Festive countdown parties to iconic Times Square ball drop - start of the new year has always been filled with fun!

While there are many traditions around the world, there’s probably a lot about the New Year’s history that readers may not know, including where the holiday first originated and how it came about.

Ringing in the New Year has a long, ancient history; in fact, the earliest recorded celebration to honor the new year is believed to date back to 2,000 B.C., to ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox, the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness, heralded the start of a new year. They marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days.

The holiday also celebrated the mythical victory of the sky god, Marduk over the sea goddess, Tiamat and also involved the act of either crowning a new king or allowing the old king to continue his rule. Either way, this 11-day festival would probably have put current New Year’s Eve parties to shame.

January 1 becomes

New Year’s Day

The early Roman calendar consisted of 10 months and 304 days. Over the centuries, the calendar fell out of sync with the sun, and in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar decided to solve the problem by consulting with the most prominent astronomers and mathematicians of his time. He introduced the Julian calendar, which closely resembles the more modern Gregorian calendar that most countries around the world use today.

As part of his reform, Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honor the month’s namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. Romans celebrated by offering sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts with one another, decorating their homes with laurel branches, and attending raucous parties.

Serve up good luck

Many cultures believe eating round foods on New Year’s Eve will lead to prosperity. In Italy, lentils serve the same function as the American dish, Hoppin’ John, a dish of black-eyed peas and pork served over rice. With the round shape of the peas representing coins, many believe that anyone who makes this dish on January 1 will have luck, peace, and prosperity for the rest of the year. Some families boost the potential of their Hoppin’ John or lentils by placing a penny underneath the dishes.

In the Philippines, it’s customary to eat 12 round fruits, one for every month, to ensure a year of abundance.

Watching the ball drop

from the sky

Crowds have been gathering in New York City’s Times Square to watch the iconic ball drop since 1907. The ball that was just iron and wood has been improved to the 12-foot, 11,875-pound geodesic sphere covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles and 32,256 LEDs we know today.

Kiss someone you love

Speaking of striking midnight, people are supposed to kiss someone they love too. According to the Washington Post, the tradition comes from English and German folklore, which believes that it’s the first person with whom a person came in contact that dictates the whole year’s fortune.

No one to kiss? The Irish believe that if a person puts a sprig of mistletoe (or holly or ivy) under their pillow on December 31, they’ll dream of who their future partner will be.

Making a resolution

Someone might think that making a resolution for the New Year is a relatively recent trend, historically speaking; but, the tradition is very old and is believed to date back more than 4,000 years to the Babylonians again.

The people of Babylon would make promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises could be considered the forerunners of current New Year’s resolutions. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor.

New Year’s resolutions today are mostly focused on self-improvement (which may explain why such resolutions are hard to follow).

Belt out a tune

“Auld Lang Syne” is often credited to Scottish poet Robert Burns, who sent it to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788. Burns indicated that it was an ancient song but that he’d been the first to record it on paper. The phrase “auld lang syne” roughly translates as “for old times’ sake,” and the song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year. For a challenge, someone could impress the other members of their party by learning the other verses, there are 10 in total.

Whether our readers attend a massive event or quietly ring in the new year, the Tri-City Record wishes you all well for 2024.