The celebration of the
New Year on January 1st is a relatively new phenomenon. The earliest recording
of a New Year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C.
and was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March. A variety of
other dates tied to the seasons were also used by various ancient cultures. The
Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians began their new year with the fall
equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice.
Early Roman Calendar: March 1st Rings in the New
Year
The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the New
Year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. That the New Year
once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names
of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth
months, were originally positioned as the seventh through tenth months (septem
is Latin for "seven," octo is "eight," novem is
"nine," and decem is "ten."
January Joins the Calendar
The first time the new
year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 B.C. (In fact, the month
of January did not even exist until around 700 B.C., when the second king of
Rome, Numa Pontilius, added the months of January
and February.) The new year was moved from March to January because that was
the beginning of the civil year, the month that the two newly elected Roman consuls—the highest officials in the
Roman republic—began their one-year tenure. But this new year date was not
always strictly and widely observed, and the new year was still sometimes celebrated
on March 1.
Julian Calendar: January 1st Officially
Instituted as the New Year
In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced a new,
solar-based calendar that was a vast improvement on the ancient Roman calendar,
which was a lunar system that had become wildly inaccurate over the years. The Julian calendar decreed that the new year
would occur with January 1, and within the Roman world, January 1 became the
consistently observed start of the new year.
Middle Ages: January 1st Abolished
In
medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the new year were
considered pagan and unchristian like, and in 567 the Council of Tours
abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. At various times and in
various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was
celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1; March 25, the Feast of the
Annunciation; and Easter.
Gregorian Calendar: January 1st Restored
In 1582, the Gregorian
calendar reform restored January 1 as new year's day. Although most Catholic
countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually
adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example,
did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752. Until then, the British Empire
—and their American colonies— still celebrated the New Year in March.
For more New Year's
features see New Year's Traditions and Saying
"Happy New Year!" Around the World.
Read more: A History of the New Year | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearhistory.html#ixzz3LtZR0Du0
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