Random News: December 25, 2022

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s December 25, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. It’s Christmas Day. I haven’t missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can.

• Merry Christmas.
• What is Christmas?
• Well, it’s a day commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. He was a first century Jewish preacher and religious leader. His actual name was probably Yeshua.
• He probably wasn’t born on December 25, but that day works as well as any.
• I find it very likely that Jesus existed. There is a lot of historical evidence that mostly confirms this. He seems like he was a good dude and had some good ideas, so the authorities killed him, which also seems very believable.
• As to whether or not you consider yourself a Christian — the world’s largest religion, I should mention — Christmas is both a religious and cultural celebration. Elements of what we consider traditional Christmas celebrations draw from a wide mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and completely secular themes and origins.
• Many of the elements that are nearly universal about Christmas in America and elsewhere, such as gift giving and Santa Claus and putting a tree inside your home, have little or nothing at all to do with the religious observance of the holiday.
• But that’s fine.
• Perhaps the best aspect of Christmas, or so I believe, does come straight from Christianity, which is a phrase from the Bible (Luke 2:14)… 
• “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
• I am all about peace and goodwill. Definitely yes.
• One reason that Christmas never seems to lose popularity is that it’s one of the huge driving forces of the economy in many countries.
• Not to be cynical or anything, but a lot of holidays come and go. This one has major corporate support and the bash registers are ringing over most of the planet. It’s not going anywhere!
• So, you certainly don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy Christmas. I like almost everything about it, from the gift giving to the food to the music to the decorations to the overall vibe of peace.
• And now, The Weather: “Amberlit Morning” by Joan Shelley feat. Bill Callahan
• Today in history… First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome (336). The coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome (800). William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London (1066). The Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch (1492). Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage (1758). George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day (1776). The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance (1815). United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans (1868). A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front of WWI to celebrate Christmas (1914). Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat (1977). Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union and the union itself is dissolved the next day (1991). The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005 (2004). An explosion in Nashville, Tennessee occurs, leaving three civilians in the hospital (2020). The James Webb Space Telescope is launched (2021).
• December 25 is the birthday of physicist/mathematician Isaac Newton (1642), diarist/poet Dorothy Wordsworth (1771), nurse/humanitarian Clara Barton (1821), busiensswoman/philanthropist Helena Rubinstein (1872), race car driver/businessman Louis Chevrolet (1878), businessman Conrad Hilton (1887), actor Humphrey Bogart (1899), singer/bandleader Cab Calloway (1907), screenwriter/producer Rod Serling (1924), anthropologist/author Carlos Castaneda (1925), singer-songwriter O'Kelly Isley Jr. (1937), keyboardist Bob James (1939), NFL player Ken Stabler (1945), singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett (1946), NFL player Larry Csonka (1946), singer Merry Clayton (1948), actress Sissy Spacek (1949), singer-songwriter Annie Lennox (1954), singer Alannah Myles (1958), singer-songwriter Dido (1971), and Canada prime minister Justin Trudeau (1971).

Merry Christmas. Enjoy your day.