Christmas History Quiz

1. What is the earliest recorded year of a December 25 celebration of Christ’s birth in Rome?

2. A soldier’s letter reports informal carol singing, meetings between opposing troops, and brief pauses in fighting during December 1914. On which front did these Christmas Truce events occur?

3. An archive holds a mass-produced holiday greeting designed in Britain in 1843 at the request of civil servant Henry Cole. What is it?

4. A medieval manuscript uses an X-shaped Greek letter as an abbreviation for Christ in the word later written as “Xmas.” What does the X represent?

5. The historical Saint Nicholas served as a bishop in Myra, a city located in which present-day country?

6. A historian finds descriptions of Roman winter celebrations involving feasting, gifts, and temporary relaxation of social conventions. Which festival is being described?

7. A museum is tracing early modern European customs involving decorated evergreen trees inside homes. Which region should receive particular attention?

8. Some Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on January 7 in the Gregorian civil calendar. What historical calendar difference explains this date?

9. An illustrated British newspaper in 1848 showed a royal family gathered around a decorated Christmas tree. Which couple’s popularity helped spread this custom in Britain?

10. Where was “Silent Night” first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818?

11. In which year did Christmas become a U.S. federal holiday?

12. Which influential Christmas work did Charles Dickens publish in 1843?

13. A member of England’s Parliament in 1647 argues that traditional Christmas festivities encourage Catholic practice and public disorder. Which policy would this argument most directly support?

14. A military account describes troops crossing an icy Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776. Which event followed?

15. In 1955, a child called a military operations number after seeing a misprinted department-store advertisement. Which Christmas tradition eventually grew from this mistake?

16. A colonial court record from 1659 fines residents for observing Christmas instead of treating it as an ordinary working day. Which colony produced such a law?