History of Christmas

The History Channel had a really interesting retrospective on Christmas last year, here's an overview. I think it's well known that Christmas was originally a pagan holiday, but did you know that back in the day, the "common folk" would get out of control crazy rowdy drunk on that day, which led to the celebration being outlawed at one point? Then, because the outlaw couldn't be effectively enforced, the Christian church (who was trying to convert pagan followers to Christianity) attempted to change what the holiday represented..ie, birth of baby Jesus. Charles Dickens then wrote The Christmas Carol, which re-imagined how Christmas was celebrated. And due to the immense success of the novel, his ideas became envogue and rather than getting crazy out of control drunk in the streets, people began celebrating with families around a tree (which had also become envogue) and quietly feasting and giving thanks, and eventually loving Jesus. Interesting stuff.