In the United States, Canada, England and many other countries New Year’s Day is an enormous celebration. People gather with family and friends to share the beginning of the New Year. But the day now celebrated as the New Year hasn’t always been January 1st.

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The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. Around 2000 BC the Babylonian New Year began with the first visible crescent of the moon after the first day of spring, which happens to be in late March.
The Babylonian New Year celebration was not exactly like well known celebrations today. It lasted for eleven days; each day consisting of a different celebration and each was very extravagant. Many people today would consider modern New Year’s Day celebration to be the most extravagant of holidays with the well known dropping of the ball over Time Square in New York City which is broadcasted over national television, although compared to the eleven day celebration held thousands of years ago our celebration seems a bit dull.
So how did January 1st come in to play? The Romans continued to celebrate the New Year in late March, but their calendar was often tampered with by various emperors and the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days. That must have been one long year for the Romans.
Traditions of the season include New Year's resolutions. I’m sure many of you have been working on your own for the New Year that is almost here. This tradition also goes as far back as the early Babylonians. It’s interesting to take a look at the difference in the priorities of the modern day person and the past. Present day resolutions may be to save more money or lose ten pounds, and the in the past the most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
It’s also interesting to take a look at some of the ancient superstitions of New Year’s Day. It was once thought that depending on what you ate or did on the first day of the year it would then determine the luck you would have for the entire year. That is why it has become a tradition for people to celebrate the first few minutes of New Year’s Day with family and friends. It was thought that by being around those who love you, you would then acquire the good luck that they brought to you. Another ancient belief is that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck for the year to come. The visitor should be dark-haired, tall, and good-looking, and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, and some salt. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, and female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household. Some other interesting superstitions includes wearing something new on January 1 to increase the likelihood of your receiving more new garments during the year to follow. Also do not pay back loans or lend money or other precious items on New Year's Day. This will ensure that you will be paying out for the rest of that year. Make as much noise as possible at midnight. You're not just celebrating; you're scaring away evil spirits. At midnight, all the doors of a house must be opened to let the old year escape unimpeded. He must leave before the New Year can come in, says popular wisdom, so doors are flung open to assist him in finding his way out. The most popular one is to kiss those closest to us on the strike of midnight. To fail to do this would set the stage for a year of coldness.
So this New Year’s, to spice things up a bit, look up some of these fun traditions and see how many of them you can follow. And of course don’t forget the most important one of all, grab someone and kiss them to ensure your year of warmth!