Culture & Traditions

The origins of Valentine’s Day stretch back long before heart shaped chocolates and red roses filled store shelves. The history behind Valentine’s Day includes dark origins, muddled stories and a surprising amount of chance.

By Lena Thaywick

English connects the world through education, business, and media. English-speaking countries appear on practically every continent, shaped by history, government policy and cultural exchange.

By Lena Thaywick

The Bible tells stories of healing love that reaches from the first breath of life to the last sigh. When illness or pain hits, many people turn to prayer for grounding and hope.

By HowStuffWorks

More than 300 million people around the world speak French, making it one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet. This global language has spread far beyond France, thanks to centuries of French colonialism, cultural exchange and diplomacy.

By Lena Thaywick

If you are searching for the most-spoken languages in the world, you are really asking how people communicate across culture, history, and geography.

By Lena Thaywick

The most trans-friendly states are where transgender people can live everyday life with legal protections, healthcare access, and a basic sense of safety.

By Lena Thaywick

Making life abroad a reality means balancing money, safety, culture, and daily life in a host country that is not your home country. It's important to consider each of those factors in harmony with each other when determining the best countries for expats.

By Lena Thaywick

If you are searching for the most gay-friendly cities in the U.S., you are really asking a science-of-people question: Where do laws, culture, and community line up so LGBTQ people can live ordinary lives (or at least as "ordinary" as straight people)?

By Lena Thaywick

Whether spoken softly in private prayer or shouted in church, the word carries weight. But have you ever asked, why do we say amen?

By Lena Thaywick

Cycling isn’t just about recreation anymore. In the most progressive American cities, bikes play a critical role in daily transportation.

By Lena Thaywick

If you've ever heard a kid randomly shout "six seven" in class or during a basketball game, you're not alone in wondering: Why do kids say 6 7?

By Lena Thaywick

The holiday season in Russia holds a rich blend of faith, folklore, and festivity. Russian Christmas traditions reflect the deep roots of Orthodox Christian customs, folk beliefs, and even Soviet-era influences.

By Lena Thaywick

Ever wonder where the jolly man in the red suit came from? The origins of Santa Claus are a mix of myth, history, and marketing, all rooted in an ancient saint and reshaped by centuries of Christmas customs and commercial imagination.

By Lena Thaywick

When you say "Merry Christmas," you're tapping into a holiday with roots deeper than a pine tree's. The origins of Christmas stretch across centuries, cultures, and calendars, blending Christian beliefs with ancient customs to form one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world.

By Lena Thaywick

When people celebrate Christmas today, they’re often following customs that long predate Christianity. Many pagan Christmas traditions evolved from ancient winter solstice festivals, adapted by early Christians as they spread their faith through Europe.

By Lena Thaywick

In Argentina, Christmas comes at the height of summer. That flips many traditional winter holiday expectations on their head.

By Lena Thaywick

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root "yuj," meaning "to join or unite." In its earliest sense, it referred to the union of individual consciousness with universal consciousness. But the origins of yoga are far more complex than a single definition or set of poses.

By Lena Thaywick

According to legend, whoever finds the hidden pickle on the tree gets an extra present or good luck for the next year. But is this festive scavenger hunt really an age-old German custom, or just a clever way to sell more glass ornaments?

By Lena Thaywick

Hinduism is often called the world’s oldest living religion. But tracing the origins of Hinduism isn’t like finding the founder of Christianity or the date Islam began. It doesn’t have a single historical founder or sacred text.

By Lena Thaywick

The origins of Buddhism trace back over 2,500 years to ancient India, where a spiritual teacher named Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha.

By Lena Thaywick

Christmas is often considered a Christian holiday, and Jehovah's Witness is considered a branch of Christianity, but do Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate Christmas?

By Lena Thaywick

The story of Black Peter (Zwarte Piet) is one of the most debated traditions in Dutch society today.

By Lena Thaywick

The origins of Islam trace back to the early seventh century on the Arabian Peninsula. Islam began in the city of Mecca, where a man named Muhammad, a successful merchant from a powerful tribe, received a divine revelation.

By Lena Thaywick

After catching a holiday-themed anime episode, you may wonder, does Japan celebrate Christmas? While Christmas isn't a national holiday in Japan, the country embraces the season with a unique blend of festive cheer, romantic traditions, and commercial flair.

By Lena Thaywick

The Krampus legend isn't your typical Christmas tale. This half-goat, half-demon figure from Alpine folklore puts a chilling spin on the holiday season.

By Lena Thaywick