Most New Year's traditions are believed to ensure good luck for the coming year. Many parts of the United States observe the tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck.New Year’s Day is a holiday celebrated all over the world with different customs and rituals
1)New Year's is approaching, a time when millions of people will celebrate with food, new resolutions or a even kiss as the clock strikes 12.
2)The first New Year’s celebration dates back 4,000 years.
3)December 31, 2016 and January 1, 2017 - New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are on a Saturday and Sunday.
4)Forty-five percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions.
5)The top three places to celebrate New Year’s Eve are Las Vegas, Disney World and of course, New York City.
6)The earliest known New Year celebrations were in Mesopotamia and date back to 2000 B.C
7)The early Romans used March 1 as New Year's Day. Other cultures used the autumn equinox or the winter solstice to mark the new year.
8)Be sure to eat leafy greens on New Year’s.
9)Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. Apples and honey are traditionally eaten.
10)1582 - The Gregorian calendar, which marks January 1 as the new year, is adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.
11)Many people ring in New Year’s by popping open a bottle of champagne.
12)Time Square New Year's Eve Ball was first dropped in 1907 after there was a fireworks ban.
13)January is named after Janus, the god with two faces, one looking forward and one looking backward.
14)In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year’s Day to bring good luck all year long.
15)New Year's is the time when many people traditionally make resolutions to break bad habits or start good ones.
16)Using a baby to signify the New Year began in ancient Greece around 600 B.C.
17)The date for Chinese New Year changes each year. It always falls between January 21 and February 20, determined by the Chinese lunar calendar.
18)About 1 million people gather in New York City’s Times Square to watch the ball drop.
19)Ancient Persians gave New Year's gifts of eggs, which symbolized productiveness.
20)"Auld Lang Syne" is traditionally sung at midnight on New Year's Eve.The words auld lang syne mean "times gone by".
21)The first rooftop celebration atop One Times Square, a fireworks display, took place in 1904 and was produced by The New York Times to inaugurate their new headquarters in Times Square and celebrate the renaming of Longacre Square to Times Square.
22)The original New Year's Eve Ball weighed 700 pounds and was five feet in diameter. It was made of iron and wood and was decorated with 100 25-watt light bulbs.
23)Instead of lowering a giant ball of lights on New Year’s Eve, Brasstown, North Carolina lowers a possum. It’s known as “The Possum Drop”
24)Russians celebrate the New Year twice, once on January 1st and then again on January 14th.
25)November 11, 2008 - A "new" New Years Eve ball is introduced. The ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter and weighing 11,875 pounds.
26)Chinese New Year is celebrated the second full moon after the winter solstice.
27)In Thailand, they celebrate their traditional New Year’s Day with a state sponsored multiple day water fight.
28)A kiss at the stroke of midnight signifies the purification into the New Year, and making deafening noise is said to drive away evil spirits.
29)Every Chinese New Year starts a new animal's zodiac year.
30)In Sicily, Lasagna is served on New Year’s Day, because any other noodle served is said to bring bad luck.
31)In Spain and Peru,they eat 12 grapes to bring good luck in the 12 months ahead. However, in Peru they eat a 13thgrape to insure their good luck.
32)The Roman senate declared January 1 as the New Year in 153 BC.
33)Noisemaking and fireworks on New Year's Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.
34)Since New Year’s Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama raises a 12 foot tall lighted mechanical Moon Pie to celebrate the coming of the New Year.
35)Many parts of the U.S. celebrate New Year by consuming black-eyed peas and other legumes, as it has been considered good luck in many cultures.
36)There is a music festival every New Year’s eve in the Antarctic called ‘icestock’
37)Many cultures believe that anything given or taken on New Year, in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle".
38)There are only 14 possible calendars. In 2014, you can re-use calendars from these years: 2003, 1997, 1986, 1975, 1969, 1958, 1947, 1941, 1930, and 1919.
39)Babies born on New Year's Day are commonly called New Year babies. Hospitals, such as the Dyersburg Regional Medical Center in the US, give out prizes to the first baby born in that hospital in the new year.
40)The Reykjavik (capital of Iceland) fireworks display on New Year’s Eve is one of the largest in the world, and most fireworks sales fund rescue operations in the country
41)After the French revolution, France briefly used a new calendar based on a decimal system; 10 days a week, 10 hours a day, 100 minutes per hour and 100 seconds per minute, and starting at Year 1.
42)Christians in India celebrate January 1 as the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar.
43)New Year’s Eve has a special name in Belgium. It is known as Sint Sylvester Vooranvond.
44)Until 2006, the Space Shuttle never flew on New Year’s day or eve because its computers couldn’t handle a year rollover.
45)In European countries, the New Year is greeted with private fireworks.
46)Some people wear adult diapers while celebrating New Year at Time Square due to the lack of toilets.
47)Japanese eat long noodles on New Year. Long noodles signify long life.
48)Ethiopia has 13 months. Their current year is still 2006 and they celebrate New Years on September 11.
49)The most common New Year resolutions include ‘quit smoking’, ‘lose weight’, ‘stay healthy and fit’, ‘save more money’ and ‘get (more) organized’.
50)America has another pretty popular New Year tradition, which is known as the Rose Bowl.
No comments:
Post a Comment