10 Beloved Holidays with Surprising Dark Origins Stories

The Dark History Behind Our Most Celebrated Holidays

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the dark history behind our most celebrated holidays.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the surprisingly dark origins behind some of the most cherished, beloved, and widely-practiced holidays.

Which of these stories did you find the most shocking? Let us know in the comments below!

#10: Valentine’s Day

Today, Valentine’s Day is a special day for romantic partners, often involving flowers and chocolate. It’s a far cry from the death of Saint Valentine himself, which was...well, it wasn’t very pretty. Christians were persecuted throughout the Roman Empire from about the first to fourth centuries. Saint Valentine was a Roman clergyman who evangelized the Gospel, ministered to Christians, and allegedly married couples, and it got him in some hot water. Emperor Claudius Gothicus asked Valentine to renounce Christianity and stop evangelizing to the persecuted, but Valentine refused. He was arrested and subsequently executed. He was eventually martyred, and Saint Valentine’s Day was established for February 14 by Pope Gelasius I.

#9: Labor Day

As you can probably imagine, the history behind Labor Day is quite dark. Back in the late 19th century, laboring jobs were notoriously difficult and dangerous. The average laborer could expect long hours, no days off, and excruciating working conditions with little regard for health and safety. In the midst of labor rights debates and an economic depression, the Pullman Strike of 1894 occurred. The strike began in Chicago and quickly spread throughout the United States, significantly disrupting the country’s railroads. Federal troops were brought in to quell the strikes, and the resulting riots caused $80 million in damages and 70 deaths. To help stem the criticism, President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law just a few days after the disastrous strike ended.

#8: Purim

Taking place in either February or March, Purim is a Jewish holiday in which costumes are worn and feasts are enjoyed. It centers around the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible, and the story is not pleasant, to say the least. Esther is chosen to become the wife of Persian king Ahasuerus, and her cousin Mordecai refuses to bow to the King’s primary advisor, Haman. In retaliation, Haman tries to eliminate every Jewish person in the Kingdom. He’s unsuccessful, and the holiday of Purim is held to celebrate the Jewish peoples’ deliverance from total extermination. The exact historical nature of this story is debated, with some believing that King Ahasuerus is a fictionalized version of Xerxes I.

#7: Saint Patrick’s Day

Really, any holiday with a “St.” in front of it is bound to have a morbid story. Living throughout the fifth century, Saint Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. And poor Patrick did not have a good life. Despite being the patron saint of Ireland, Patrick was actually born in Britain. However, he was kidnapped by pirates as a teenager and taken to Ireland as a slave. It was while working as a slave that Patrick discovered Christianity and developed a relationship with God. He later returned home but went back to Ireland as a Christian missionary. But even his life in Ireland was not easy, as he constantly lived as an outsider and was at one time beaten and put in chains.

#6: Halloween

The origin of Halloween is a debate mired in disagreements over historical authenticity. One leading theory is that Halloween is a Christianized version of an old Celtic festival called Samhain. With possible links to paganism, Samhain was also held on October 31 and honored the year’s harvest. Samhain was a dark night, as it was believed that dead relatives and dangerous spirits roamed the streets. The citizens would leave offerings of food to appease the spirits and ensure their survival. Bonfires were also held to drive away evil spirits. Modern trick or treating originated from guising, in which people protected themselves from the evil spirits by dressing as them and collecting food from others on their behalf.

#5: Columbus Day

There’s a reason that Columbus Day has faced such massive opposition throughout the years. Criticism of the holiday really heated up in the early ‘90s, as 1992 marked the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. Much of the criticism is aimed at the character of Columbus himself and the horrors that his arrival kicked off. The colonial expansion, mass killings and deaths are all well documented, as is the brutal enslavement of the local indigenous population. Columbus himself is said to have enslaved and inflicted pain on many. That’s why honoring and celebrating Columbus’ importance but ignoring such heinous atrocities is unacceptable to many today.

#4: Day of the Dead

Despite its eerie name, Día de los Muertos is an uplifting celebration in Mexican culture. Usually celebrated from October 31 to November 2, Day of the Dead is a holiday used to honor the deceased and tell funny anecdotes about their life. But its past is still marred by a dark history. Taking place on the same night as Halloween, it’s believed that Day of the Dead is also descended from Samhain and its European successor, All Saints’ Day. It may also have precedent in historic Aztec tradition, but this is not officially confirmed. The day has also faced intense opposition from the Catholic Church, which holds that Santa Muerte, the personification of death honored during Day of the Dead, is Satanic.

#3: Feast of Corpus Christi

Established in the mid 13th century by Pope Urban IV and taking place on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, the Feast of Corpus Christi is meant to celebrate the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is a Christian rite in which bread and red wine is said to become the flesh and blood of Jesus through a process called “transubstantiation.” The holiday was declared after an event called the Corporal of Bolsena. During a 1263 mass in Bolsena, Italy, the sacramental bread allegedly began bleeding. This allegedly proved the process of transubstantiation, although modern study claims that the “blood” is actually a bacteria called Serratia marcescens.

#2: Thanksgiving

This November holiday shares many of the same criticisms that are aimed at Columbus Day. Days of Thanksgiving had been carried from England to New England by the Pilgrims, and they famously shared a Thanksgiving meal with the Native Americans at Plymouth in 1621. However, this story has been criticized by many in recent years, who see it as a largely embellished story meant to handwave away the atrocities that were committed against the Native Americans. To critics, one example of harmony - and an exaggerated one at that - does not excuse the later horrific cruelty towards the indigenous population at the hands of these so-called “friends.”

#1: Christmas

It’s hard to imagine a holiday cozier than Christmas. Unfortunately, establishing the holiday was itself no holiday. Christmas has been celebrated since at least the year 800, but this changed in 1647 when the Puritans banned the holiday on the basis of public drunkenness. This resulted in riots breaking out across several English cities, as people really wanted to celebrate the holiday. Regardless, the Puritans stuck to their beliefs, claiming that Christmas was associated with the Devil. The holiday was also banned in many areas of Colonial America, as the Pilgrims forbade its celebration. Christmas as we know it today didn’t start until the mid 1800s, and that’s thanks in large part to Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.”