What holiday is celebrated on December 25: everything about this day

On December 25, Christians around the world celebrate Christmas, a holiday in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ. Today is also Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish holiday associated with the story of the Maccabean uprising against the Syrian occupiers.

The world celebrates Constitution Day in the Republic of China, Constitution Day in Taiwan and Good Governance Day in India. OBOZ.UA tells about the holidays and significant events of this day.

What holidays are celebrated on December 25

Christmas is one of the most important Christian holidays, which is celebrated in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ. This day is a public holiday in many countries and is accompanied by various traditions, rituals, and symbols. After the OCU and UGCC switched to the New Julian calendar, most Ukrainians also began celebrating Christmas on December 25.

Of course, the exact date of Jesus Christ's birth is unknown. The date of December 25 was chosen much later. This day coincided with the pagan winter solstice, which symbolized the victory of light over darkness. Although Christmas has Christian roots, it has become a universal holiday celebrated by people of different faiths. Different cultures have their own unique Christmas traditions and customs.

The word "Hanukkah" is translated from Hebrew as "sanctification". In the second century B.C., Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes banned Judaism and tried to forcefully Hellenize the Jews. At that time, the Maccabees led an uprising and won. When they returned to their temple, they found that there was only one small vessel of pure olive oil left, which would have lasted only one day. However, miraculously, this oil lasted for eight days until new oil was made.

Hanukkiah is a nine-candle candlestick, which is the main symbol of the holiday. One candle is lit every night, starting with the rightmost one. The central candle, the shamash, is used to light the others.

Notable historical events on December 25

• 336 - The first documented celebration of Christmas took place in Rome.
• 1066 - William the Conqueror became King of England.
• 1492 - The caravan Santa Maria, on which Christopher Columbus sailed to the shores of America, ran into reefs off the coast of Haiti due to the negligence of a sailor on duty. Indians helped to remove valuable cargo, guns, and food from the ship, but the ship could not be saved.
• 1582 - Spanish King Philip II founded the first mathematical academy in Europe.
• 1741 - Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer and mathematician, invented the temperature measurement scale.
• 1758 - Johann Georg Palich first observed a comet, whose return had been previously predicted by the English astronomer Edmund Halley, whose name it bears today.
• 1855 - The first known hockey game took place in Kingston, Canada.
• 1946 - The first nuclear reactor in Europe, the experimental F-1, was launched in Laboratory 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
• 1951 - the first electronic computer (MECM) is put into operation in Kyiv.
• 1979 - the USSR invades Afghanistan.
• 1989 - Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena Ceauşescu are shot dead.
• 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the USSR. The collapse of the Soviet Union.

Who was born on December 25

• 1878 - Louis Chevrolet, American race car driver and automaker of Swiss descent.
• 1887 - Conrad Hilton, American businessman, founder of one of the world's largest hotel chains.
• 1895 - Hryhoriy Veryovka, Ukrainian composer, artistic director and chief conductor of the State Ukrainian Folk Choir.
• 1899 - Konstantin Antipovich, Ukrainian historian.
• 1907 - Yevhen Kravchenko, Ukrainian novelist and playwright.
• 1927 - Oles Berdnyk, Ukrainian science fiction writer, dissident, public figure (official date of birth; real date - November 27, 1926), founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.
• 1927 - Ram Narayan, Indian musician.
• 1945 - Noel Redding, bassist with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
• 1949 - Sissy Spacek, American actress.
• 1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ.
• 1980 - Laura Sadler, British actress.
• 2005 - Oleksiy Sereda, Ukrainian diver, the youngest European champion in the history of diving.

Died on this day:

• 1921 - Volodymyr Korolenko, Ukrainian writer, journalist, publicist and public figure.
• 1938 - Karel Čapek, Czech writer, author of short stories, fairy tales, novels and plays.
• 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, actor, director, screenwriter.
• 1983 - Joan Miró, Catalan painter, sculptor and graphic artist, one of the most famous surrealists.
• 2010 - Carlos Andrés Pérez, President of Venezuela in 1974-79 and 1989-93
• 2016 - George Michael, popular English singer, winner of two Grammy Awards.

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.