Boxing Day is today, but what is it? This public holiday that
has become synonymous with shopping and sporting events, but its
origins are a mystery even to many British expatriates. Boxing
Day typically falls the day after Christmas, on December 26.
Celebrated across Britain and much of the Commonwealth,
including Canada and New Zealand - Boxing Day is a public
holiday that is commonly associated with shopping and sporting
events. Beyond that, its origins – even for Brits – are a bit
fuzzy. The story goes that Queen Victoria declared Boxing Day an
official holiday in the mid-19th century. It functioned as the
servants' day off, and it was custom among landholders to give
presents and food - enclosed in boxes. But when it first was
observed is unknown, reports Philly.com. “The common thread, we
were always told, was it began in the Middle Ages,” Howard
Silverstone, 52, a forensic accountant who moved to the United
States from North London almost three decades ago was quoted in
Philly.com. Something to do with