Here are some facts about the origin of NEW YEAR'S DAY and NEW YEAR'S EVE, from the book Holiday Symbols 1998 by Omnigraphics and edited by Sue Ellen Thompson (pgs. 320-324).
New Year's Day
Type of Holiday: Calendar
Date of Observation: Jan. 1
Where Celebrated: Australia, British Isles, North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, and in all countries using the Gregorian calendar.
Symbols: Baby, First-footing, Football Games, Gifts, Pig, Resolutions
Related Holidays: Chinese New Year, Dewali, Nawruz, New Year's Eve, Oshogatsu, Rosh Hashanah, Saturnalia, Tet
ORIGINS
Celebrating the first day of the year on January 1 is a relatively modern practice. Up until the time of Julius Caesar, the Romans generally celebrated New Year's Day in March, the first month of the Roman year. January 1 marked the beginning of the civil year for the ancient Romans, a time when new consuls were inducted into office. Although there were games and feasting at this time, March 1 was still observed as New Year's day with a festival to Mars, the Roman god of war.
Caesar changed the Roman New Year's Day to January 1 in honor of Janus, the god of all beginnings and the keeper of the gates of heaven and earth. Janus was always represented with two faces, one looking back to the old year and the other looking forward to the new year. It was customary to celebrate the festival in his honor by exchanging GIFTS and making RESOLUTIONS to be friendly and good to one another.
When the Romans under Constantine accepted Christianity as their new faith, they retained the Festival of Janus as their New Year's Day but turned it into a day of fasting and prayer. It was a time for all good Christians to turn over a new leaf, but not all Christians observed it. Even after the Gregorian calendar was adopted by Roman Catholic countries in 1582, Great Britain and the English colonies in America continued to begin the year in March. It wasn't until 1752 that Britain and its possessions adopted the so-called New Style calendar (Gregorian) and accepted January 1 as the beginning of the year. But among the Puritans in New England, the old associations with the pagan god Janus were offensive enough to persuade many of them to ignore the day altogether and refer to January simply as "First Month."
The modern New Year's Day is geared toward feasting rather than fasting. Almost everywhere it is a day for receiving visitors (see FIRST-FOOTING) and recovering from NEW YEAR'S EVE festivities.
New Year's Eve
Type of Holiday: Calendar
Date of Observation: December 31
Where Celebrated: Australia, British Isles, North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, former Soviet Union, and in all countries using the Gregorian calendar
Symbols: Auld Lang syne, Noisemaking, Old Man, Wassail Bowl
Related Holidays: Chinese New Year, Dewali, Nawruz, New Year's Day, Oshogatsu, Rosh Hashanah, Saturnalia, Tet
ORIGINS
Midnight on December 31 marks the transition between the Old Year and the New Year, an occasion that is celebrated with everything from prayer to parties. Some people wear silly hats, drink champagne, and use NOISEMAKERS; they're apt to kiss their bosses, throw their arms around strangers on the street, and generally engage in behavior that would be considered scandalous at other times of the year. Others attend midnight church services, while still others congregate in public places like New York City's Times Square or London's Trafalgar Square to count down the closing seconds of the old year.
It is likely that our New Year's Eve customs are related, if only indirectly, to the ancient Roman SATURNALIA, which was observed around the time of the WINTER SOLSTICE in December. This pagan holiday was characterized by the suspension of discipline and rules governing behavior, and like New Year's Eve celebrations today, it occasionally got out of hand. In eighteenth- century America, the New Year's Eve revelry in such cities as Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore often ended in street demonstrations and violence. Groups of men and boys would blow tin horns, set off firecrackers, knock down gates and fences, shatter windows, and even break into the homes of the wealthy, demanding money or hospitality.
Unlike CHRISTMAS, which is traditionally celebrated indoors, New Year's Eve festivities frequently take place in the out-of-doors, particularly in urban areas. A popular trend that has emerged in recent years is attending "First Night" celebrations. These originated in Boston in 1976 and are now held in more than 65 American cities. They represent a deliberate attempt to replace the partying and drinking that have traditionally marked New Year's Eve with a wide variety of cultural events and performances in both indoor and outdoor settings. Those who prefer a quiet New Year's Eve at home often get their outdoor experience vicariously by watching the illuminated ball that descends on Times Square during the closing minutes of the old year.
