New Year’s Eve origins

People have been celebrating the new year for over four millennia. The first recorded festivities of bringing in the new year date back to ancient Babylon. In late March the vernal equinox is a day with the same amount of sunlight as darkness, making the start of a new year. What started as a religious festival has turned into a secular celebration around the world.

While most of the world celebrates New Year’s Day on Jan. 1, some cultures recognize the new year on different days, this is because of the different calendars used around the world. The most widely used calendar around the world is the Gregorian calendar; however, that has not always been the case.

Humans have been tracking time since the beginning of agriculture. The first day of the new year was usually centered around agricultural or astronomical events. The first formalized calendar dates back to 3100 BC during the Bronze Age. The Sumerians divided the calendar into seven periods of 50 days, with an annual supplement of 15 or 16 days for synchronization with the solar year. The year was then divided into four seasons with each season divided into three months. The new year was changed from March to Jan. 1. Over the next 3,000 years the Egyptians, Romans, Chinese, Babylonians, Greeks and Hebrews, also formalized their own calendars, usually centering around the moon, each celebrating their New Year at different times. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, decided to streamline the calendar, introducing the Julian calendar which puts New Year’s Day on Jan. 1.

In 1582, the Gregorian calendar was developed by Pope Gregory XIII, replacing the Julian calendar because it did not correctly reflect the actual time it takes the Earth to circle once around the Sun. The Julian calendar had 365.25 days with a leap year added every four years, but due to counting errors in its first years of use, leap year was added every three years. When the Gregorian calendar was introduced, it had 365.2425 days a year, with a leap year added every four years on Feb. 29. It was also 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was mainly adopted by the Christian world. England did not adopt the Gregorian Calendar until 1752 which meant that the American colonies also used the Julian Calendar up to that point.

In 1885, congress made New Year’s Day a federal holiday giving all federal workers the first day of the new year off. School is generally out for Christmas/winter break until after the new year. School resumed in Morgan School District on Jan. 3, 2024.

While New Year’s Day is celebrated around the world on Jan. 1, starting in the Pacific Islands, to most Americans, New Year’s Eve is celebrated more extensively than New Year’s Day itself. New Year’s Eve is a popular time for friends and families to gather for gluttonous food, games, dancing and counting down to midnight to welcome in the new year. It is also common practice to make new year resolutions to better oneself such as getting healthy, spending more time with family, getting organized, quitting smoking, or learning a new skill or hobby.

The Morgan County News would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a great 2024. λ