The History of Christmas According to Dan (1 of 5)

We all know the story of the birth of the Christ child that is the basis for this holiday known as Christmas. (Literally meaning Christ's Mass)

If you don't know the story, the cliff notes version goes something like this, virgin conceives child, is told this child is Christ, God says its going to be a rough road, Joseph and Mary make it to Jerusalem, they get kicked out of some hotels, end up in a barn, Jesus is born. There's all sorts of animals like a Disney movie and three really intelligent guys come with gifts. This is the beginning of salvation, grace, Christianity, acts of miracles, and the best selling book of all time.

For a full detailed account, refer to Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20.

Or let my buddy Linus tell you all about it:

In this series, I'm going to focus more on the traditions, commercialisms, and mythology revolving around the holiday.

So where do the holiday traditions come from? What about Santa Claus? What the hell is a Krampus?

Over the next few days, the history of these events will be explained through my filter of what I've read on Wikipedia.