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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.

-2676 days, -23 hours, -47 minutes, -8 seconds until Christmas 2016

Badnjaks on sale at Kalenić Market, Belgrade

The badnjak (Cyrillic: бадњак, Serbian pronunciation: [ˈbadɲaːk]) is a log brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Serbian Christmas celebrations. The tree from which the badnjak is cut, preferably a young and straight oak, is ceremonially felled early on the morning of Christmas Eve. The felling, preparation, bringing in, and laying on the fire, are surrounded by elaborate rituals, with many regional variations. The burning of the log is accompanied by prayers that the coming year brings food, happiness, love, luck, and riches. The badnjak is treated as a person, to whom salutations and sacrifices such as grain, wine, and honey are offered. The log burns on throughout Christmas Day, when the first visitor strikes it with a poker or a branch to make sparks fly, requesting that the family's happiness and prosperity be as abundant as the sparks. As most Serbs today live in towns and cities, the badnjak is often symbolically represented by a cluster of oak twigs with brown leaves attached, with which the home is decorated on Christmas Eve. The festive kindling of the log commemorates the fire that—according to Serbian folk tradition—the shepherds of Bethlehem built in the cave where Jesus Christ was born, to warm the Baby Jesus and his mother throughout the night.

"Angels We Have Heard on High", Length: 2 minutes 25 seconds

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol. The words of the song are based on a traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos campagnes (literally, "Angels in our countryside"). Its most common English version was translated in 1862 by James Chadwick.

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• ...that the house used in the 1983 film A Christmas Story was auctioned online for $150,000?
• ...that cultivated Christmas trees are susceptible to such pests and diseases as the Balsam woolly adelgid and sudden oak death?
• ...that in the Catalan region of Spain, a Caganer is often tucked away in some corner of a Christmas Nativity scene where he is not easily noticed, because he is defecating?

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (commonly known as A Christmas Carol) is a book by English author Charles Dickens that was first published on 19 December 1843, with illustrations by John Leech. Dickens called it his "Little Christmas Book".

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

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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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