USA TODAY on Winter Solstice -- Dec. 21, 2015, 10:48 p.m. Central Time

article posted online Dec. 20, 2015 (author is Doyle Rice):
Here comes the dark. The winter solstice — marking the longest night and shortest day of the year — is Monday night.
The solstice occurs at the same instant everywhere on Earth. In the United States, it happens at 11:48 p.m. ET Monday (or 10:48 p.m. CT, 9:48 p.m. MT and 8:48 p.m. PT).
In Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, that means the solstice actually comes on Tuesday.
The winter solstice is the precise moment the Northern Hemisphere is tilted its farthest from the sun all year, and usually occurs near the day when there is the least amount of daylight and the most darkness.
One of the most famous solstice celebrations occurs at the ancient Stonehenge ruins in Wiltshire, England, where druids, pagans and other revelers gather each year to celebrate the event.
The solstice is the astronomical beginning of winter — the start of the coldest three months in the Northern Hemisphere — even though meteorologists view winter as starting Dec. 1. After the solstice, the days slowly start to get longer again.
It's the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where Dec. 21 marks the longest day of the year and the beginning of astronomical summer.
Winter's shortest day, however, is typically not the coldest day of the year. There is a lag between the shortest day of the year and the coldest average temperatures for most spots in the USA.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2015/12/20/winter-solstice-first-day-of-winter/77667242/