Since the early 1930's, Black Friday has been regarded as the start of the Christmas shopping of the year. It follows the day after Thanksgiving in which retail stores open very early, some even operating overnight hours. It's the only time of the year discounts, sales and freebies are at an all time high, which have led to countless brawls all over the country. In turn, it has also provided a big bulk of profit for stores online and offline.

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As big as it is today, we can't help but wonder how Black Friday started. So with a little help from Mirror, we've gathered the facts and discovered the origins of the grand holiday sale.

The origin of 'Black Friday'

There are different theories that point out the origin of the term, "Black Friday." One of the widest known is it started in Philadelphia, when the term was coined by a police reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin after a horrendous traffic following Thanksgiving.

In the paper he wrote: "It was the day that Santa Claus took his chair in the department stores and every kid in the city wanted to see him. It was the first day of the Christmas shopping season. Schools were closed. Late in the day, out-of-town visitors began arriving for the Army-Navy football game. The report also says that no policemen were not allowed to take a day off during Black Friday.

Another theory related to the use of the term is a more controversial one. Rumors have circulated about inventing a tradition that sells slaves the day after Thanksgiving.

In the 1980's, the term was also used by retailers to describe the one day of the year when they go 'into the black' (make a profit), as they have been 'in the red' the rest of the year.

Black Friday sales throughout the US

This year, some of the biggest brands offered the grandest deals around. JCPenney, Walmart and Target welcomed countless customers while tech tycoon company, Apple received a ton of media after offering their products at generous prices. Even Sony made it a point to make sure Christmas came early after placing their infamous PS4 on sale.

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Even online stores like Amazon, EBay and Adobe took part in the bargain festivities, raking in some major profit. Walmart reported that it sold over so many movies that it will take nearly 3,000 years to watch them all. Much of the store's sales were made online.

Adobe accumulated over 180 million site visits throughout the US. It also reported that online shoppers spent $1.73 billion on Thursday, 22% more than what the online store made last year.

Amazon started the sale early, putting some of the biggest tech products like tablets and gaming consoles at the best rate. Retail analyzers coined the online store as the best one to offer bargain deals this year.

By the looks of it and despite fights breaking out from every store, Black Friday is here to stay.

Tags: Black Friday 2015 Thanksgiving 2015