Christmas

                    Christmas is known as the day we celebrate Jesus' birth.  But it wasn't always originally celebrated for this purpose.  The first idea of Christmas was based  on the Winter Solstice which occurred annually. This was where the earth saw its longest night. Europeans believed this was the time of the rebirth of the sun. Around this time was also when Romans would celebrate the festival of   Saturnalia which was their way of honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture. This celebration lasted from December 17th to December 24th. It was custom for people to feast, gamble, and exchange gifts during this time. Slaves were allowed to disobey their masters when ever they pleased and children had more authority over the adults throughout the seven day festival.
        In the 4th century, church leaders within the Christian churchgoer chose to make the 25th of December the day and night that the feast of Nativity was to be celebrated on. For this occasion, people would fine together, come to good terms with one another and exchange gifts. Again, the date of this  celebration was very close to that of the winter solctise and Saturnalia.
         It wasn't until the 9th century that the start of the Modern Christmas started to form. People adopted traditions from the Roman and European festivals since the dates, concept, and customs were all very similar. Christmas about feasting, drinking, being civil with one another, giving gifts as a sign of peace and friendship, and caroling for money. In this century, Christmas came in third for popularity status, next to Good Friday and Easter.
         The Christmas we are familiar with today developed during the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century. Christmas was then seen as a Christian holiday since the idea of the birth of Jesus on this day came about. So over time, it became celebrated for Jesus rather than the winter solctise and Saturnalia.
      During the 20th century, the focus on Christmas became more commercial and people celebrate it either for the religious meanings behind it or to think of others and participate in the time of giving and putting others before themselves. It's now the most celebrated and most popular holiday worldwide.

Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/Christmas
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm
http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/
http://www.benbest.com/history/xmas.html
http://x4mr.blogspot.ca/2010/12/christmas-winter-solstice-history.html