January 1st
In many countries, the New Year begins on January 1st, but this wasn’t always the case. For centuries, other dates like March 25th and December 25th marked the start of the calendar. So, how did January 1st become New Year’s Day?
Roman king Numa Pompilius played a key role. Around 715–673 BCE, he revised the Roman republican calendar, making January, named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, the first month instead of March, which honored Mars, the god of war. Some sources also credit Numa with creating January. However, January 1 wasn’t officially the Roman New Year until 153 BCE.
Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46 BCE, retaining January 1 as New Year’s Day. As the Roman Empire expanded, the Julian calendar spread widely. After Rome’s fall in the 5th century CE, many Christian countries changed the calendar to align with religious dates like March 25 (Feast of the Annunciation) or December 25 (Christmas).
Centuries later, the Julian calendar’s leap-year miscalculation caused seasonal shifts and issues with Easter’s date. To fix this, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582. It corrected leap years and reinstated January 1 as New Year’s Day. Italy, France, and Spain adopted it immediately, but Protestant and Orthodox nations, including Great Britain and its American colonies, delayed adoption until 1752, continuing to celebrate New Year’s on March 25.
Over time, non-Christian nations also adopted the Gregorian calendar. China began using it in 1912 but still celebrates Chinese New Year with a lunar calendar. Many countries following the Gregorian calendar maintain other traditional or religious calendars. Some nations, like Ethiopia, which celebrates Enkutatash in September, never adopted it, starting their year on different dates.
Reference
Why Does the New Year Start on January 1? | Britannica
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