History

Christmas is a Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Christ Jesus of Nazareth. The holiday first originated in early Europe. An early festival, Yule,  was celebrated by mostly Germanic people and Neo-Pagans. It was later absorbed—along with other pagan celebrations—into what we know as Christmas. Christmas includes a mythical figure called Santa Claus (real), and he plays a crucial role in this celebration. Santa Claus is based on a real-life bishop in the 4th century called Saint Nicholas. This man was known for his generosity to everyone, especially the young and the poor. Back then, December 6th was celebrated as Saint Nicholas Day in Europe where people gave children presents. 

Next, in the 17th century, the Dutch traveled to the Americas and brought their version of Saint Nicholas: Sinterklaas. This person wore a red bishop's robe and gave gifts to children. His name then evolved to Santa Claus through the English language. Furthermore, Saint Nicholas Day went from only being on December 6th to being celebrated on December 25th due to the blending of the date of the original festival with Jesus Christ's birth. Stories later added a sleigh, red suit, reindeer, and a jolly personality to the man. Since the early 20th century, Christmas has developed into a holiday observed by Christians and non-Christians alike as more of a holiday of family rather than a religious holiday. But Santa Claus isn't the only important symbol that illustrates Christmas.

Another important symbol that represents Christmas are Christmas trees. Many families set up Christmas trees in their houses during the holiday season. These trees are usually decorated with ornaments and lights. The use of evergreen, pine, spruce, or fir trees as Christmas trees symbolizes that eternal life was a custom of ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, and Chinese. Additionally, the modern Christmas tree originates in early western Germany. There was a popular medieval play about Adam and Eve, and the main prop of this show was a "paradise tree". 

This paradise tree was a fir tree with hanging apples representing the Garden of Eden. On December 24th, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve, the Germans set up a paradise tree inside their homes. This practice became extensive among German Christians by the 18th century. It wasn't until the 19th century that this became a deep-rooted German tradition, and spread to England through gift exchanges. Furthermore, as early as the 17th century, the Christmas tree was brought to North America and made fashionable in the 19th century. Western missionaries brought them to some parts of Asia during the 19th and 20th centuries. Glass-blown ornaments—meant to be hung on Christmas trees—were popularized and sold in America and parts of Europe as early as the 1870s.

Written by Patrick Huang; Edited by Sam Eide, Parker Wren, Jack Tyler, Brice Byrd.

Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada originated from celebrations of early harvests and religious practices of giving thanks for what they have (go figure). Before the pilgrims came, other Europeans arrived. They had extremely poor hygiene practices leading to the spread of viruses to the natives. Within 3 years of the first Europeans' arrival, over 90% of the indigenous tribe died. The survivors spread the diseases even further by settling in with uninfected tribes. The pilgrims, who were English settlers searching for new land, arrived in Plymouth in 1620. Some sources say that the Dutch possibly bribed the captain of the Mayflower to sail north, past New Amsterdam (now New York). 

After tolerating an extremely harsh winter, they received aid from the Wampanoag tribe, led by Chief Massasoit. The tribe taught the Englishmen basic survival skills like farming, hunting, and fishing. A year later in 1621, there was a well-known feast in Plymouth between the pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe, celebrating a harvest together. They exchanged gifts like food, beer, and vegetables while partaking in fun activities like horse racing. This event was marked as the first Thanksgiving. Other early events held by people like the Spaniards also influenced the holiday.  Thanksgiving evolved from being celebrated in only various parts of the US and England to being a national holiday, with President Abraham Lincoln making it official in November of 1863 during the Civil War. To promote unity and gratitude, the event was held annually. Over the centuries, the tradition of Thanksgiving transformed into the holiday we recognize today.

Since its establishment as a national holiday 161 years ago, Thanksgiving has grown and evolved heavily. Back in  1924 New York department store Macy's, began what is now one of the biggest parades in the nation. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a major event for people all across the nation with around 3.5 million people attending the parade personally and another 44 million who watch the parade on television each year. Aside from this massive parade in New York City, there are also many smaller parades and all sorts of festivals held in towns across America.

Thanksgiving is a staple of American culture and a time when we all can come together and be grateful for what we have. Thanksgiving is a wonderful part of our nation and regardless of its past, we can all enjoy the Thanksgiving of today and enjoy each other's company. On this Thanksgiving, I encourage you to think about what we have with us and more importantly what we have in common with each other.

Now, we asked 1500 people, 63 robots, and one cat about their thoughts on Thanksgiving:

A response by one Kylie Stevens is very elaborate and dwarfs all the others (no offense to anyone who responded). Here is a document with the full response which I would highly encourage you to read: Very good Response

One of the correspondents we asked said, "My parents make good food."

Charlie Becher said, "It's great, I love it."

"Thanks," said Whitford Post Writer, Patrick Huang.

Another said, "It's when you give thanks, I just want to eat food, okay?"

One of our humans we keep in the basement said "Yummy."

Choir teacher Kent Wilson said something like "I feel uncomfortable with the history of Thanksgiving and what it stands for, but I appreciate the modern day traditions and the holiday's togetherness." He also indicated that he would celebrate Thanksgiving somewhere in Washington State.

Some more responses that we got can be viewed on this form: Amazing Responses by People, Robots, and Cats

Written by Fritz Smith, Patrick Huang, and Joshua King; Edited by Fritz Smith; Reporting by Joshua King and Fritz Smith

Every year on the 31st of October millions of people across the United States celebrate Halloween, whether trick or treating or just hanging out with friends it is a very popular holiday. With Halloween being just one day away, it seems appropriate to delve into the history of this centuries-old tradition.

Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve, got its start in the Celtic holiday Samhain, a day celebrating the fall harvest. this holiday would then merge with the Christian Allhallowtide which had been a three-day period of memorial to followers who had died. The merging of these two events was brought both by their similar timing as well as their relationships with focusing on the dead and the spirit world.

Over time these two holidays would draw closer together until they became the modern Halloween that we all know and love today. The individual traditions are more complicated and harder to pin point but they all have their roots in similar places to Samhain and Allhallowtide. I would encourage anyone who is interested in Halloween traditions to dive deeper into this, and learn more of the deep and fascinating history of Halloween.

Written by Fritz Smith and  Patrick Huang; Edited by Fritz Smith