Welcome to 2013 and have a refreshing, new year!
- New Year’s Day is the first day of the first month, of every year.
- New Year’s Day is officially celebrated on the first of January in most places around the world, due to it being the first day of the year on the widely used Gregorian calendar.
- New Year’s Day is celebrated by having parades, going to sport matches, having parties and viewing fireworks.
- New Year’s Day celebrations were widely celebrated in Rome on the first of January, earlier than 46 BC, which they had dedicated to the Roman god Janus, for the start of a new year.
- It is said that in 1362, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus, started celebrating New Year’s Day as the first of January, although the Gregorian calendar was not created until 1582.
- Thailand, in 1941, was the most recent country to officially celebrate New Year’s Day as the first of January.
- One of the pacific islands of Kiribati, which is uninhabited, is the first to welcome New Year’s Day every year.
- One unusual New Year’s Day celebration is performed throughout Canada – a polar bear plunge. People swim or plunge themselves in icy cold water, usually to raise money for special causes.
- Babies born on New Year’s Day (first of January) are often called New Year babies.
- It wasn’t until 1752 that England, Wales and parts of the United States adopted the first of January as the beginning of their new year. Prior to this, March 25 marked the beginning of a new year.
Bibliography:
New Year’s Day 30 December 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year’s_Day>
