Winter Solstice

The winter solstice falls on the shortest day and longest night of the year.http://www.longislandpress.com/2010/12/21/first-day-of-winter-winter-begins-today/ The event officially marks the astrological beginning of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. During the winter solstice, the sun is at its lowest arc in the sky.http://www.astronomynotes.com/nakedeye/s5.htm

The winter solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun. Depending on the Gregorian calendar, the December solstice occurs annually on a day between December 20 and December 23. On this date, all places above a latitude of 66.5 degrees north are now in darkness, while locations below a latitude of 66.5 degrees south receive 24 hours of daylight.http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html

The winter solstice normally occurs on December 21 or December 22 though rarely it will occur on the 20th or 23rd. The last occurrence of it landing on December 23 was in 1903 and will not happen again until 2303, while the next December 20 one is due to occur in the year 2080.http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html

The winter solstice for 2010 falls on December 21.http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/WinterSolstice.html

The winter solstice has been celebrated with cultural and religious ceremonies to mark the gradual return of the sun for thousands of years. The Ancient Romans held a week-long festival caclled Saturnalia, honoring the God Saturn, around the time of the winter solstice. Iranians celebrate the winter solstice with the Shabe-Yalda festival, which means "birthday" or "rebirth" of the sun.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121301889_pf.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1220_021220_solstice.html

The Hopis Indians have a month long celebration called Soyal that is observed with rituals they believe will ensure the victory of light over darkness.http://www.clarkfoundation.org/astro-utah/vondel/solsticewin.html Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations.http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/SolsticeArticle.htmlhttp://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/winter-solstice.htm

Zoroastrians celebrated the festival of Sada, lighting huge bonfires at sunset, with the blaze of the fire representing the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. http://www.clarkfoundation.org/astro-utah/vondel/FestivalsOfLight.html