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[[Image:Merry Christmas.gif|right|thumb]]
[[Image:Christmas Eve 1862.jpg|right|thumb|Christmas Eve 1862. Christmas was rejected by the Puritans, but it became a national holiday as a result of the Civil War.]]
'''Christmas''' is a holiday on December 25 which celebrates the birth of Jesus. The word "Christmas" comes from "Christ's [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]]." A few churches, including the Russian and Ukrainian churches, still celebrate according to the [[Julian calendar]]. December 25 on the Julian calendar corresponds to January 7 on the [[Gregorian calendar]].
'''Christmas''' is a holiday on December 25 which celebrates the birth of Jesus. The word "Christmas" comes from "Christ's [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]]." A few churches, including the Russian and Ukrainian churches, still celebrate according to the [[Julian calendar]]. December 25 on the Julian calendar corresponds to January 7 on the [[Gregorian calendar]].
====Sextus Julius Africanus====
====Sextus Julius Africanus====
[[Image:Merry Christmas.gif|right|thumb]]
In 221, [[Africanus (Christian historian)|Sextus Julius Africanus]] wrote a universal history that gave the spring equinox not only as the first day of Creation, but also as the date of incarnation.<ref name=NewCath>"Christmas and its cycle", ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', 2nd edition, 2002, Catholic University of America Press. vol. 3, pp. 550–557.</ref> On the Roman calendar, the equinox was March 25, now celebrated as Annunciation. From this, it can be calculated that Jesus was born in December, nine months later.<ref>Africanus did not calculate the date of birth himself. (Hijmans, p. 585, footnote 8.)</ref>
In 221, [[Africanus (Christian historian)|Sextus Julius Africanus]] wrote a universal history that gave the spring equinox not only as the first day of Creation, but also as the date of incarnation.<ref name=NewCath>"Christmas and its cycle", ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', 2nd edition, 2002, Catholic University of America Press. vol. 3, pp. 550–557.</ref> On the Roman calendar, the equinox was March 25, now celebrated as Annunciation. From this, it can be calculated that Jesus was born in December, nine months later.<ref>Africanus did not calculate the date of birth himself. (Hijmans, p. 585, footnote 8.)</ref>