As the world's most popular religion, Christianity has between one and two billion adherents, depending on how you define the term adherent. In the modern times, church attendance and even familiar ceremonies like baptism and marriage have lost much of their appeal. But people still celebrate the more secular and commercial Christian holidays, like Christmas and Easter.
In fact, Christmas is more popular than ever. A recent estimate put the number of people who exchange gifts on December 25th at around two billion. The holiday is incredibly popular in the UK, where it has been celebrated since the 3rd century AD.
Though the first official Christmas did not take place until 596 AD, soon after St. Augustine came to England. At the start, the holiday was little more than a fun and friendly way to convince the Anglo Saxons to accept the Christian religion. And it worked! Over the next century millions of Britons converted to the growing religion and gave ornaments for babys first Christmas to their kids.
In time, the English made the new holiday their own by introducing new Christmas customs and traditions. One of the earliest English Christmas traditions was mumming, which has been traced back to the middle ages. The custom was particularly popular with children who got to wear masks and act out their own holiday plays.
Unlike in the States, the English rarely open their Christmas presents before December 25th. In fact, most families wait until the afternoon before they start exchanging gifts. After the gifts have all been opened, Christmas dinner is served.