History, importance and why we celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1

Happy New Year 2022: New Year's Day (January 1), according to the Gregorian calendar, is one of the most popular festivals. All over the world, people remember this event with family and friends, or have large gatherings. They decorate their homes, have parties, and bake for their loved ones.

The world welcomes the New Year with great enthusiasm and joy. Each person makes new decisions and plans for the coming year.

History

The new year is thought to have begun in ancient Babylon about 4,000 years ago, in the year 2,000 BC. The Babylonians celebrated the new year with an 11-day festival called Akitu, which included a different ritual each day, in the first month after the vernal equinox (usually around the end of March). The festival commemorated the mythical victory of the celestial god Marduk over the sea goddess Tiamat, as well as the act of crowning a new king or allowing a former king to rule.

Importance

Significance New Year's festivities in many parts of the world begin on December 31 — New Year's Eve — and continue until the morning of January 1. Festivals eat light snacks that are thought to bring good luck. Fireworks and songwriting are a worldwide tradition. The start of a new year is a wonderful time to make a positive change. New Year's resolutions are especially popular in the western hemisphere, although they do so in the eastern hemisphere as well. A person makes a vow to change an unwanted habit or behavior, or sets a goal for himself.

Why do we celebrate the New Year on January 1? The ancient Roman calendar did not correspond to the sun over the years, and in 46 BC, the emperor Julius Caesar decided to remedy the situation by consulting the most important astronomers and mathematicians at the time. He established the Julian calendar, which is very similar to the current Gregorian calendar used by many countries today. Caesar made January 1 the first day of the year as part of his reforms, in part to commemorate the moon's name, Janus, the first Roman deity. The Romans celebrated Janus' birthday by offering sacrifices, exchanging gifts, decorating their homes with laurel branches, and performing elaborate ceremonies. Christian authorities in medieval Europe replaced January 1 as the first day of the year with religious significance, such as December 25 (the date of Jesus' birth) and March 25 (Celebration of Proclamation). In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reaffirmed January 1 as New Year's Day.

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