Christmas
Christmas is best known for its tradition of gift giving between friends and family, and therefore has an enormous economic impact on every country that celebrates it on a large scale. While celebrated in masse by any country with a significant Christian population, Christmas is also celebrated by many countries as a secular holiday, observing the tradition of gift giving without the emphasis on the more religious aspects of the event.
Although there is widespread debate that continues to this day about the exact date of the birth of Christ, Christmas is celebrated every year on the 25th of December. Exact records of when the holiday became an important part of the Christian tradition are not available, but all indications of its roots point back to the Roman Empire of the 4th century AD. Sometime in the latter half of the 4th century, and shortly before its split into Western and Eastern halves, the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official state religion … [more about Christmas]
