Merry Solstice

December solstice (called summer solstice in the southern hemisphere and winter solstice in the northern) occurs on December 21 this year, at 5:12 a.m. central standard time.

Solstice means "standing still" and it marks the instant when the Earth's tilt reaches a maximum that makes the Sun appear to rise and set at its southernmost points in the northern hemisphere and northernmost points in the southern hemisphere.  

The daylight portion of every 24-hour rotation will now grow longer until the longest period with the Sun above the horizon occurs in the northern hemisphere during the June solstice, which is on the 21st in 2013. 

Solstice, and superstitions about it, is the reason many holidays, including Xmas, are celebrated around late December in the northern hemisphere.