Many of people around the world celebrate New Year with so much cheer and pleasure. It is considered as a global holiday. Although there are many regions and countries that celebrate New Year in different date, the New Year in January 1st is considered to be the biggest festival.
We, the earthlings, have been welcoming the New Year in festive for many years now. Among us, there are a lot of people, who actually show curiosity about the origin of the New Year, how, when and where it started altogether. Why is this specific day so important to the people of the world, regardless of country and race?
New Year Calendar in the Ancient Times
The most ancient chronicles of New Year celebrations take us back to the first century-Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. At that time, New Year celebration was celebrated by emperors and other people in power of their regions. The most notable of the new-year system was the one started in Rome. The Calendar of his time consisted of 10 months, some of whose names are still in use today. Rome’s New Year started with the month of March.
The Transition to Modern Calendar
According to historians, two more months were added in the Roman calendar by the king Numa Pompilius. They are modern days’ January and February. From then on, New Year festivals were held from the 1st of January.
Official declaration of the Start of New Year
In 46 B.C., the Roman emperor Julius Caesar announced January 1st as the first day of the New Year. It is said that the month of January was named after the Janus, the roman god with two faces, in the back and in the front, and stood as the symbol of welcoming the new. It is believed that Julius Caesar celebrated his first ever New Year by beating back the revolutionary forces of the Jews.
After a couple of years, people accepted January 1 as the start of their New Year and started holding many festivals to celebrate the coming of the New Year. We, the modern people still hold some of the marks of the tradition which originated from the Roman Empire and also known as the Julian calendar.
The periodical change in the New Year Calendar
The pagans of the medieval age decided that the New Year festival should held on the 25th of March, as they believed that this was the day when Mary got the news of the birth of Jesus. This day was also known as the Annunciation Day.
The King of the medieval England then decided to hold the New Year festival on the day of December 25th, the day when Jesus Christ was born. Now, this day has turned out to be the Christmas day for us rather than being the New Year’s Day.
Related Resources
Yes it is new year now. While reading this why can’t you send some animated greeting cards with heart warming messages to your friends and relatives. Here is some places for you
- New Year greetings from 123 greetings.com
- New Year cards from hallmarks.com
- Printable new year cards from tiny prints
The Permanent introduction of the Gregorian Calendar
The calendar issues took a final and permanent turn during the time of Pope Gregory XIII, when he introduced the new Gregorian calendar which maintained the perfect balance between the Earth’s turning style and the seasons. This calendar consisted of a leap year after every four years, when the month of February has 29 days. This is the calendar which we, the people of the 21st century, still follow, and we celebrate the arrival of the New Year on the 1st of January.
Since then, many countries around the world celebrate the New Year in the first day of January, which marks the new start of the calendar. For many people, it serves as new beginning and fresh start. This is when traditions are observed and different festivities are held.
