Turns out, it was the Greeks. Χριστος is how you write "Christ" in Greek and writers (including people who transcribed the Bible) have been using "X" as a convenient abbreviation of that since at least the 3rd and 4th centuries.
Who put the "X" in "Xmas"
- COMMENTS
- History
- holidays
- languages
- religion
Kottke.org is 25 years old
Jason Kottke's been blogging at kottke.org for 25 years. It's an absurd understatement to say that the web has changed a lot in the nearly 30 years since I experienced… READ THE REST
Harriet Tubman statue replaces one of slaver in Newark, New Jersey
A statue celebrating 15th-century slaver Christopher Columbus was removed from Newark, New Jersey, in 2020. It was replaced over the weekend by one of Harriet Tubman, a woman born into… READ THE REST
One man's crusade to digitize millions of newspaper pages
Since 1999, Thomas Tryniski has been diligently scanning newspapers from microfilm to his free online archive, Fulton History. Currently there are over 51 million pages from American and Canadian papers… READ THE REST
Fill your space with vivid colors from this galaxy lamp, now only $40
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. With spring just around the corner,… READ THE REST
Get organized with Microsoft Office for Mac or Windows for a one-time payment of $40
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. It's no mystery why Microsoft is… READ THE REST
Easily master languages on Babbel for $149 for a limited time only
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Learning a new language can seem… READ THE REST