Christmas in colonial Virginia featured feasting and revelry, though often with a more somber tone due to the hardships of winter.

A lucky lottery player won a jackpot prize worth $431,457 on Christmas Day in Virginia and “cried tears of joy,” lottery officials said.

A Virginia woman bought a lottery ticket on Christmas Day with a good feeling about winning, and on New Year’s Day, she won a top prize.

Virginia was also the fifth state to recognize Christmas as a legal holiday in 1849, as per the Virginia Executive Mansion. During slavery, Christmas sparked much tension and anxiety for enslaved ...