A New Year: An Old Celebration

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Fast away the old year passes, indeed. As we get started with the new year and our new calendars and resolutions, and attempts to get the dates correct on our checks, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the history of the New Year celebration.

New Year's Day is one of the most celebrated public holidays around the world, thanks to the Gregorian calendar being the most universally used calendar system. However, January 1st was acknowledged as New Year's Day in most of Europe even before the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752. Various dates have been designated or celebrated as the beginning of the new year throughout history, including December 25th, March 1st, March 25th, or even Easter.

About that calendar . . . the early Roman calendar had only ten months, and March 1st was the beginning of the new year. That explains why some of the months have names based on numbers that don't match their places in our calendar. October and December were the eighth and tenth months and have retained those names. When the months of Januarius and Februarius were added they were at the end of the year, but were later considered the first two months. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar introduced what was known as the Julian calendar, which resembles our modern Gregorian calendar, and he established January 1st as the beginning of the year.

The concept of celebrating a new year goes back to Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. The ancient Babylonians held days of feasting to mark a new year starting on the first day of spring. Many of these earliest celebrations were pagan, but Christian tradition honored the day as the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ or of the Solemnity of Mary. 

In more recent history, the holiday has become far less religious in nature and is instead a time for introspection and patriotism, and an occasion to be celebrated with fireworks and parties. Many people look back at the closing year and reflect on their accomplishments, and set goals for the year ahead. Around New Year's there are plenty of recap shows on radio and TV, and "year in review" articles in newspapers, magazines, and on the web. 

Yes, that's the ball that drops in New York City!

Although I personally have no desire to be in New York City for New Year's Eve, the broadcast from Times Square has long been our go-to for counting down the the New Year. That giant ball is about 12 feet in diameter and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds. Hard to believe the ball has been dropping at midnight since 1907! Of course, it was only about 700 pounds back then.

New Year's Day celebrations and customs include: Polar Bear Plunges in parts of Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the USA; parades; and sports events - college football in the USA, hockey in Canada, and soccer in Europe. And we're all familiar with the cartoon images of Father Time and the New Year shown as a baby wearing a sash. In some countries there are traditional foods included on the New Year's Day menu. Usually the foods represent good luck or good fortune in some way. Legumes such as lentils and black-eyed peas have a resemblance to coins, so are an expression of hope for financial success in the year ahead. Pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, so pork makes an appearance on dinner tables in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal, and other countries. Round or ring-shaped foods and desserts represent that the year has come full circle. 

Oh yes, and in many English-speaking countries, we sing "Auld Lang Syne" to ring in the new year. Find out more about it here:

I'm indebted to History.com's article New Year's for much of the information in this post.

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