Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Tori. It's Tuesday, December 25th, Christmas Day 2018.

So we begin with the reason Christmas lands on December 25th.

It's actually a bit of a mystery.

The Bible doesn't specify the date of Jesus's birth,

and early Christians debated the topic for years.

They first thought it was January 6th, but by the fourth century they changed their minds to December 25th.

Some sources say this new date was purposely chosen to draw attention away from a pagan winter solstice ritual that fell on the same day.

Others say that's not true.

All we know for sure is that regardless of the reason why, the date stuck.

And while it's celebrated on the same date, the holiday looks really different in other

parts of the world.

Just a few examples, in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, it's customary for the streets to be blocked off on Christmas Eve

so that people can roller skate to church.

In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by one of the wise men's camels.

An artificial spider and web are often included in the

decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees to bring good luck.

And there's quite a variety of Christmas traditions when it comes to food.

In Ireland, instead of cookies and milk, Santa is greeted by a pint of Guinness and

mince pie.

It's a British Christmas custom that a wish made while mixing the Christmas pudding will come true

only if the ingredients are stirred in a clockwise direction, and each family member has a stir of the mix.

And in Japan, Christmas would not be complete without a bucket of Kentucky

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