See Christmas traditions from around the world

See how Advent traditions vary widely around the world

Advent is celebrated in distinct ways across countries—Chinese Christians hang colorful lanterns, Mexicans reenact Las Posadas processions, Germans light weekly wreath candles, and Hungarians attend dawn matins—reflecting how local cultures shape the season’s preparation.

See what people around the world eat for Christmas

Christmas meals vary widely around the world: the British serve roast turkey and Christmas pudding, many Italians celebrate with seafood-only feasts, Filipinos eat whole spit-roasted pigs, and Mexican families enjoy tamales.

Check out Valentine's Day traditions from around the world

Valentine's Day is a holiday all about romance, but the way that's expressed differs depending on where the celebration takes place. This list breaks down some interesting takes on the holiday from across the globe, including mass weddings in the Philippines and Japan's gender-specific chocolate exchanges.

Thirty weird facts about Christmas trees

From its fascinating origin to how yours is grown today, these incredible Christmas tree facts will add a little bit more wonder to your holiday season.

Norse Yule solstice rituals inspired many modern Christmas decorations

Scandinavian Vikings celebrated Yule during the winter solstice, burning massive, decorated logs to protect their homes and ensure good harvests, while hoping for the sun's return. The festival included evergreens, mistletoe, holly, and ivy.

Firework-related celebrations include an annual summer celebration in El Salvador, where residents throw kerosene-soaked balls to commemorate a 1658 volcanic eruption

Another memorable tradition takes place in Vrontados, Greece, with people in two rival churches firing bottle rockets at each other's bell towers in an event known as the Rocket War. Yet another tradition occurs in Tainan City, Taiwan, fifteen days into the Chinese lunar calendar, with celebrants donning protective gear and attempting to get hit by fireworks—a tradition dating back to the late 1800s when residents asked the god of war for help with a raging cholera epidemic, with a similar display.

Day of the Dead is celebrated across the world

While almost all celebrations involve cemeteries and altars, many countries also have their own unique traditions, including Bolivia’s staircase-shaped bread to help lead souls to heaven, and Haiti’s voodoo-influenced rituals.

Christmas carols evolved from medieval folk songs to modern holiday staples

Christmas carols began as communal folk songs in medieval Europe, and were later adapted into religious hymns. Revived in England in the 19th century, they have become a core holiday tradition around the world.

Track Santa and his industrious elves

Starting in December, you can follow along with Santa’s trek across the globe. Spend time on the map, play games, and even translate your holiday messages into other languages.

A list of Carnival celebrations from around the world

Mardi Gras might be associated with New Orleans, but cities across the globe also celebrate Carnival with similar festivities. This list breaks down nine of the most popular, including masquerade balls in Venice, Creole celebrations in Cape Verde, and the Battle of the Flowers in France.

Countries that celebrate Easter

Easter is observed as a national holiday in more than 95 countries, with traditions varying wildly—from water fights in Hungary to crime novel reading in Norway—reflecting how thoroughly Christian practice has mixed with local culture.

Dutch immigrants to America brought 'Sinterklaas,' a tradition of gift-giving to children

Dutch settlers brought Sinterklaas—their tradition of celebrating Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6 with gifts for children—to 17th-century New Amsterdam (now New York), where American culture eventually reimagined the bishop into our modern portrayal of Santa Claus.

A look at some of the world's most unique churches

From a skeleton-adorned church in the Czech Republic to wooden churches built without nails in Russia, this video explores some of Christianity's most intriguing architectural feats. These places of worship were built in remote areas throughout history, and show amazing innovation. See a fascinating glimpse into the overlooked structures, along with stories of how and why they came to be.

Rockwell helped define the American Christmas

Rockwell painted 30 Christmas covers for the Saturday Evening Post. Drawing on his love of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Rockwell placed the holiday’s unofficial traditions in an American context, with images of eager children, snow-covered small towns, and warm family meals.

A Spanish New Year's Eve tradition is eating 12 grapes at midnight

When midnight hits, participants in Spain, as well as Mexico and some Latin American countries, are encouraged to eat a grape for each of the clock’s strikes. (We’re assuming they’ve got some nice grandfather clocks!) The tradition is intended to bring good luck in the new year. The idea is believed to have originated in the 1890s, but took off when Spanish grape farmers had a surplus harvest.

'Christmas Past' examines the forgotten stories behind holiday traditions

“Christmas Past” is a long-running podcast that explores the origins of Christmas traditions through short and engaging episodes, blending historical deep dives with warm-hearted narration.

A Swedish town erects a giant straw Christmas goat each year—often burned down by pranksters

Each year, the town of Gävle builds a giant straw Christmas goat, which pranksters often burn, despite heightened security measures. Notable attacks include arsonists dressed as Santa and gingerbread men firing flaming arrows and hackers disabling cameras before torching the goat.

A town in Peru holds a massive fistfight on Christmas

In Santo Tomás, Peru, Christmas Day features Takanakuy—organized public brawls where residents settle disputes through ritualized fistfights. The tradition, rooted in Andean customs, acts as a communal reset before the new year.

The Slavic Ded Moroz is a more secular version of Santa Claus

Atheism was long a central part of Soviet politics. One facet was an attempt to wipe out religious holidays, Christmas (and Santa) included. Ded Moroz, or Father Frost, is the Soviet version of Santa, who also travels by carriage and has a long white beard.

Visualize the global Venezuelan diaspora

This visualization maps Venezuela’s mass diaspora, showing how millions have fled abroad—primarily to Latin America, with significant flows to the US and Europe—creating one of the most significant displacement crises in the world.

College football is deeply rooted in tradition on and off the field

From marching bands and fight songs to rivalries and pregame rituals, college football’s pageantry binds generations of fans—making tradition as much a part of the sport’s identity as the games themselves.

The season celebrates Jesus' birth and anticipates the Second Coming of Christ

The Christian Bible’s New Testament features four gospels, or lives of Jesus, each of which describes the birth of Jesus in different ways (or does not mention it). Historians, both secular and religious, have sought to contextualize the biblical accounts with empirical evidence.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Visualizing the symbols and history of world flags

More than 200 world flags feature high-intent designs, projecting ideals and values to the world through archetypal symbols, colors, and shapes. This page effectively depicts the data behind symbol and shape usage, how much each country's flag has changed over time, the most popular colors used, and more in a series of elegantly simple charts.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

How the Winter Games used to look

Using archival footage from the first Winter Olympics in 1924 to the present day, this video explores 100 years of Winter Olympic competition. Watch different eras of ski jumping, figure skating, and bobsledding. See how athletes use the facilities year-round to train. And learn how swimming facilities used for the Summer Games are transformed into curling ice for the Winter Games.

A painting of coaster-enthusiast Catherine the Great visiting an ice slide

Catherine the Great, the former empress of Russia, loved riding ice slides so much she added wheels to her sleigh to continue the fun during warmer seasons. This 18th century painting depicts her being led from her palace towards the icy slopes.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.