Source: google.com
The fixing of 1 January as the first year was first performed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.
Celebrating the turn of the Christian year has become a world-wide culture for centuries. Various cities in the world celebrate with various performances, parties, and fireworks performances.
This year's celebration tradition begins when humans begin to recognize calendars. From the web history.com mentions the Kingdom of Babylon (1696 - 1654 BC) which started this tradition. They performed a basket with a calendar in the first month of the vernal equinox (the intersection of the equatorial and ecliptical circles).
The momentum of the first month takes place around March. At that time the northern hemisphere's earth was experiencing spring.
The Babylonians held a festival called Akitu which means grain. Usually this plant is cut in spring. The festival is celebrated for 11 days with various rituals.
For them this new year is the victory of the Marduk Sky God against the evil Sea goddess Tiamat. The Babylonian king received a new crown.
While the Roman Empire determined the calendar and the turn of the year with the solar cycle. Julius Caesar changed the Roman calendar by adding 90 days and renamed it with the Julian Calendar.
The Egyptians marked the turn of the year by seeing the flood of the Nile. This calculation coincides with the appearance of the star Sirius. While China determines the new year on the second new moon at the turning point of the Sun after autumn.
While Islam determines the calendar of the hijrah of Prophet Muhammad SAW from Mecca to Medina. They make calculations based on the circulation of the moon. The hijri calendar is different from the Christian calendar.
Back to the Christian calendar, this dating system was the development of the Roman calendar. Romulus, the founder of Rome, still imposed a calendar of 10 months and 304 days. In the 8th century, Numa Pompilius added two months, January and February in the 8th century BC.
This arrangement is not perfect yet. Julius Caesar then consulted with astronomers and mathematicians to perfect it. He named the first month by the name of Janus, the Roman god, who had two faces to look ahead and back.
The Romans commemorated the new year with various sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts, decorating homes, and visiting parties.
In medieval times, European Christianity gave religious significance around the turn of the year as December 25th as Christmas and between 22 and 25 March as Easter celebrations. The fixing of 1 January as the first year was first performed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.
Now the whole world also celebrates the turn of the year in accordance with their traditions. For example, the Spaniards used to eat as many as 12 grapes of wine and the Dutch usually serve a ring-shaped cake.
In New York, the United States, has traditionally witnessed the fall of a giant ball in Times Square since 1907. In some areas in Indonesia celebrate it, among others, by burning corn. Happy New Year.
