The Craziest Things That Happened On Christmas Day Throughout History Fototeca Storica Nazionale./Getty Images
By Marina Manoukian/Dec. 19, 2020 9:06 pm EDT
Although some people associate December 25th with Christmas, there are so many different things that have happened on December 25th throughout history, some associated with Christmas and some having very little to do with it. With other events, it s unclear whether or not December 25th was deliberately chosen.
The first recorded celebration of Christmas occurred in the year 336 AD, but at that point it wasn t an official Roman state festival yet. At the time, Saturnalia was also celebrated around the same time, and as Christianity grew in popularity, the two celebrations were unified to make things easier. And within 2,000 years, almost every printed calendar started denoting December 25th as Christmas.
Cao Cao and his seventy-two decoy tombs – so which one is real?
Cao Cao (155 to 220 AD) was a warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty. Although he is often portrayed as a cruel and merciless tyrant, Cao Cao was also praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius. According to legend, Cao Cao made a careful plan before his death – to prevent looters disturbing his peace after death, he had 72 coffins made, which were carried out to 72 separate burial sites on the day of his funeral. In 2009, the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau claimed to have found Cao Cao’s tomb, however, many experts are sceptical as to whether it really is the final resting place of the infamous ruler.