Singers in Lviv, Ukraine, before the traditional Christmas Stars Parade during Orthodox Christmas in January 2023.
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When you sing together, what you really get for Christmas isn’t just more socks or the latest techno gadget – it’s the real gift of joyful human connection.
Public Christmas trees, like Rockefeller Center’s famous tree, didn’t start appearing in the U.S. until the 20th century.
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Evergreens have long served as symbols of life during the bleakness of winter. But Queen Victoria spurred the tradition that has become a global phenomenon.
As you make your yuletide preparations, ever wonder where some of the season’s strange words come from? Well, our linguistic experts have the answers.
Christmas tours to mansions often present a ‘magical’ experience to tourists, but they ignore the realities of the lives of slaves who worked there.
Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau/Flickr
Fictional accounts of white Southerners make it seem like it was fun to be a slave on a plantation at holiday time. Many of today’s tours repeat such stories.
Two centuries on, this beautiful prayer for peace still brings people together around the world.
This undated score, written by Joseph Mohr and titled ‘Weynachts Lied’ (‘Christmas Carol’), is the earliest known surviving copy of ‘Silent Night.’
Salzburg Museum
Over 200 years ago, an Austrian priest teamed up with a schoolteacher to perform the first rendition of ‘Silent Night.’ Little did they know that it would one day be sung in over 300 languages.
Most children are not likely to believe that fish live on the moon. What makes children accept some stories and be skeptical about others?
Carolling wasn’t just for Christmas back in the day. Easter, New Year, and even political events such as battles were occasions for carol singing.
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Good Christian Men, Rejoice dates from the 14th century; O Come, All Ye Faithful may contain covert Jacobite symbolism and Silent Night is now UNESCO recognised.
The carol ‘Silent Night’ has been translated into 140 languages and renditions have been sung by everyone, from Bing Crosby to Chewbacca. This is the story behind its success.