New Year implies a new journey with
a new hope, a new commitment for challenging to be better. It is celebrated all
over the world with the same zeal, vigor and enthusiasm. There are lots of
preparations undertaken for the event and it can be categorized as one of the
occasions that the whole world celebrates together. All across the globe,
cities are decorated. Most of the news channels get special reporters and
correspondents geared up to show the live coverage of the celebration. For many
it is a new day, a new life and a new
beginning. Let us explore more on what makes New Year Day special, by dwelling
on the trivia given in the lines below.
1.New Year Day is the oldest of all
holidays.
2. It was first observed in ancient
Babylon as many as 4000 years ago.
3.
In ancient Rome the new year began on March 1.
4. It was Julius Caesar who declared
January 1 in Julian calendar as the New Year, in 46 BC.
5. The first month of the year i.e.
January has been named after God Janus (Latin word for door), in the Roman
calendar. Janus is the God with two faces, one looking backwards and one
forward, at the same time and marks the ‘spirit of the opening’
6. January 1 was revived as New Year
in 1582, by the Gregorian calendar and so celebrated by most of the countries
till date.
7. New Years is still observed as
the Feast of Christ's Circumcision by some denominations.
8. New Year is celebrated like a
festival throughout the world and everyone around is in festive mood, partying,
singing and dancing to ring out the old year and ring in the new.
9. The tradition to
kiss at midnight isn’t a recent invention. According to old English and
German folklore, the first person you come across in the new year could set the
tone for the next 12 months.
10. In Britain, when the Big Ben clocks strikes 12, everyone
gathers around to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’,
a Scottish song. It was written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, literally
meaning "old long ago," or
simply, "the good old days",
to remember old and new friends.
11. About
1 million people gather in New York City’s Times Square to watch the crystal
ball drop. The Times Square New Year’s
Eve ball drop came about because of a ban on fireworks. Today, it is
covered in 2,688 crystals, is lit by 32,000 LED lights, weighs 11,875 pounds
and is 12 feet in diameter.
12. It was once believed that the
first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck for
the rest of the year, depending on who he/she was.
Many cultures believe that anything
given or taken on New Year, in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it
symbolizes "coming full circle".
13. Forty-five
percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. The
top resolutions are: to lose weight, get organized, to spend less and save
more, to stay fit and healthy, and to quit smoking.
14.
In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year’s Day to bring good luck all
year long. The tradition dates back to medieval times.
15.
To ensure a year of good luck, firecrackers and noisemakers became tradition in
order to scare away any remaining evil spirits and to ensure a brand new start.
Ancient
Persians gave New Year’s gifts of eggs, which symbolised productiveness.
16. Traditionally, it was thought
that people could alter the luck they would have throughout the coming year by
what they did or ate on the first day of the year. It has, therefore, become
important to celebrate first day of the New Year in the company of family and
friends.
17. The Spanish ritual on New Year's
eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure
twelve happy months in the coming year.
18.
In Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico, some families stuff a large doll, which is
called Mr. Old Year, with memories from the past year. They also dress him in
clothes from the outgoing year. At midnight, he is set ablaze, thus burning
away the bad memories
19. The
top three places to celebrate New Year’s Eve are Las Vegas, Disney World and of
course, New York City. Internationally, one of the biggest celebrations
is in Sydney, Australia. More than 80,000 fireworks are set off from Sydney
Harbour Bridge.
20.
The ancient Hawaiian New Year was four months long, war was forbidden, people
stopped working, and the people spent time dancing, feasting and having a good
time.
21.
There is a music festival every New Year’s eve in the Antarctic called
‘icestock’.
22.
In Thailand, they celebrate their traditional New Year’s Day with a state
sponsored multiple day water fight.
23.
Russians celebrate the New Year twice, once on January 1st and then again on
January 14th.
24.
On New Year’s Day in Akita, Japan there is a tradition where men dress as
mountain demons, get drunk, and terrorize children for being lazy or disobeying
their parents.
25.
Every December 25th a town in Peru celebrates “Takanakuy”. Men, women, and
children settle grudges with fistfights. Then everyone goes drinking together,
ready to start the New Year with a clean slate.
26.
Instead of lowering a giant ball of lights on New Year’s Eve, Brasstown, North
Carolina lowers a possum. It’s known as “The Possum Drop”.
27.
After the French revolution, France briefly used a new calendar based on a
decimal system; 10 days a week, 10 hours a day, 100 minutes per hour and 100
seconds per minute, and starting at Year 1.
28.
North Korea does not use the normal Gregorian calendar like most of the world.
Instead it uses a different calendar system called the Juche calendar for
numbering the years and year one of this calendar began on Kim Il Sung’s (The
founder of North Korea) birthday.
29.
On New Year’s Eve, residents in a small neighborhood in Johannesburg, South
Africa collect old appliances, carry them up to apartment building rooftops and
toss them down to the streets far below.
30.
The Reykjavik (capital of Iceland) fireworks display on New Year’s Eve is one
of the largest in the world, and most fireworks sales fund rescue operations in
the country.
31. At the
Mummers Parade in Philadelphia, 10,000 participants step through City Hall and
perform in unique costumes.
32.
Since New Year’s Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama raises a 12 foot tall
lighted mechanical Moon Pie to celebrate the coming of the New Year.
33.
In Korea and some other Asian countries, when you are born, you are considered
one year old and everyone’s age increases one year on New Year’s. So if you
were born on December 29th, on New Year’s day, you will be considered 2 years
old.
34.
Ethiopia has 13 months. Their current year is still 2006 and they celebrate New
Years on September 11.
35.
Until 2006, the Space Shuttle never flew on New Year’s day or eve because its
computers couldn’t handle a year rollover.
36.
When religion was suppressed in Soviet Russia, Santa/St. Nick was replaced with
Grandfather Frost, called the spirit of winter, who brought gifts on New Year’s
and placed them under the “New Year tree”
37. Chinese
New Year is celebrated the second full moon after the winter solstice.
38. Jewish
New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. Apples and honey are traditionally eaten.
39.
Black eyed peas, ham, and cabbage are considered good luck if you eat them on
New Year’s Eve or Day because it is believed they will bring you money.
40.
Lobster and chicken are considered bad luck because lobsters can move backward
and chickens can scratch in reverse, so it is thought these foods could bring a
reversal of fortune.
41. Many
people ring in New Year’s by popping open a bottle of champagne.
42.
Some people wear adult diapers while celebrating New Year at Time Square due to
the lack of toilets.
43. According
to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, vehicles are stolen on
New Year’s Day more than any other holiday.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Literature liberates and leavens our latent learning with limpid lumina. So myself a lustful literary lacky.