Christmas

'Merry Christmas' Victorian illustration of Santa Claus holding toys and blowing on a trumpet, chromolithograph, 1915. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

Father Christmas and Santa Claus: a brief history of two Christmas champions

Zwarte Piet: the history behind the Christmas controversy

Illustration showing Roman Saturnalia banquet. (Photo by Alamy)

Saturnalia: the origins of the debauched Roman 'Christmas'

A Victorian Christmas

What was Christmas like in the Victorian era?

A brief history of turkeys, plus why we eat a turkey dinner at Christmas

Britons watch Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message in 1958. (© Topfoto)

A brief history of the Christmas Speech

A curious history of Christmas.

History Advent Calendar 2019

Advent calendar 2019: 24 facts about Christmas through history

A vintage colour postcard, possibly produced to send Christmas greetings from the frontline, somewhere on the Western Front, during the First World War, c1918. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Christmas10 ways Christmas was celebrated during the First World War.

Westminster Abbey, London

A brief history of Westminster Abbey

2019 Christmas history podcast quiz.

A 15th-century miniature from 'La Vraye Histoire du Bon Roy Alixandre'. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

6 Christmas party tips from the past.

How America captured Christmas.

A stained glass depiction of the nativity.

The history of the nativity: how much is known about the birth of Jesus?.

A c1880 Christmas card shows a frog committing murder

Carrots, goblins and killer frogs: an unexpected history of Christmas.

Turkeys, bred in Norfolk, cover the facade of a London butcher's shop, 1929. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Shop ’till you drop: a brief history of Christmas shopping.

Photo by Dreamstime

2018 Christmas history podcast quiz.

Tudor advent calendar

24 facts about Christmas in the Tudor period

English crime writer Agatha Christie and her daughter, Rosalind, are featured in a newspaper article reporting the mysterious disappearance of the novelist, 1926. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

8 weird things that have happened during the festive season through history

How did Henry VIII and Elizabeth I celebrate Yuletide? (Illustration by Becca Thorne for BBC History Magazine)

Tales from a Tudor Christmas.

Shapes for pies from T Hall, The Queen's Royal Cookery, 1713.

The taste of Christmas past: 4 historical festive recipes.

Mince pies date back to the Crusaders during the Middle Ages. (Photo by Laura Kate Bradley via Getty Images)

Q&AWhen were mince pies first made?

Festive QI facts: 8 things you (probably) didn’t know about the history of Christmas

5 festive facts from BBC Two’s QI

Christmas celebrations: the old versus the new.

Photo of a Canadian postage stamp

Q&AWhen was the first Christmas stamp issued?

Victorian Christmas: 3 recipes to try at home.

Party For Orphans

Postwar refugees: nowhere to go for Christmas.