Out with two international friends recently, my German friend inquired of our plans for "Second Christmas," to which my Australian friend responded, you mean "Boxing Day," to which I said "I beg your pardon, on either account?"

I'd never heard of such days and thought maybe our wine had illuminated conversations a bit more imaginatively than usual.  Turns-out, however, that Wikipedia confirmed both accounts later that evening.  Not only were both holidays legit, but they exposed overflowing layers to my current comprehensions of December 25th.  I won't bore you with all my searching, but below is a quite interesting etymology of "Boxing Day."

The name derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants. The traditional recorded celebration of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to charitable institutions, the needy and people in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era. In the United Kingdom it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their 'Christmas boxes' or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas. The establishment of Boxing Day as a defined public Holiday under the legislation that created the UK's Bank Holidays started the separation of 'Boxing Day' from the 'Feast of St Stephen' and today it is almost entirely a secular holiday with a tradition of shopping and post Christmas sales starting.