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History of Christmas

Can you answer these questions about the history of Christmas?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: December 13, 2017
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First submittedDecember 12, 2017
Times taken7,483
Rating4.23
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Question
Answer
In what country did the tradition of Christmas trees begin?
Germany
What English queen popularized Christmas trees in Great Britain?
Queen Victoria
What Christmas story by Charles Dickens was published in 1843?
A Christmas Carol
Who was the main character in that story?
Ebenezer Scrooge
What two-word Christmas greeting was popularized by that story?
Merry Christmas
What holiday greeting is commonly used in the U.S. as a "politically correct"
version of the above?
Happy Holidays
What holiday was celebrated by Germanic pagans around the time of Christmas?
Yule
What bawdy Roman holiday, presided over by a "Lord of Misrule",
was celebrated from December 17–23?
Saturnalia
What astrological observance did ancient Romans observe on December 25th?
The Winter Solstice
Who was the Lord Protector of England when Christmas was banned in the 1640s?
Oliver Cromwell
What group of people outlawed Christmas in Massachusetts in the 1600s?
The Puritans
What country banned Christmas during a fit of revolutionary ferver in the late 1700s?
France
What gift-giving saint is Santa Claus based on?
St. Nicholas
The name Santa Claus is a derivation of Sinterklaas. What language is Sinterklaas from?
Dutch
What great Frankish king was crowned emperor on Christmas Day, 800 A.D.?
Charlemagne
What saint's feast day is celebrated on December 26th or 27th?
St. Stephen
What feast day occurs on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas?
Epiphany /
Twelfth Night
What singer's 1942 rendition of "White Christmas" has sold over 100 million copies?
Bing Crosby
Who wrote "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" in 1957?
Dr. Seuss
What Protestant reformer wrote a few Christmas hymns - but not "Away in a Manger"?
Martin Luther
APHill
+2
Level 73
Dec 12, 2017
Leaving aside the obvious dearth of questions about the person whose birth Christmas celebrates, two other issues:

Epiphany is January 6.

The feast of St. Stephen is December 26, and the feast of St. John the Apostle is December 27. You probably have Stephen for both because Eastern Christians celebrate his feast on December 27. Maybe add John as another type-in?

kalbahamut
+3
Level 80
Dec 17, 2017
but this is a history of Christmas quiz and the person you are referencing has nothing to do with that...
Fee
+1
Level 50
Dec 17, 2017
I agree, the name Christmas is so insensitive to people who want to sell things around that time of year but have no interest in who the celebration is for. The name should have been changed and when that soft-drink company told us what colours santa should wear.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 80
Dec 17, 2017
Historically... going back far enough... the celebration was not for Jesus. It's a pagan holiday dressed up as a Roman Catholic one. Jesus certainly didn't celebrate Christmas. None of his disciples did. No early Christians (1st century) did. Though the holiday was being celebrated at the time it just was definitely not a Jewish or Christian holiday. Later on, as mentioned in the quiz, Christmas has been outlawed by many practicing Christians who were aware of the holiday's tenuous connection to the religion.

Anyway the holiday is not "for" anyone. It might mean different things to different people but realistically it's just the celebration of the winter solstice and those traditions stretch back to long before Christ was born.

Walacama
+6
Level 76
Dec 18, 2017
You mean Jesus didn't celebrate his own birth and put up a Christmas tree and get presents from Santa? I find that very hard to believe and it goes against my beliefs. Were you there? Do you know for sure that Joseph and Mary didn't have a Christmas Tree? Haven't you read the bible?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 80
Dec 19, 2017
I might have skimmed over that part.
ander217
+1
Level 79
Dec 17, 2017
I only guessed the saint's feast day from the Christmas carol, "Good King Wenceslaus looked out on the feast of Stephen..."
blinky
+1
Level 60
Feb 17, 2018
I thought it was "on his feets uneven."
roleybob
+1
Level 75
Jan 15, 2020
APHill: do you mean this guy -

Born on Christmas Day

sillie
+1
Level 82
Dec 12, 2017
2nd occurence of Sinterklaas is misspelled. And what about Season's Greetings for a politically correct Merry Christmas?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Dec 12, 2017
Fixed
fireman1953
+1
Level 68
Jul 9, 2020
Happy Holidays was used long before there was any PC crap. Andy Williams had a hit song in the early 60's entitled "Happy Holidays". Most folks use HH because they encompass the whole season which includes New Years and Hannukah.
WT2008
+2
Level 74
Dec 13, 2017
Epiphany type ins: Three Kings Day, Orthodox Christmas, Los Reyes.
samiamco
+1
Level 72
Dec 20, 2017
But Orthodox Christmas is January 7th. And if Quizmaster was for some reason going to accept the Spanish name for Three Kings Day, it would be Día de los Reyes Magos", not just "Los Reyes".
redsplat
+1
Level 75
Dec 9, 2018
I've always known it as Three Kings Day. Please accept this as a type-in. I really enjoyed this quiz by the way, even though I usually avoid Xmas like the plague!
theguy316
+6
Level 45
Dec 16, 2017
did anyone else try Bah Humbug for 2 word greeting made popular in a Christmas carol
HectorVortac
+1
Level 50
Dec 17, 2017
Yep. I actually didn't know the origins of this most common season greeting.
ander217
+1
Level 79
Dec 17, 2017
I tried it first then immediately felt like Scrooge for doing so.
kingoftunes
+1
Level 74
Dec 17, 2017
Yep! I still prefer "Bah Humbug", lol.
divantilya
+2
Level 37
Dec 17, 2017
Kalbahamut is absolutely correct! Christmas is a pagan holiday, and Christ did not order his apostles to celebrate his birth. Besides, he wasn't even born in December, but in October/late September.
WillemLAif
+1
Level 74
Sep 21, 2018
Or, according to other sources, around half a year earlier during summer.
TWM03
+2
Level 59
Sep 24, 2018
Nobody knows what time of year Jesus was actually born. We don't have any evidence and it doesn't say in the Bible (although the Bible isn't an accurate account of Jesus' life in many other respects).
divantilya
+2
Level 37
Sep 8, 2019
TWM03: Jesus was arrested, tried and executed when he was 33 and a half years old. His arrest occurred almost immediately after he celebrated the Jewish Passover with his apostles. The Jewish Passover is typically celebrated in April or late March. Counting six months from April brings you to October and counting six months from March brings you to September. Therefore, he was born in either of those two months.
fireman1953
+1
Level 68
Feb 22, 2020
Please show us in the Bible or other historical texts where it says Jesus was crucified at age 33 1/2.
fatness
+1
Level 29
Dec 17, 2017
i got the first bunch and though it would be easy but them i only got like another quarter very good quiz though.
Saffiemay
+1
Level 50
Oct 30, 2019
Yule came before Christmas and is celebrated on either the 21st or 22nd of December. If you asked a viking celebrating Yule what Christmas was, they'd be very confused.
Gassu
+2
Level 72
Nov 15, 2019
lol I tried Bah Humbug at first
StiDark
+1
Level 59
May 3, 2020
Sinterklaas is the real OG
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