Random Things You Didn't Know About Boxing Day (16 items)

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  (#14) More Like Good King Boxeslas

  According to the Christmas carol, King Wenceslas, who was Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, was taking a stroll through his kingdom on St. Stephen's Day, December 26, when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. The King felt bad for the guy so he gathered up any excess food and wine that he had and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant's door. Some scholars believe that this is the first act of kindness that would go on to begin Boxing Day. 
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  (#5) It Should Be Called Servants' Day

  One of the possible origins of Boxing Day is that the 26th of December was the day servants were given time off to visit their families. Because the servants worked for wealthy employees who had important Christmas celebrations, they couldn't be given the actual holiday off, so a new one had to be invented.  When the servants were given their free day, they would each be handed a box to take with them that contained gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.
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  (#3) Get Thee to Thine Local Horse Racing Track

  What's a post-Christmas celebration without betting all the money you got in your stocking on "The Master's Wit," "Chips Ahoy," or "Mr. Sassafras, the Horse?" In the UK, the one Boxing Day activity that the whole family can get behind is "The Chase," where you can watch horses run around a track while grown men weep. According to the Wincanton Jockey Club, "It’s a Somerset tradition to come racing after the great indulgence of Christmas Day." Buying your ticket to the races on the day only costs £12, and that's a value you can't beat. 
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  (#16) It's Not a Day for Ditching Your Old Boxes

  If you thought that Boxing Day was named as such because it's about getting rid of your old Christmas boxes then you can see yourself to the door, because that's not what December 26 is about at all. Also, there's no official fisticuffs had on Boxing Day, although if you hang out with your family long enough it's possible that fists may fly. And despite what you may have heard, Boxing Day has nothing to do with "Bachsing Day," the day when classical music enthusiasts celebrate the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach, that actually takes place on March 31. 
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  (#9) The Church Used to Give Money to the Poor

  Alms boxes haven't been used regularly outside of films about the 18th century for quite some time, but for hundreds of years, churches kept these locked money collectors in their chapels as a way to collect money for the poor. Some historians believe that the name "Boxing Day" comes from the church's practice of opening their alms boxes on the morning after Christmas and distributing what was inside to the poor. 
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  (#7) Watch Out for the Wren Boys

  No, the Wren Boys are not an unheard of '90s New Orleans hip-hop group. But they were a large part of the Irish Boxing Day celebration where boys would darken their faces and stone wrens to death. Then they would carry the dead birds around town while they knocked on doors and asked for money. This tradition supposedly dates back to 1601, and the Battle of Kinsale, in which the Irish tried to sneak up on a group of English invaders but were given up by the song of an "overly vocal wren." While no one's walking around stoning birds anymore, people do still dress up like weirdoes and walk around town and collect money for charity. 

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