Buddy: According to elf lore, Christmas was invented by Santa Claus himself. He is the one who started the tradition of giving gifts to children on December 25th. However, the holiday has been celebrated in different ways by different cultures throughout history. For example, the ancient Romans had a festival called Saturnalia in December that involved feasting and gift-giving, and the ancient Chinese had a winter solstice festival called Dongzhi. The modern Christmas holiday is a combination of these traditions and more.