Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, with retailers offering a variety of deals to customers. This is analogous to Black Friday in the United States, which occurs the day after Thanksgiving. Boxing Day gained its name during Queen Victoria’s reign in the 1800s, and it has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, contrary to widespread belief.
Many ideas exist as to why the day is known as Boxing Day. According to one hypothesis, the name refers to Christmas charity drives in which the wealthy donated “boxes” of gifts to the less fortunate. On Boxing Day, servants were granted a day off and unique Christmas boxes from their employers.
The churches would collect money from tourists as part of a donation drive, according to another hypothesis. This money would be kept in a box and only opened during the Christmas season. The money was distributed to the poor on Boxing Day. The day has religious importance as well. The feast day of St. Stephen, the patron saint of horses, is on December 26. On this day, a number of sporting events are held.
Every year from December 26 to 30, the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) hosts the Boxing Day Test match in Australia. New Zealand and South Africa also host test matches. In the 1950 Ashes Series, Australia and England played the first Boxing Day Test match.
That game, on the other hand, was played from December 22 to 27, with the fourth day coming on Christmas Day. The Melbourne Cricket Club and the Australian cricket team did not win the rights to start a Test match at the MCG on Boxing Day until 1980. In Australia, India has played Boxing Day Tests in 1985, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2020, as well as most recently on 26 Dec 2021.
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