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Christmas trees and a nativity scene.

Christmas or Christmas Day or "x-mas day" is a holiday observed mostly on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various ancient winter festivals. Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.

Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) is a popular folklore figure in many countries, associated with the bringing of gifts for children.

-2714 days, -14 hours, -2 minutes, -31 seconds until Christmas 2016

An Austrian Christmas tree stand, just one of the various existing styles

A Christmas tree stand is an object designed to support a cut, natural or an artificial Christmas tree. Christmas tree stands appeared as early as 1876 and have had various designs over the years. Those stands designed for natural trees have a water-well, which, in many cases may not hold enough water to adequately supply the cut tree. Some specialty Christmas tree stands have value on the secondary antiques market. Christmas tree stands have been around at least since 1876, when Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine suggested connecting a Christmas tree stand into a stand for flowers. In that same year, Hermann Albrecht of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received U.S. Patent 183,100 and U.S. Patent 183,194 as two of the first Christmas tree stand patents issued in the United States. Some Christmas tree stands were uniquely designed and have value in the secondary antiques market. One example is a 1950s decorative Christmas tree stand designed by National Outfit Manufacturers Association and made of lithographed tin and featuring a holiday design. A Christmas tree stand such of the lithographed tin design could fetch up to $250 on the open market.

"Jingle Bells", Length: 2 minutes 21 seconds

"Jingle Bells" is one of the best known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and copyrighted under the title 'One Horse Open Sleigh' on September 16, 1857.

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• ...that the Kraków szopka is a unique Polish Christmas tradition that portrays artistic interpretations of buildings of Kraków along nativity scenes?
• ... that Mayor Tom Weisner once considered outlawing untimely holiday decorations, when citizens of Aurora, Illinois, complained of Christmas decorations abounding during the summer?
• ... that the Goodpasture Covered Bridge spanning the McKenzie River near Vida, Oregon is decorated for the Christmas season?

Thomas Nast's most famous drawing, "Merry Old Santa Claus", from the January 1, 1881 edition of Harper's Weekly

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Christmas 1994 nor'easter • "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" • List of Christmas number one singles (UK)

Good articles

Baby Jesus theft • Christmas in the post-War United States • Nativity scene • The Nightmare Before Christmas • "A Benihana Christmas" • Christmas tree cultivation • "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"Template:/box-footer

Main – Christmas Eve · Christmas Day · Boxing Day · History · The Nativity · Bringers of gifts · Decorations · Economics · Customs

Christianity – Nativity of Jesus · Nativity of Jesus in art · Nativity scene · Nativity of Jesus in later culture · Jesus Christ · Mary · Joseph · Angel Gabriel · Adoration of the Shepherds · Three Wise Men · Star of Bethlehem · King Herod · Massacre of the Innocents · Saint Nicholas · Twelfth Night · Epiphany · Advent · Christmastide Father Christmas · Santa Claus · Mrs. Claus · Santa Claus's elfs · Santa Claus's reindeer · Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer · Sinterklaas · Père Noël · Joulupukki · Ded Moroz  · La Befana · Christkind · Black Peter · Krampus · Belsnickel · Le Père Fouettard · North Pole · Santa's workshop · Korvatunturi · Other characters

Folklore – Father Christmas · Santa Claus · Mrs. Claus · Santa Claus's elfs · Santa Claus's reindeer · Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer · Sinterklaas · Père Noël · Joulupukki · Ded Moroz  · La Befana · Christkind · Black Peter · Krampus · Belsnickel · Le Père Fouettard · North Pole · Santa's workshop · Korvatunturi · Other characters

Traditions – Twelve Days of Christmas · Christmas trees · Wassailing · Yule log · Stockings · Ornaments · Lights · Nutcrackers · Christmas cards · Christmas songs · Christmas films · Christmas stamps  · A Visit from St. Nicholas · A Christmas Carol · NORAD Tracks Santa · Secret Santa · Advent calendars · Yule Goats · Santa Claus parades · Flying Santa · Christmas markets · Plants · Food · Feasts · Events · Parades · German · Philippine · Polish · Serbian · Ukrainian · Miners' parades · Miner's figures · Candle arches · Christmas pyramids · Smoking figures · Incense candles

Media – Fiction · Films · Plays · Episodes · Specials · Albums · Best-selling albums · Hit singles and tracks · Best-selling singles · Carols · Other Christmas music and songs

Society – Christmas club · Christmas controversy · Christmas creep · Christmas Mountains · Christmas truce · Christmas in various language · Black Friday · Cyber Monday · White Christmas · Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 · Christmas and holiday season · Related holidays · List of winter festivals · SantaCon · Running of the Santas · Christmas in July · Christmas in August · Christmas in the American Civil War · Christmas in Puritan New England · Christmas in the post-War United StatesTemplate:/box-footer

Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Create Christmas tree production in the United States. Copyedit : Re-organize Santa Claus's reindeer. Disambiguation : Keep Christmas (disambiguation) updated; ensure all links are accurate. Expand : Articles listed in Category:Stub-Class Christmas articles, particularly Santa suit. Stubs : Add {{Holiday-stub}} to incomplete Christmas articles. Wikify : Add the template to the See also section of relevant articles. Other : Help assess Christmas-related articles by tagging their talk pages with the WikiProject Christmas banner. Check Category:Unassessed Christmas articles for currently unassessed articles.

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Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
				1	2	3
4	5	6 Saint Nicholas Day (Liturgical Calendar)	7	8	9	10
11	12	13 Saint Lucia Day	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21 Winter Solstice (NH) Summer Solstice(SH) Yule begins Chele/Yalda (Persian calendar)	22	23 Humanlight Festivus	24 Christmas Eve (Christian) Hanukkah begins at Sunset
25 Christmas Day (Christian)	26 La an Dreolin (Ireland) Kwanzaa begins Boxing Day	27 Uwiha Ch'uyay (Bolivia)	28 Dia de Innocentadas (Spain, Latin America)	29	30 Rizal day (Philippines)	31 New Years Eve (Gregorian calendar) Hogmanay (Scotland)

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