New Year's Day
Type of Holiday: Calendar
Date of Observation: Jan. 1
Where Celebrated: Australia, British Isles, North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, and in all countries using the Gregorian calendar.
Symbols: Baby, First-footing, Football Games, Gifts, Pig, Resolutions
Related Holidays: Chinese New Year, Dewali, Nawruz, New Year's Eve, Oshogatsu, Rosh Hashanah, Saturnalia, Tet
ORIGINS
Celebrating the first day of the year on January 1 is a relatively modern practice. Up until the time of Julius Caesar, the Romans generally celebrated New Year's Day in March, the first month of the Roman year. January 1 marked the beginning of the civil year for the ancient Romans, a time when new consuls were inducted into office. Although there were games and feasting at this time, March 1 was still observed as New Year's day with a festival to Mars, the Roman god of war.
Caesar changed the Roman New Year's Day to January 1 in honor of Janus, the god of all beginnings and the keeper of the gates of heaven and earth. Janus was always represented with two faces, one looking back to the old year and the other looking forward to the new year. It was customary to celebrate the festival in his honor by exchanging GIFTS and making RESOLUTIONS to be friendly and good to one another.
When the Romans under Constantine accepted Christianity as their new faith, they retained the Festival of Janus as their New Year's Day but turned it into a day of fasting and prayer. It was a time for all good Christians to turn over a new leaf, but not all Christians observed it. Even after the Gregorian calendar was adopted by Roman Catholic countries in 1582, Great Britain and the English colonies in America continued to begin the year in March. It wasn't until 1752 that Britain and its possessions adopted the so-called New Style calendar (Gregorian) and accepted January 1 as the beginning of the year. But among the Puritans in New England, the old associations with the pagan god Janus were offensive enough to persuade many of them to ignore the day altogether and refer to January simply as "First Month."
The modern New Year's Day is geared toward feasting rather than fasting. Almost everywhere it is a day for receiving visitors (see FIRST-FOOTING) and recovering from NEW YEAR'S EVE festivities.
New Year's Eve
Type of Holiday: Calendar
Date of Observation: December 31
Where Celebrated: Australia, British Isles, North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, former Soviet Union, and in all countries using the Gregorian calendar
Symbols: Auld Lang syne, Noisemaking, Old Man, Wassail Bowl
Related Holidays: Chinese New Year, Dewali, Nawruz, New Year's Day, Oshogatsu, Rosh Hashanah, Saturnalia, Tet
ORIGINS
Midnight on December 31 marks the transition between the Old Year and the New Year, an occasion that is celebrated with everything from prayer to parties. Some people wear silly hats, drink champagne, and use NOISEMAKERS; they're apt to kiss their bosses, throw their arms around strangers on the street, and generally engage in behavior that would be considered scandalous at other times of the year. Others attend midnight church services, while still others congregate in public places like New York City's Times Square or London's Trafalgar Square to count down the closing seconds of the old year.
It is likely that our New Year's Eve customs are related, if only indirectly, to the ancient Roman SATURNALIA, which was observed around the time of the WINTER SOLSTICE in December. This pagan holiday was characterized by the suspension of discipline and rules governing behavior, and like New Year's Eve celebrations today, it occasionally got out of hand. In eighteenth- century America, the New Year's Eve revelry in such cities as Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore often ended in street demonstrations and violence. Groups of men and boys would blow tin horns, set off firecrackers, knock down gates and fences, shatter windows, and even break into the homes of the wealthy, demanding money or hospitality.
Unlike CHRISTMAS, which is traditionally celebrated indoors, New Year's Eve festivities frequently take place in the out-of-doors, particularly in urban areas. A popular trend that has emerged in recent years is attending "First Night" celebrations. These originated in Boston in 1976 and are now held in more than 65 American cities. They represent a deliberate attempt to replace the partying and drinking that have traditionally marked New Year's Eve with a wide variety of cultural events and performances in both indoor and outdoor settings. Those who prefer a quiet New Year's Eve at home often get their outdoor experience vicariously by watching the illuminated ball that descends on Times Square during the closing minutes of the old year.