Where Holiday Traditions Come From

Believe it or not, there was once a time when there was no Santa, no Christmas gifts, no menorah, no Valentine's Day, and no New Year's Eve ball drop. So where did they come from? Well, in the case of Christmas, the holiday we know now is believed to be a melding of both a celebration of the birth of Christ and earlier, pagan winter celebrations like Saturnalia, the Roman sun-god holiday of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, and the Germanic Yule. (Life - Your World in Pictures)