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Boxing Day, observed every December 26th, emerges from the shadows of Christmas with a history as fascinating as it is varied. Originating in the Middle Ages, this holiday has evolved from a day of charity and giving to a multifaceted celebration marked by relaxation, sports, and shopping.
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). [1] Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part of Christmas festivities, with many people choosing to shop for deals on Boxing Day.
What do you know about Boxing Day, other than the fact it's a public holiday, and a good time to get a bargain? Have you ever wondered where the name comes from, or what the day has meant over the centuries?
- Overview
- The origins of Boxing Day
- How Boxing Day is celebrated
Celebrated on December 26, this British holiday was likely inspired by one of several charitable traditions. Here are the theories—and how it is observed today.
Celebrated on December 26, Boxing Day isn't named for leftover Christmas gift boxes or the sport of boxing. While its origins are lost to time, many believe the holiday was derived from a British tradition of charitable giving.
The presents are unwrapped, everyone’s stuffed, and Christmas is over. What now?
If you’re British or live in a Commonwealth nation, Christmas doesn’t end on December 25. The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, and the relaxed holiday is a chance to extend the celebration for one more restful day.
Though historians disagree on the exact origin of Boxing Day, it is thought to have grown out of longstanding British traditions of charitable giving and goodwill—practices especially associated with the Christian festival of Saint Stephen’s Day, which is celebrated on December 26.
One of the first deacons of the Christian church, Saint Stephen was killed for his beliefs around A.D 36 and is considered Christianity’s first martyr. Known for serving the poor, Saint Stephen is traditionally celebrated with charity and the distribution of alms.
If you’ve ever heard the carol “Good King Wenceslas,” you may recall that the king tramps through deep snow in a bid to give alms to a poor peasant. The king was a real figure: Saint Wenceslas, a 10th-century Bohemian duke who, according to legend, did noble deeds “on the feast of Stephen”—December 26.
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What is Boxing Day and when is it celebrated? Despite having the word "boxing" in its name, this 19th-century holiday has little to do with jabs or hooks. Learn about the origins of this "bonus holiday" and how it is celebrated today through shopping, feasts, and sport.
There are several theories as to how that charitable tradition became known as “boxing.” Some historians tie the use of the term to boxes of donations that were installed in churches during the pre-Christmas season of Advent in the early days of Christianity during the second and third centuries A.D. The day after Christmas, the boxes were opened and the money distributed to the poor.
Since 1871, Boxing Day has been an official bank holiday in the United Kingdom, which moves the holiday to Monday if it falls on a weekend to give people more time off. It is also celebrated in many former British colonies that remain part of the Commonwealth, such as Canada, Australia, Nigeria, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago.
Though the reasons are lost to history, Boxing Day charity eventually fell out of tradition—and was replaced with physical and material pleasures. Today, the holiday is associated with sports, with major football, rugby, and cricket matches and horseraces taking place on December 26.
Hunting, especially fox hunting, is also beloved on Boxing Day. Though the sport is technically outlawed in England and Wales, a form of it that involves artificial scents tracked by dogs and hunters still takes place; in recent years protesters and hunters have clashed, sometimes violently, during Boxing Day events.
December 26 is also a big shopping day throughout the U.K. and the Commonwealth. The holiday kicks off what is known as “Boxing Week,” during which retailers attempt to move old stock and shoppers vie for one last bargain of the year. In recent years, though, the American tradition of Black Friday—massive sales that take place the day after Thanksgiving each November—has been taking hold in the United Kingdom and has largely overshadowed Boxing Week.
(Black Friday shopping hurts the environment—but you can help.)
Some parts of the world have their own traditions for the day. Though Northern Ireland celebrates Boxing Day, the Republic of Ireland to the south celebrates St. Stephen’s Day instead. And on December 26, pockets of people across the entire island continue the tradition of Wren Day, or Lá an Dreolín.
Dec 26, 2011 · On Boxing Day 2004, a massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami around the Indian Ocean, resulting in the deaths of over 300,000 people. Indonesia was the worst affected country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
Dec 26, 2022 · What is Boxing Day? Boxing Day is also known as St Stephen's Day – Stephen was the first Christian martyr, stoned to death in c34 AD.
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Sep 15, 2024 · Boxing Day, in Great Britain and some Commonwealth countries, particularly Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, holiday (December 26) on which servants, tradespeople, and the poor traditionally were presented with gifts. By the 21st century it had become a day associated with shopping and sporting events.
