity, usually December 25

31 dated entries naming Christmas, drawn from 28 separate years between 336 CE and 1966 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Christmas Day in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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4th century

336December 25 – The first celebration of Christmas is recorded.source

5th century

432December 25 – Christmas is celebrated for the first time in Alexandria (approximate date).source

6th century

597December 25 – At Christmas, Christianity spreads rapidly in Kent; Augustine and his fellow-labourers baptise more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.source

8th century

800December 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.source

10th century

941Spring – 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.source
967Winter – 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.source
980Winter – Otto II celebrates Christmas with his family at Ravenna. He receives the Iron Crown of Lombardy as the King of Italy.source
987December – The 15-year-old Robert (the son of Hugh Capet) is crowned co-ruler of France around Christmas at Orléans.source

11th century

1021November – 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.source
1075December 25 – Gregory VII is kidnapped in the church during Christmas night in Rome and briefly imprisoned by the Roman nobleman Cencio I Frangipane.source

12th century

1121December 25 (Christmas Day) – The Praemonstratensian Order (Norbertines) is formed, when a group of canons make solemn vows at Prémontré.source
1142December – 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.source
1143November 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.source
1147November – 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.source
1182December – 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.source

13th century

1223December 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.source

14th century

1349Christmas to March – the Black Death: "The pestilence gathered strength in Kilkenny during Lent ... there was scarcely a house in which only one died."source
1351Christmas – '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.source

16th century

1589December 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.source

17th century

164425 December – Christmas falls on a date set aside for fasting by Parliament, whose supporters are enjoined to observe the fast.source
164525 December – Christmas, being omitted from the Directory of Public Worship is not officially observed under Parliamentarian rule.source
164625 December – scuffles in Bury St Edmunds over the celebration of Christmas.source
1647June – 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.source
1647June 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."source
164725 December – rioting in Canterbury and elsewhere over the celebration of Christmas.source

19th century

1870June 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.source
1870June 28 – Congress creates federal holidays (New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day), initially applicable only to federal employees.source

20th century

1951April 11 – After its clandestine removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone resurfaces at Arbroath Abbey in Scotland.source
1964December 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.source
1965December 9 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first Peanuts television special, debuts on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.source
1966December 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.source