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New Years
is a holiday celebrated January 1 in most parts of the world. This is the first official day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, which is used by most countries, including the United States. Many cities across the globe celebrate with New Years Eve fireworks and other festivities, such as New Years Day parades. New York City celebrates with the famous “ball drop“ on Times Square and London has a huge fireworks display along the River Thames.
New Years is actually the oldest of all holidays, dating to ancient Babylon around 4,000 years ago. Around 2,000 BC, the Babylonians celebrated New Years with the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox (or the first day of spring.) This celebration lasted for eleven days and each day had its own particular significance. The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March but their calendar was changed many times over the years by various emperors, so the date became unclear. The Roman senate declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year in 153 BC, and again in 46 BC when Julius Caesar established what has become known as the Julian Calendar. Romans continued to celebrate the new year in the first centuries AD, although the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. The opposition by the Church continued during the Middle Ages. The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year began in Greece around 600 BC. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. Eventually, the Church allowed its member to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus. New Years has been a Western holiday for only about 400 years.
New Years traditions include the belief that anything done or eaten on the first day of the year can affect one’s luck in the coming year. Therefore, it's common to celebrate the day with family and friends. Some cultures believe anything eaten in the shape of a ring (such as donuts) is good luck. In some parts of the United States, it’s considered lucky to eat black-eyed peas and other legumes, sauerkraut or cabbage leaves and pork meat. The hog and its meat is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity and cabbage leaves represent paper currency. In other regions, rice is considered a lucky food and eaten on New Years Day. Other New Years Day traditions include the Tournament of Roses parade, which dates back to 1886. The song, “Auld Lang Syne,” was partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700s. The words are from an old Scottish song that literally means “old long ago.”
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