Fireworks and wild parties on Christmas Eve? Does this sound strange to you? Well, it wasn't strange to many Americans of our past. Yet, it was highly offensive to many others.

How America began to celebrate Christmas and celebrate as it does now, is a multicultural story written by many immigrant groups - from the Pilgrims of the 1620s to the Protestants of the 1960s. And then... there is the story behind December 25th. Why the 25th? Why December? Why not March or April? The latter two more historical sense. My guest, Dr. Roberts is a Professor of History and Online Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Liberty University. His research interests include early American intellectual and economic history. He has lectured and published widely in the fields of the American Founding, monetary and banking history, American intellectual life, and Southern literature. He has been a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church of America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Here is the White House Historical Association, which tells the history of Christmas at the White House.

Also, listen to the real history of Thanksgiving as told by Dr. David Silverman of George Washington University: https://bit.ly/HbN-S3E46

I hope you enjoy this episode.

Adel, host & producer

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1. 🎵 attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music
   promoted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
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3. Santur: Arpegio performed on a Persian santur, recorded with an oktava mk012 mic. This
   piece has been edited into shorter segments, its volume adjusted, and played in different parts of this podcast. ⁠⁠⁠https://freesound.org/people/nsmusic/sounds/259692/ ⁠⁠⁠ Music available on ⁠⁠⁠https://freesound.org/⁠ ⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) ⁠⁠ ⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ⁠⁠