Happy New Years! Wishing all of you a year full of everything your heart desires. Hold true to yourself, your family and your friends. A new year has begun. Don’t lose hope or your faith.
New Years is one of the most widely celebrated holidays globally due to most countries having adopted the Georgian calendar. Many people follow the custom to celebrate at the stroke of midnight following New Year's Eve and make resolutions for the new year.
Did you know that New Years was traditionally celebrated on March 25 before the British Calendar Act of 1751 was enacted and adopted by most countries afterward? The early Roman calendar had only ten months. The Gregorian calendar’s ninth through twelfth months were originally the Roman seventh through tenth months, and still retain references to their Latin origins. In 46 B.C.E., the Roman leader Julius Caesar developed the Julian calendar, which became the predominant calendar in the Western world for sixteen centuries. The average Julian calendar year was 365.25 days long. The actual length of a solar year (the length of the Earth’s revolution around the sun), however, was 365.24219 days, and the Julian calendar gained a day every 128 years. To correct for this drift against the solar year, Pope Gregory XIII issued the enclosed papal bull in1582, which shortened the Julian calendar by 0.0075 days, reducing the length of the year from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days. To reset the connection between Easter and the spring equinox for the new calendar, Pope Gregory advanced the date by ten days. The day after Thursday, October 4, 1582, was Friday, October 15, 1582. Catholic countries immediately adopted Pope Gregory XIII’s new calendar, and over the subsequent centuries, Protestant countries and their colonies. The Parliament of Great Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar through the British Calendar Act of 1751, “An act for regulating the commencement of the year; and for correcting the calendar now in use.” England had twice before attempted to reform the calendar, including under Elizabeth I and with the urging of Sir Isaac Newton in 1699, but proposals were rejected largely due to the calendar’s Catholic origins. The British Calendar Act of 1751 acknowledged that the Julian calendar still in use in Great Britain and its colonies had been found to be inaccurate, and much of Europe had already adopted the revised Gregorian calendar. While the Gregorian calendar stopped the shift, the calendar needed to delete eleven days to return the correlation between the calendar and the spring equinox. While Pope Gregory had reset the calendar by ten days in 1582, by the 1750s it became necessary for the British to delete eleven days. Section I of the British Calendar Act of 1751 provides that Wednesday, September 2, 1752, would be followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752. The act also moved New Year from the traditional date of March 25 to January 1 to match the majority of Europe, as the British calendar year began on March 25. The British Calendar Act of 1751 applied to the various countries and dominions of the crown of Great Britain and spread throughout the world. In North America, this included the American Colonies and British-controlled areas of what became Canada. The Act is still in force as part of Canadian law. Many colonies, such as Massachusetts Bay, reproduced the British law in their own laws. Popular publications, such as Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac and The Boston Gazette, gave advice on how to calculate the calendar change, which was made in two steps: December 31, 1751, was followed by January 1, 1752 (the first new year with a January start), then September 2,1752, was followed by September 14, 1752 (dropping eleven days to rebalance the calendar).
There are many different New Years traditions around the world. In Brazil, the new year is regarded as a time to reflect upon the past and make new resolutions for the coming year. Everyone wears white because the color signifies luck, prosperity, and is meant to ward off bad spirits. Colombia boasts an array of New Year’s traditions intended to bring fortune and prosperity to those who participate. Partygoers carry empty suitcases at midnight in hopes of inducing a year rife with travel. They also bear money in hand to attract financial security and stability in the coming year. In Denmark one of the most popular New Year’s traditions involves smashing plates and old dishes. Danish residents save their unused dinnerware and affectionately shatter them against doors of their families and friends as a way to ward off bad spirits. Other traditions include jumping off chairs at midnight to “leap” into the new year and consuming Kransekage, a wreath-shaped cake created using marzipan rings stacked on top of each other with a bottle of wine in the center. The cake is decorated with ornaments and flags. Scotland’s Hogmanay celebration is one of the most rousing celebrations in the world. Hogmanay comprises street entertainment, fire festivals, concerts, street festivals, and more celebratory acts, but is also known for its tradition of “first-footing.” According to the custom, the first person who crosses the threshold of a person’s home should bring a gift of luck. Traditionally, this gift was a coal for the fire or shortbread.
The world is psyched-up to welcome the New Year with great enthusiasm. The entire world celebrates the New Year following various traditions of their land. The traditions are followed both religiously and spiritually with a belief that they would bless them with luck and prosperity. With that said, Americans have their own set of traditions that the people reside they follow every New Year. Also, on the last day of the year Americans observe certain traditions with a hope to invite luck into their lives. If you are born American, you must be well-versed with the traditions observed here, but if that is not the case and you belong to some other place and still have interest in knowing the traditions of the land we present here the New Year’s Traditions in America. Explore the New Year’s traditions followed in America. With champagne glass in hand, fireworks in the sky, tasty dishes to feast on, New Year is going to be a blast undoubtedly. New Year is celebrated in the US very grandly and people come out onto the roads to greet each other and to welcome the New Year together. Very few love to sit at home and enjoy their private space and me-time whilst many love to join the crowds to welcome the New Year. Other than the usual celebrations, Americans have some traditions that they follow very strictly on the New Year’s Eve as well as New Year’s Day. Times Square Ball Drop is quite famous and around two million people gather at the place to view the ball drop right at the midnight. This popular tradition has started way back in 1907 with a ball that weighed 700 pound that slowly comes down to the ground at midnight. At present, the weight of the ball is 11, 875 pounds. This annual tradition observed in America is pretty famous and almost every American dream to witness it in live at least once in their lifetime. Watching the ball drop, people count down the last seconds of the old year to welcome the New Year. Making resolutions has become a part and parcel of New Year traditions. Almost everyone makes resolutions on the occasion of the New Year with a hope to change themselves for good and achieve their goals. Though this is a very commonly seen tradition followed in most parts of the world, the success rate of observing it for the set time is pretty less, these resolutions last no longer than a week or two.Sharing special kiss on New Year’s Eve at midnight. People in the United States believe that sharing a kiss in the midnight shall ward off evil spirit and also prevent loneliness in the next year. Sharing a kiss with my old man is by far my favorite one.
Food for New Year’s Day:
1. Ham is often a holiday centerpiece, but pork is specifically thought to bring good luck on New Year's Day.
2. Right alongside the pork is often sauerkraut or some form of cabbage. The strands of cabbage in sauerkraut or coleslaw can symbolize long life, while cabbage can also represent money.
3. Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is time-honored, they're associated with luck.
4. Greens themselves are known to be lucky for New Year's. It's all about the color green, which symbolizes money and prosperity. Also, according to some traditions rooted in the South, greens can be hung by the door to ward off any evil spirits that may come your way.
5. Lentils are a legume that is often served in Italian households, and their legend is rooted in prosperity: The round legumes look like coins.
6. Fish is another common dish, symbolizes good fortune.
7. Noodles - their length symbolizes longevity—so make sure not to break or shorten the noodles during the cooking process.
8. 12 grapes or raisins will bring good fortune for all 12 months of the year
9. Cakes, pastries, cookies and round fruits like clementines are traditionally enjoyed on New Year's Day as their shape signifies that the old year has come to a close and the New Year holds the promise of a fresh start.
10. Cornbread cause it’s the color of Gold.
Local Events:
1. 4th Annual Freeze Out Jan 14th 12pm Cade Cove Jeep Outpo
Rallies:
1. Gibtown Bike Fest Jan. 6th -8th Riverview FL.
2. Mecum Motorcycle Auction Jan.4th – 15th Kissimmee FL.