Portal:Holidays/Selected article/10

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The Winter Solstice or Midwinter occurres around December 21 or 22 each year in the northern hemisphere, and June 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the shortest day and the longest night of the year, when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equatorial plane. Worldwide, interpretation of the event varies from culture to culture, but most hold a recognition of rebirth, involving festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near of the winter solstice; examples of these include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and HumanLight.

Some midwinter celebrations still centre upon December 25th, which was the winter solstice upon the establishment of the Julian calendar. The difference between the Julian calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days) moved the day associated with the actual astronomical solstice forward approximately three days every four centuries until Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the solstice to around December 21st. In the Gregorian calendar, the solstice moves around a bit but in the long term it moves only about one day in 3000 years.