This is the final part of a three-part series about how some of our most celebrated holidays and traditions have developed from strange and forgotten roots. We come to expect certain things without questioning where they came from or how they turned into what they are today. New Year’s Day holds a few of its own surprising origins.
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Calendars have changed quite a bit over the past few thousand years, and so has the date of the New Year. Around the eighth century B.C. Romulus, Rome’s founder, created the original Roman calendar, which was based on the lunar cycle.
Early Romans had 10 months to the year, based on the average 29.5 days of a new moon. The months were either 29 days long and considered “hollow” or 30 days and considered “full.” This calendar also worked backward to our current system. The Nones, the Ides and the Kalends were set points on the calendar that Romans counted backward from, not toward.
Julius Caesar altered the Roman calendar in 46 B.C. by adding 67 days to it, including the month of January, named after the god of beginnings. The seasons had aligned so poorly with their supposed dates on the calendar that Caesar also abandoned the lunar cycle entirely to focus instead on the more reliable solar cycle.
Probably an even bigger factor in the choice to alter the calendar was that the Roman calendar was frequently abused for political gain. It created its own discrepancies that required additional months to be added whenever they were needed, usually during the winter.
Months were inserted in the calendar to make the year align with the seasons, much like how we add a day to February every four years. Since it wasn’t regulated, politicians and religious individuals exploited the calendar by filling out time to best elongate their terms in office.
Many different cultures have celebrated New Year’s, usually based on noticeable events. Egyptians once started their year based on the Nile’s inevitable annual flood; the Chinese based theirs on the second new moon following a winter solstice; and the Romans used the spring equinox to decide when their year started.
Throughout the medieval period, much of Europe celebrated New Year’s on religious holidays like Christmas. It wasn’t until Pope Gregory XIII created his Gregorian calendar in 1582 that Jan. 1 was cemented as New Year’s Day.
Since then, many traditions have grown around this time of year. One of the most memorable American celebrations to bring in the new year is the ball drop in New York’s Times Square. The tradition goes back to 1904 when The New York Times moved to what was then called Longacre Square. The paper’s owner convinced the community to rename it Times Square and threw a festive party with a giant fireworks display to end the year.
In 1907, the city banned fireworks. Not to be deterred, an electrician created a 700-pound ball made of wood and iron. The ancestor of our current ball drop, it lit up with 100 lights and dropped down a flagpole to celebrate New Year’s. Today, the ball’s grown a bit, weighing closer to 12,000 pounds.
The creation of New Year’s “resolutions,” embraced by today’s culture, is an older tradition—it’s been around for millennia. Unavoidably created and rarely fulfilled, New Year’s resolutions don’t seem to be going anywhere despite the yearly despondence of failed dieters.
As many as 4,000 years ago, ancient Babylonians made promises at the beginning of the new year in an attempt to please the gods and start the year off right. While the Babylonians resolved to pay back debts and return borrowed equipment, Americans tend to be more concerned with losing weight, kicking smoking habits and learning to do new things to fill an otherwise boring and unsatisfying life.
“Auld Lang Syne,” which you’ll often hear coming from the speakers as New Year’s Eve draws to a close, is a relatively newer tradition. The song, based on the Scottish folk poem transcribed and rewritten by Robert Burns in the 18th century, roughly means “days gone by.” In 1929, Guy Lombardo popularized it, and somehow it still draws a moment of reflection from many revelers.
New Year’s Day, like many of our customs, finds its roots in ancient and transformed traditions that most of us have no knowledge of. Some are based in old religious customs, some are simply cultural phenomena that have stuck around.
As you celebrate the end of 2012 and build hope for 2013, think about how you can create your own traditions instead of following ones aged and obscure.