10-foot tsunami hit island near Aceh, fate of 5000 residents unknown, thousands dead elsewhere

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | March 29, 2005 - 5:04PM | Jano Gibson and agencies

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

Gee, sorry. I wonder if the real Solomon ever had ANY MINOR slip-ups!!

[dead]

It's a holiday in most current and former British Commonwealth countries, like Australia.

I would imagine it's also celebrated in any country that caters to Australian and other English speaking tourists.

[Miss Marple]

Boxing Day is NOT when the British exchange Christmas gifts. It came originally from apprentices carrying around a box to collect gratuities and eventually evolved into a day when cash and gifts were given to servants and tradesmen. It is always celebrated on Dec. 26.

[Miss Marple]

Please read my reply 23. If you google it there are many explanations of Boxing Day, NONE of which say that it is a day to exchange Christmas gifts in order to keep December 25 holy.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

Thanks for your consideration. This just isn't that big of an issue to the story. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'll take your word for it. I've got to get off here and study my nuclear physics! Bye for now.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Thanks for the correction. Having lived in a couple of Commonwealth countries I shall write my friends and tell them they both misinformed me and are doing it wrong.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

It is not the slip up, it's the calling it PC, when you had no idea, that was bothersome.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

I thought Boxing Day was a British thing, not something recognized in "the whole world."

And *I* thought it was a Canadian thing.

[SlowBoat407]

Oh, fine, hide behind nuclear physics when things get complicated here! /humor (some might think that tag belongs at the beginning of my post)

[sully777]

I thought Boxing Day was a British thing, not something recognized in "the whole world."

---

Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Seychelles, Maldives, Kenya, Singapore, an so forth (all British commonwealth members or possessions until after WWII) celebrate Boxing Day on December 26th. Boxing Day is an official day off for people that serve on Christmas. Early tradition had alms put in boxes at church services to be dispensed the next day (box-ing). Later, the tradition expanded to employers giving large bonuses and gifts to all employees.

The December 26th tsunami hit as hundreds of thousands gathered to the traditional celebrations of setting off fireworks and celebrating on the beaches throughout former or current British commonwealth nations.

As to your comment "the whole world" Once upon a time the British dominated the world. If they did not have a direct stake, they certainly controlled some aspect of trade or diplomacy. Britains ruled the oceans and almost all viable trade routes. Thus the British way of life was accepted as standard. Only three countries overthrew British dominion at their empire's height, the USA, the Republic of South Africa, and the Sully ancestral home in the Republic of Ireland.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

LOL!! Bye.

[Ashamed Canadian]

We call it Boxing day in Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth.

[Miss Marple]

Well, all I know is what I read on several sites before I replied to you, most written by British people. Snopes also has an explanation which is the same as what I posted.

Perhaps your friends were religious and did this as a personal choice, so that they personally could avoid gift-giving on Christmas Day.

MadIvan, what is your understanding of the origin and purpose of Boxing Day?

[rahbert]

Boxing Day used to mean Chris Simon and Bob Probert
going at it...

[Centurion2000]

I hope that the US keeps the checkbook CLOSED this time.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Full moon December 26, 2004 and March 25, 2005. Quakes on Dec 26,2004 and March 28 2005.

[Yardstick]

Early tradition had alms put in boxes at church services to be dispensed the next day (box-ing). Later, the tradition expanded to employers giving large bonuses and gifts to all employees.

Ah, now I know. I had wondered about the origins of Boxing Day. A Canadian professor once told us it was the day when unwanted Christmas presents were put back in their boxes to be returned to the store. I guess he was just pulling our legs!

[Diddle E. Squat]

"The sun never sets on the British Empire."

History books are our friends.

[SamAdams76]

It's amazing that in this modern age of instant communication that there are still pockets of the world so isolated that it takes a full day to realize a catastrophe has struck.

[Diddle E. Squat]

So if the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day, is the day after Easter called Boxing Helena Day?