Why is it called Boxing Day?

The one thing that does seem to be agreed on is that it has nothing to do with the horrible sport of pugilism.

And that it doesn’t refer to the day on which you put unwanted presents back in their box and return them!

The competing theories appear to be:

Because in olden days servants had to work on Christmas Day, they got the next day off, and their employers would give them a box of gifts/food.

It is also said that this was the day church alms boxes were opened and distributed amongst the poor.

Now it just seems to be the day the big sales start!

They don’t celebrate Boxing Day in the US although it is celebrated in other countries formerly part of the British Empire.