# Ep. 86: Eggnog Riot!!!! **URL:** **By** Anthony Comegna **Published:** December 25, 2018 --- Merry Christmas! We hope you didn't stage a riot last night on Christmas Eve, because, as you know, Santa is always watching! Every family has Christmas traditions, some are more conventional than others. On Christmas Eve in 1826, the cadets at the West Point Military Academy decided they would create a little tradition of their own with some holiday spirits, in both senses of the word. Unfortunately, what started out as some Christmas cheer with a young Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, ended as a full on riot against the bureaucracy. What is the history of Christmas? Who was Jonathan Pintard and what research did he do about Christmas? ## Further Reading: [Christmas in America: A History](http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109801.001.0001/acprof-9780195109801), written by Penne Lee Restad [How Christmas Became Merry](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/opinion/nyregionopinions/how-christmas-became-merry.html), written by Andrew Burstein [1826: The great 'Eggnog Riot' at West Point when cadets revolted](https://www.newyorkupstate.com/hudson-valley/2018/12/how_eggnog_lead_to_the_greatest_expulsion_in_west_point_history.html), written by Jonathan Croyle ## Related Content: [The Christmas Conspiracy](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/liberty-chronicles/ep-33-the-christmas-conspiracy), Liberty Chronicles Podcast