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In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, December 31st. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, & watching or lighting fireworks. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, January 1st. [1]
History of New Year
History of New Year
The earliest known record of a New Year festival dates from about 2000 bce in Mesopotamia, where in Babylonia the new year (Akitu) began with the new moon after the vernal equinox & in Assyria with the new moon... [2]
...nearest the autumn equinox (mid-September). For the Egyptians and Phoenicians, the year began with the autumn equinox (September 21), for ancient Persians it began on the vernal equinox (March 21), and for the early Greeks it began with... [2]
...the winter solstice (December 21). On the Roman republican calendar the year began on March 1, but after 153 bce the official date was January 1, which was continued in the Julian calendar of 46 bce. [2]
In early medieval times most of Christian Europe regarded March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year, although New Year’s Day was observed on December 25 in Anglo-Saxon England. William the Conqueror decreed... [2]
Weekender Tote Bag
Weekender Tote Bag
...that the year begin on January 1, but England later joined the rest of Christendom and adopted March 25. The Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1582 by the Roman Catholic Church, restored January 1 as New Year’s Day, and... [2]
Those religions & cultures using a lunar calendar have continued to observe the beginning of the year on days other than Jan. 1. In the Jewish religious calendar, for example, the year begins on Rosh Hashana, the first day of the month of Tishri, which falls between Sept. 6 & Oct. 5. [2]
The Muslim calendar normally has 354 days in each year, with the new year beginning with the month of Muharram. Nowruz, an ancient Zoroastrian festival, is celebrated as a cultural new year in Iran and other parts of the Middle East & Central Asia... [2]
Some believe the Babylonians began the custom more than 4,000 years ago. These early resolutions were likely made in an attempt to curry favor with the gods. [2]
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