Christmas is celebrated in over 160 countries, each with its own distinctive traditions. In Germany, the Advent calendar tradition dates back to the 19th century, where families count down the 24 days before Christmas with small gifts or chocolates behind numbered doors. The tradition has since spread worldwide and remains one of the most beloved ways to mark the days until December 25.

In Iceland, the 13 Yule Lads visit children one by one during the 13 nights before Christmas, each leaving a small gift in shoes placed on windowsills. In Japan, Christmas Eve has become a popular date night, and eating KFC fried chicken on December 25 is a beloved national tradition that started from a 1974 marketing campaign. Australians celebrate a summer Christmas with barbecues on the beach, while in the Philippines, the Christmas season begins as early as September and is the longest in the world.

The tradition of the Christmas tree originated in 16th-century Germany, where devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Prince Albert popularized it in Britain in the 1840s when he and Queen Victoria were depicted standing around a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle. Today, the Rockefeller Center tree in New York, typically a Norway Spruce towering 70 to 100 feet, is one of the most famous Christmas trees in the world and has been lit every year since 1933.

The idea of counting down to Christmas has deep roots in Christian tradition. The Advent season, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, has been observed since at least the 6th century as a period of anticipation and preparation. The first known Advent calendar was a handmade creation from 1851 in Germany, where families would mark chalk lines on doors or light candles to count the days.

Gerhard Lang is credited with producing the first printed Advent calendar in the early 1900s, inspired by a calendar his mother made for him as a child with 24 colored pictures attached to cardboard. The commercial printed versions with little doors hiding pictures appeared in the 1920s, and the addition of chocolate behind each door became popular in the 1950s. Today, Advent calendars come in endless varieties, from luxury beauty products to craft beer, LEGO sets, and even digital countdowns.

The Advent wreath, another countdown tradition, originated among German Lutherans in the 16th century. The wreath holds four candles, one lit each Sunday of Advent, symbolizing the increasing light as Christmas approaches. A fifth candle, the Christ candle, is sometimes added and lit on Christmas Day itself.