Ancient New Year's

The New Year's celebration is on record as the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. The Babylonian New Year began with the first visible crescent (the first New Moon) after the first day of spring (Vernal Equinox).

Viewed as the season of rebirth, it makes perfect sense to celebrate it at the time, associated with the planting of new crops, and the blossoming of other plants. Conversely, January 1, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is strictly arbitrary.

The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular style to recognize it, but quite a contrast to today's modern festivities.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year in late March, but over time their calendar was continually tinkered with by various emperors. Eventually, the calendar soon became out of sync with the sun.

To correctly adjust the calendar, the Roman senate declared January 1 as the beginning of the New Year in 153 BC. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar created the Julian Calendar in 46 BC, once again establishing January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar extended the previous year to 445 days.