For many Americans, Christmas is the most important holiday of the year. Not just because of the gifts, but because of the time spent with family and friends. But how many of us really know how this holiday really began?

A celebration of light and birth during the dark days of winter was held by early Europeans long before the birth of Jesus.

This celebration was always held in the middle of winter after the winter solstice. They rejoiced during this time because it meant that the worst of winter was behind them. This meant that they would soon see longer days with more sunlight.

The Norse of Scandinavia began their celebration of Yule on Dec. 21, which was the winter solstice. Their celebration went all the way through January. Fathers and sons of that culture would bring home logs to set on fire. This was to symbolize the return of the sun.

During Christianity's early days, the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. It was not until the fourth century that church officials made Jesus' birth a holiday. Pope Julius I was the one who decided the celebration should be held on Dec. 25; it's believed that this date was chosen in an effort to absorb the traditions of the Saturnalia festival, a pagan holiday in honor of Saturn who was the god of agriculture.

The holiday was originally called the Feast of the Nativity, and it was eventually celebrated in England by the sixth century. Church leaders chose to celebrate Christmas at the same time as the winter solstice celebration so that more people would chose to embrace it.

For the original celebration of Christmas, believers would attend church. After this, they would begin to drink. A lot. While celebrating, they would crown a beggar the "lord of misrule." The rich people would be bombarded by his loyal subjects who demanded their finest food and drinks.

When religious reform began to happen in England, they decided to get rid of Christmas. The holiday returned when Charles II took the throne. When the pilgrims came to America, they did not celebrate Christmas. It was even outlawed from 1659 to 1681 in Boston. A five shilling fine was issued to anyone exhibiting Christmas spirit. But in the Jamestown settlement, Christmas was celebrated and enjoyed by all of it's citizens.

Christmas was not declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

Christmas was soon seen as the perfect family holiday. But within the next 100 years, the focus of Christmas soon began to change. Americans built their own holiday traditions that didn't focus on the original ideas of Christmas. They began to decorate trees, send cards and give gifts to one another.

Check out www.historychannel.com for more information about the past, present and future of Christmas.