Christmas Countdown

33 days, 22 hours, 28 minutes, 34 seconds until Santa arrives.

On This Day

December 1

  • The movie "Christmas Vacation" was released in theaters (1989)
  • The Pennsylvania Trust Company, of Carlisle, PA, became the first bank in the in the U.S. to offer a Christmas Club account (1909)

December 2

  • Gene Autry's song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," hit the record charts (1949)

December 3

  • "Do They Know It's Christmas" single written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure (1984)

December 5

  • Was the night (and still in some parts of Europe) when St. Nicholas brought Christmas presents solely for the children.

December 6

  • St Nicholas Day (my birthday!)

December 8

  • "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered on CBS (1965)

December 11

  • The movie "The Muppet Christmas Carol" is released (1992)

December 13

December 15

  • Beatles release "Christmas Time is Here Again" (1967)

December 16

  • "Jingle Bells" was the first song played in space by astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra on Gemini 6 (1965)

December 18

  • Christmas observed in Armenia
  • The Nutcracker was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg (1892)

December 19

  • Mrs. Claus first appeared in the short story “A Christmas Legend” written by James Rees (1843)
  • Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol" is published (1843)

December 22

  • The first string of electric lights decorating a Christmas tree was created for his house by Edward H. Johnson (1882)

December 23

  • "A Visit From St. Nicholas", also known as" The Night Before Christmas", was published (1823)

December 24

  • Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for "Silent Night" to words written by Josef Mohr (1818)
  • An unofficial ‘ceasefire’ on the Western Front, the “Christmas truce” began between Britain and German armies – WWI (1914)
  • For the first time ever, a midnight Mass was broadcast on television. It was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City (1948)
  • NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition (1955)

December 25

  • Western Church selects December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (273)
  • Christmas first observed as a holiday in England (521)
  • Bing Crosby premiered ‘White Christmas’ on his weekly radio show (1941)

December 26

January 6

  • Orthodox Christmas and Epiphany for Catholics (the day the Three Wise Men arrive in Bethlehem).

January 6

  • Last day of the Christmas season.

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