why is christmas celebrated. what is the story behind christmas?

Answer :Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday generally observed on December 25 (with alternative days of January 6, 7 and 19) to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The exact birthday of Jesus is not known, and historians place his year of birth some time between 7 BC and 2 BC. The supposed details of his birth are recorded in two of the Canonical gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. The date of Christmas may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after Christians believe Jesus to have been conceived, the date of the Roman winter solstice,] or one of various ancient winter festivals. Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.[

Answer :Christmas Facts Each year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger. In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today\'s Mardi Gras parties. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings. Christmas wasn\'t a holiday in early America—in fact Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the country\'s first Christmas under the new constitution. Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870. The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith\'s 1607 Jamestown settlement. Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828. The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s. Rudolph, \"the most famous reindeer of all,\" was the product of Robert L. May\'s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store. Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.